A Manifesto for Leather on the occasion of COP29
Buy better, buy less, buy leather
Consumption is one of the key drivers for man-made climate change. Consumers are driven to want
more, buy more and ultimately discard more and more products, many of which are of poor quality,
have short life spans and are designed to be discarded and replaced, rather than repair or
repurposed. There is no better example of this than the fast fashion industry which uses a claimed
350 million barrels of oil a year and produces 282 billion kilogrammes of greenhouse gases from the
production of polyester alone. Some 100 billion garments are produced annually with as many as 45
billion never being worn. Of those that are, most are discarded after 7-10 wears, resulting in 92
million tonnes waste going to land fill every year. 1
. This situation is only expected to get worse, with Textile Exchange reporting that consumption of polyester alone, rose from 63 million tonnes in 2022 to 71 million tonnes in 2023 2
. Fashion is responsible for approximately 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and despite The Fashion Charter, set up in 2018 to provide a pathway to net-zero emissions by 2050, emissions remain unsustainably high.
Fashion is not the only sector blighted by an excess of consumption and the related environmental
impacts, including climate change. It is no surprise then, that governments around the world are
developing regulations intended to reduce the impact of the products that we buy every day, driving
improvement in sustainable design, circularity and extended producer responsibility. Regulations like
the requirement for Digital Product Passports (DPP) in the draft EU Ecodesign for Sustainable
Products regulation (ESPR) will give consumers greater insight on the impact of the production of
their products, as well as their expected lifespan, repairability and end of life options, allowing for
better, more sustainable purchases. Keeping products for longer due to their innate durability and
potential for repair will give consumers the opportunity to buy better and importantly, buy less.
Leather is an ideal material to meet these ambitions. Leather utilises an unavoidable by-product to
manufacture a versatile, durable material that can be used to make long-lasting, repairable products
with a huge potential for circularity. Owners will cherish their leather products, repairing them and
even passing them on to subsequent owners. Products made from long-lived leather can have an
undeniably positive action in reducing the climate impact of fashion and other sectors. Indeed,
research has found that the climate change impacts of natural fibres in garments were negative if
the number of wears was increased by 50% because emissions associated with the manufacture of a
new synthetic garment were averted 3
.
However, leather faces considerable challenges, not only from the nonsensical claims of agenda
groups, which undermine brand and consumer confidence but also well-intentioned but misguided
regulatory efforts. Leather is one of the derived products listed in Annex 1 of the EU Deforestation
Regulation, despite there being no evidence that it is a driver of deforestation. Indeed, analysis by
the School of Advanced Studies Sant’Anna has shown that demand for hides has no direct influence
on the number of cattle reared and slaughtered and as such, does not drive deforestation4
.
Furthermore, the study found that the impact of the EUDR on the leather sector could be
devastating and achieve nothing for the reduction of deforestation. It could however, result in millions of hides being discarded to rot in landfill, with the associated emissions of greenhouse gases.
Similarly, giving consumers greater understanding of the expected lifetime of their products is to be
welcomed but it will be essential that the measures used are evidence-based and realistic. The
current proposals in the EU’s draft Product Environment Category Rules for Apparel & Footwear,
which may form the basis of the DPP under the EPSR, are not and in no way represent the true
lifespan of leather goods. If consumers are not told the true story of leather, they may simply opt for
cheaper, short-lived synthetic products, driving consumption of fossil fuels and waste.
The undersigned note that the Framework for Action proposed by the Presidency for COP 29
includes a call for an ‘Inclusive process for inclusive outcomes’. We wholeheartedly support this call.
The leather industry is constantly working towards ever greater sustainability and circularity, but our
efforts will be undermined if regulators and brands do not give proper consideration to the real
impacts and benefits of naturals materials like leather. We humbly request that the voice of the
leather sector be heard in the development of the policies and regulations needed to combat
manmade climate change.
Therefore, we, the undersigned organisations, call on the COP to endorse our call to:
• Recognise the cyclical, climate efficient nature of leather and its potential for a positive
contribution to reducing the climate impacts of consumer products. In particular, a full and
proper impact assessment of the role of leather as a driver of deforestation and the
development of reliable measures of the lifespan of materials and products and their impact
on consumption
• Support LCA methodologies that accurately account for the environmental impact of all
materials, including end of life properties and the consequences of use and substitution.
• In keeping with the aspiration for reduced consumption, greater circularity and reduced
waste, to promote ‘slow fashion’, durable products, and items that can be used many times,
repaired and refurbished, and last for years.
• Wherever feasible to encourage the use of natural fibres like leather and reduce
unnecessary reliance on fossil-fuel-based materials.
references
1 https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
2 https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Materials-Market-Report-2024.pdf
3 Stephen G. Wiedemann et al, Resources, Conservation and Recycling (2023), Volume 198, 107119
4 https://www.euroleather.com/images//documents/Socio-
economic_and_environmental_analysis_of_the_effects_of_the_EUDR_on_the_European_leather_sector.pdf
Signatories to the Leather Manifesto
• Alliance Française du Cuir (AFC)
• Australian Hide Skin and Leather Exporters’ Association Inc (ASHLEA)
• Centre for the Brazilian Tanning Industry (CICB)
• Centro Tecnológico das Indústrias do Couro (CTIC)
• China Leather Industry Association (CLIA)
• Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and Dressers of the European
Community (COTANCE)
• Fédération Française des Cuirs et Peaux (FFCP)
• Fédération Française Tannerie Megisserie (FFTM)
• International Council of Hides, Skins and Leather Traders Association (ICSHLTA)
• International Council of Tanners (ICT)
• International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS)
• Leather Cluster Barcelona (LCB)
• Leather & Hide Council of America (LHCA)
• Leather Naturally (LN)
• Leather UK (LUK)
• One 4 Leather (O4L)
• Society of Leather Technologists and Chemists (SLTC)
• Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF)
• Türkiye Deri Sanayicileri Derneği (TDSD)
• UNIC Concerie Italiane (UNIC)
• Verband der Deutschen Lederindustrie e.V. (VDL)
• Wirtschaftsverband Häute/Leder (WHL)
• Zimbabwe Leather Development Council (ZLDC