Bonn, September 10, 2026: From raw material extraction through design and production to the end of a product’s life cycle: The textile, fashion, and apparel industries interact closely with nature throughout their entire value chain. A new “Biodiversity Industry Assessment” by the Global Nature Fund, developed as part of the “Business Biodiversity – UBi” project, shows companies where particularly relevant impacts and dependencies exist and how they can systematically integrate biodiversity into their strategy, procurement, product development, and other areas of their business.
The “Biodiversity Industry Check for the Textile, Fashion, and Apparel Industries” combines background information with specific recommendations for action, checklists, potential metrics, and tools. In this way, it helps companies identify biodiversity risks, prioritize areas for action, and develop appropriate measures, while also providing guidance on how to systematically address biodiversity-related requirements and conduct materiality analyses.
The Industry Check is based on a comprehensive screening of the textile industry, expertise in biodiversity and sustainability management, and insights from biodiversity checks conducted with four companies in the industry. In this way, the publication combines expert analysis with insights from business practice.
The Industry Review was developed as part of the “Business and Biodiversity – UBi” project. UBi aims to support the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy (NBS) and to encourage companies to take action on biodiversity. The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
The greatest opportunities for impact lie at the beginning of the supply chain
A key finding of the industry review is that the early stages of the textile value chain are particularly important for biodiversity. The extraction of raw materials involves a variety of environmental impacts, including land use, high water consumption, the use of chemicals, and the alteration of natural habitats.
At the same time, the textile industry depends on healthy ecosystems. Fertile soil, an adequate supply of clean water, and natural raw materials are essential for their production. Design, purchasing, and supplier management, in particular, play a key role in this process. Companies can influence which materials are used, how durable and recyclable products are designed, and what requirements are placed on suppliers as early as the product development and selection stages.
Four Key Areas of Focus for Textile Companies
The industry review groups the results into four broad areas of action:
- Strategically embedding biodiversity: Companies should systematically analyze the impacts and interdependencies, integrate biodiversity into their existing sustainability and business strategies, and establish specific goals, responsibilities, and human and financial resources.
- Strengthen biodiversity criteria in procurement and increase transparency in supply chains: Greater traceability, appropriate sustainability criteria, and systematic collection of biodiversity-related data are particularly necessary for high-risk raw materials and production sites.
- Expanding Collaboration: By working together with suppliers, industry initiatives, standards organizations, and conservation groups, we can address challenges that individual companies would find difficult to solve on their own.
- Promoting biodiversity at company sites: Company grounds designed to be close to nature and measures to restore natural habitats can make a visible contribution while also raising employee awareness of the issue. However, they do not replace the necessary transformation of supply chains; rather, they complement it.
“It’s now clear to many companies that biodiversity is important. The more difficult question is where to start, specifically, and which measures actually make a difference. This is exactly where the Industry Check comes in: It helps companies identify their most important levers along the value chain and integrate biodiversity step by step into existing processes,” says Bettina Faust, Project Manager for Business & Biodiversity at the Global Nature Fund.
Checklists for Business Practice
The publication examines key areas of business, ranging from strategy and management to product design and procurement, as well as the circular economy, communications, human resources, and company facilities. When it comes to raw material procurement, cotton, wool, and synthetic fibers, among other materials, are examined in depth.
The integrated checklists translate these insights into specific criteria for data management, internal structures, procurement, and supplier management. The industry assessment is based on the hierarchy of prevention: First, negative impacts should be avoided; next, they should be reduced; and finally, damaged natural environments should be restored or regenerated. For the textile industry, this also means reducing resource consumption and shifting linear business models more toward a circular economy. For example, through durable and repairable products, secondary raw materials, take-back systems, and improved recyclability.
The “Biodiversity Sector Assessment for the Textile, Fashion, and Apparel Industries” is now available for free download here.
About “Unternehmen Biologische Vielfalt – UBi”
The “Businesses for Biodiversity – UBi” project aims to support the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (NBS 2030) and to encourage businesses to take action on biodiversity. The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
The UBi project is being carried out by five project partners: Biodiversity in Good Company, the Lake Constance Foundation, DIHK Service GmbH, the Global Nature Fund, and the Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP).
