Katalyst Initiative

At yesterday's launch of the MEP Sustainable Textile Working Group, Katalyst shared our research on designing effective value chain governance. Thanks to @saskiabricmont.bsky.social, @larawolters.bsky.social and @barryandrewsmep.bsky.social for taking the lead with the Working Group!

Katalyst will be presenting at the @tmcasser.bsky.social Spring Academy next week. Interested in the intersection of data and sustainability due diligence? Check it out!

www.asser.nl/education-ev...

Today 360+ civil society & trade unions worldwide are urging @europarl.europa.eu & @consilium.europa.eu to say:
📢No to weakening the #CSDDD
📢No to corporate impunity
📢 #NoToOmnibus

If #Omnibus adopted, it would turn corporate due diligence into an empty shell
👉 corporatejustice.org/publications...

Disaggregated data on workforces - value chain stage, factory size, home-based worker status, and more - are also important for #duediligence and #justtransition. The detail available varies hugely by country, as these graphics show. However #ISIC codes allow us to create a global model.

GRAPHIC OF GARMENT WORKFORCE GENDER BREAKDOWN

The garment workforce is largely female, but wide variations exist between countries and value chain stages. These need to be better documented and taken into consideration for #duediligence and #JustTransition purposes.

Shown another way, it's clear how much of the garment workforce is in Asia still. Even taking production for domestic markets into account, these figures raise many questions about possible futures for export-oriented industry globally.

Graphic showing 72 million garment workers, broken down by country.

Effective #duediligence and a #JustTransition can't happen without understanding the size and structure of global workforces - but data is often lacking. Ahead of the #OECDGarmentForum, we share our model of the global garment workforce: katalystinitiative.org/working-paper-4/

At the UN Forum on Business & Human Rights this week we shared Katalyst's latest research on the global garment workforce, and learned some new things from the many people who stopped by to discuss why regulation of value chains is so badly needed. #UNForumBHR

It is critical to make industries more sustainable, but we also need to ensure a Just Transition for workers. Our new 'Global Garment Workers Count' paper - katalystinitiative.org/working-pape... -documents the size & shape of the global garment workforce - essential for Just Transition planning.

Kicking off our time here on Bluesky with highlights of our recent 'Future of Global Value Chain Governance.' Speakers presented cutting-edge research & policy on governing value chains for a Just Transition.

katalystinitiative.org/future-of-gv...

Katalyst organised the Future of Global Value Chain Governance Conference - no time to lose in creating the next generation of value chain governance for a #JustTransition.

University of Amsterdam's Responsible Business Conduct Lab, led by Luc Fransen @UvA_AISSR, launched at trade union museum De Burcht. Katalyst is a partner & advises on the lab's innovative research on value chain governance.

Katalyst participated in the @OECD Forum on the garment sector this week. A good reminder that definitions of 'progress' towards a fair and sustainable industry vary enormously depending on who you're talking to.

We joined @cornellilr Global Labor Institute for a series of presentations on 'Higher Ground' - a report KI contributed to about heat and flood risks to garment workers. One of the highlights was a roundtable at the European Parliament, with @saskiabricmont and @cleanclothes.

Katalyst spoke this week with Professor Elena Sychenko’s ESG Compliance class at @Unibo, discussing human rights and climate risks in supply chains, and steps that can be taken to address them.

KI's Martin Curley was a guest lecturer this week at @cornellilr. Joined Prof. Sarosh Kuruvilla's class on labour practices in global supply chains & had a great discussion with students on the role of NGOs in trying to secure responsible business conduct.

Two themes from yesterday's workshop that should inform the final #CSDDD: 1. Justice is only possible if people have realistic ways to access its systems; and 2. Businesses alone cannot be allowed to define effective due diligence. @ECCJorg @foeeurope @Frank_Bold

Meanwhile Martin Curley is joining the 'Transforming Ownership in Times of Overlapping Crises' conference by @UniUtrecht and @UvA_Amsterdam where lots of innovative ideas are being discussed.

Lots of exciting ideas this week. KI's Anne Lally participated in yesterday's @ETUI_org #Tranformativeideas conference, looking at ways to ensure a Just Transition.

Katalyst is a contributor to @cornellilr Global Labour Institute's new report on future climate impacts on garment workers and factories. Join the launch event today at 9:00 NYC/15:00 AMS/19:00 Dhaka

One measure of why a strong #CSDDD is important: The EU is the single largest importer of garments from the world's 30 major exporting countries. We have a great responsibility - and a great opportunity. (So does the USA...)

With the #CSDDD progressing, our 'Trade Realities' analysis of garment exports shows how trade volumes influence where the law will be impactful, and where it will need to be paired with other efforts to protect rights & the environment. More here:

Thanks to the @unitrento Law Faculty for organising last week's conference with an international group of labour lawyers and other experts sharing a wide range of strategies for promoting decent work.

We'll be presenting this week at 'The Added Value of SDG for Labour Rights Protection' conference at @UniTrento. Sharing ideas on the importance of context in designing human rights governance for supply chains.

Katalyst explains how the @goodclotheseu proposal helps to create the long-talked-about 'Level Playing Field' for living wages:

For years the garment industry has said we need a 'level playing field' to implement #livingwages. We show how the @goodclotheseu legislative proposal - combined with good data - will create one. Read more:

Garment brands have for years talked about the need for a 'level playing field.' In this new piece, we describe how the @goodclotheseu legislative proposal would create one.