Sustainability in fashion must include workers as well as the environment, industry leaders told

Fashion brands, policymakers, investors, manufacturers, sustainability experts, and civil society leaders gathered in Copenhagen for the Global Fashion Summit to discuss the industry’s future and the transition to more sustainable business models.

While climate action and sustainability remained strong themes throughout the event, Walk Free’s Founding Director Grace Forrest warned against treating human rights as a secondary issue.

“Modern slavery and labour exploitation are not side issues, and yet so often they are on the side stages of events like these. The fashion industry’s focus on sustainability needs to recognise this and put human rights in the headline alongside climate and the environment,” Grace explained.

Fashion continues to be one of the world’s highest-risk industries for forced labour.

G20 countries alone import nearly half a trillion dollars’ worth of goods at risk of forced labour every year, including more than $160 billion in garments and textiles.

“Ethical production is still the exception and not the rule in the fashion industry. Almost 20% of the world’s global cotton production is linked to China’s forced labour of Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim groups,” Grace said.

The Summit also reinforced how exploitation remains prevalent across both fast fashion and luxury supply chains, and exists in all countries in the world.

There are renewed discussions around the limits of transparency-based legislation, including Australia’s Modern Slavery Act and similar laws globally.

“Transparency laws like the UK and Australia’s Modern Slavery Acts were an important first step. They put modern slavery on the boardroom agenda as a top-tier business risk. But the evidence is now clear that voluntary reporting alone doesn’t reduce harm,” Grace said.

Research continues to show how many companies report on policies and commitments while providing limited evidence of identifying exploitation or delivering meaningful remediation for workers.

“There’s no obligation to act, no requirement to fix harm, and very limited consequences for inaction. We need to move from transparency to action and accountability.”

Calls are increasing for mandatory human rights due diligence laws requiring companies to identify risks, prevent harm, and address exploitation when it occurs.

There is also a growing focus on the need to fundamentally shift power within supply chains and address the business models driving exploitation.

“The most resilient systems are those where workers and survivors shape solutions. If we’re serious about resilience and sustainability, knowledge must flow up from workers, not just down from boardrooms,” Grace added.

Workers and survivors continue to be excluded from many decisions shaping global supply chains, despite being most directly impacted by exploitation and unsafe working conditions.

“You cannot squeeze suppliers on price and speed and still claim sustainability. Those pressures are a direct driver of exploitation. Real resilience comes from fair pricing, long-term supplier relationships, and realistic production timelines.”

The conversations at the Global Fashion Summit reinforced growing calls for sustainability efforts to move beyond commitments and reporting toward accountability, enforcement, and worker-centred outcomes.