Introduction
The clothing industry, and especially the fast fashion industry that creates cheap clothes intended to be replaced quickly, severely impacts the environment. Carbon dioxide emission is an obvious problem, with the fashion industry alone being responsible for over 10% of all CO2-emission (more than all worldwide shipping and air traffic combined). Waste water often contains dyes and detergents that are extremely harmful to the ecosystem and can also be poisonous to humans. Underwater plants die because dyes take away light. Some areas, especially in China, experience droughts because the textile industry uses up natural water sources. Eucalyptus – grown in order to make polyester fabrics and threads – is an invasive species that actively causes forest fires, being solely responsible for over 90% of European forest fires.
The committee should discuss ways of alleviating the severe impact of an entire industry on the environment by regulating the diverse aspects of its polluting processes.