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Garment manufacturers in Bangladesh have been working to make their industry more sustainable, but they can’t operate in a vacuum and their potential for progress is limited without more support and engagement from other industry players, including brands. They also operate in the shadows of brands’ lofty sustainability commitments, when it’s suppliers who implement the changes those commitments are hinged on.
This was the premise behind the inaugural Best of Bangladesh Europe event held in Amsterdam on 4 and 5 September. Keen to shake off outdated notions about its ready-made garment sector — the second largest in the world after China — the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) is trying to change the narrative about the manufacturing sector in the Global North.
Touted as a ‘nation-branding’ initiative, the goal was to redefine Bangladesh’s role in the global market, showing off its progress and potential as a sustainable manufacturing partner. “The Bangladeshi industry has had so much development, but the perception is totally wrong in the Western world,” says Mostafiz Uddin, founder and chief executive of the BAE.
The message was clouded, though, as advocacy groups disrupted the event to call for justice for Shahidul Islam, a Bangladeshi union organiser who was murdered in June while seeking wages owed to workers at a local factory. The protesters were demanding justice for Islam’s family — as well as higher wages and stronger protections for workers' rights, calls that are directed just as much at brands as at authorities in Bangladesh.
For The Netherlands to host the Best of Bangladesh speaks to a long history of trade, cooperation and investment between the two nations. In 2020, The Netherlands overtook China as the largest investor in Bangladesh. Moreover, the European Union is Bangladesh’s top export market, accounting for 60 per cent of all exports to the EU, thanks to a preferential trade agreement in place since 2001.
Uddin has been a vocal advocate not only for the Bangladeshi apparel sector and its workers, but for the changes necessary to align garment manufacturing with the issues of the day. While sustainability initiatives are often brand-led, their success depends entirely on suppliers, and the event is Uddin’s brainchild for catalysing the necessary conversations. “I’m not saying we’re the best, we have lots of challenges,” he admits. “We’re ready to listen and we have a positive mindset, but we need help from the industry. So this is the platform where everyone can meet each other, talk and cooperate.”
Six panel discussions across the event tackled issues from sustainable sourcing to impact investing and worker safety and wellbeing. However, with some discussions including nine panellists, largely from Europe, they sometimes failed to go beyond introductions and overviews to dive into issues specific to Bangladesh. More Bangladeshi representation on-stage, speaking with first-hand experience on the challenges, opportunities and solutions on the ground, could have better served the mission of the conference.
Bangladesh’s sustainability credentials have come a long way since the 2012 Tazreen Factory Fire and the 2013 Rana Plaza Factory collapse. These disasters rocked the fashion industry, and Bangladesh largely took the fall as the centre point of unsafe and unethical practices, despite the fact that these practices were occurring in many other manufacturing regions. “Post-Rana Plaza, there was a lot of negative media,” says Peter McAllister, the executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative. “It was partly true, but not the whole story.” In reality, it was a culmination of the industry’s ever-mounting pressures on supply chains, cost-cutting and lack of accountability that drove Rana Plaza to the brink. Bangladesh has been working toward changing the sector, and the narrative, since — to lead on sustainable manufacturing practices where they can, and to remind the industry that they also can’t do it alone.
“That's why we are here — we have to change the perception,” says Luthmela Farid, head of design and development at Chittagong-based brand Pacific Jeans. “The good things happening in Bangladesh should be publicly known to everyone.”
Working toward sustainability
Despite contributing only 0.4 per cent of global carbon emissions in 2018, Bangladesh is disproportionately experiencing the devastating impacts of the climate crisis through flooding, cyclones and extreme heat. The World Bank estimates that by 2050, 13 million Bangladeshis could become internal migrants. This would have huge economic implications and could cost Bangladesh up to 4 per cent of its GDP. At Best of Bangladesh Europe, there was a consensus that economic growth shouldn’t come at the cost of the environment, but through investment in impactful solutions like the circular economy, increasing energy-efficient facilities and enabling greater transparency.
Thanks to the implementation of the International Accord, 90 per cent of safety violations identified in 2013 had been fixed by 2018. Many manufacturers have adopted certifications like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a global green building ratings system, to inform sustainability strategies. Bangladesh now has 200 LEED-certified factories, with around 500 more awaiting this United States Green Building Council tick of approval.
Granted, LEED-certified facilities make up just a fraction of the country’s total manufacturer list (there are around 4,500 members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association). The LEED certification is also a modelling tool to guide development, not a performance measurement tool. Its effectiveness in creating of lower-impact facilities has been questioned in the past. Regardless of whether relying on this certification is the right way forward, BAE’s Uddin says that increased investment in the sector is necessary to incentivise and support more facilities through their sustainability transition.
Bangladeshi manufacturers are also keen to distinguish themselves through their commitment to transparency, which is a vital component of sustainability and enables accountability, helping to identify and remedy human rights and environmental violations. Across the industry, transparency remains low — the world’s top 250 brands scored an overall 26 per cent, up just two points from last year, according to Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index 2023.
“We want people to come and visit our facilities and have a look at what's going on, because seeing is believing,” says Rafee Mahmood of Mahmud Group, a denim manufacturer based in Dhaka. “Everyone in Bangladesh has transformed their factories, the way they work, how they communicate with the workers, and how we communicate with the brands.” Mahmud Group works with a range of certifications, NGOs and standards bodies, like Oeko-Tex, Better Work Bangladesh and sustainable chemical management organisation ZDHC.
The struggle for workers’ rights continues
At an event designed to highlight the strides Bangladesh has made in sustainable manufacturing practices, it was important to also address the labour issues that persist in Bangladesh, as in other manufacturing countries.
Representatives from the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) protested for union organiser Shahidul Islam, whose killing reignited calls for Bangladesh to improve working conditions and uphold workers’ rights in the country, as well as for brands to do human rights due diligence and take more responsibility for the conditions their buying practices enable throughout the supply chain. (Prince Jacquard Sweaters, the factory with which Islam was negotiating late payments, denied any involvement in his killing in a statement to Sourcing Journal.)
“We want to make sure that justice is given to his family,” says Christie Miedema, campaign and outreach coordinator at the CCC. “Moreover, this is causing an immense chilling effect in the industry for workers who will be more afraid to unionise, organise themselves and stand up for their rights.” According to the International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Rights Index 2023, 50 per cent of the unions registered since Rana Plaza are inactive ‘yellow unions’, meaning that they are unduly influenced by employers.
In Bangladesh, inflation is the highest it’s been in a decade. In recent months, garment workers (of which there are 4.5 million) have staged numerous protests to raise the monthly minimum wage from BDT 8,000 (£58) to BDT 23,000 (£167), mirroring similar efforts in other manufacturing countries like Myanmar and Cambodia. Government representatives present at the Best of Bangladesh Europe, including the foreign affairs and commerce ministers, were quick to inform attendees of the upcoming minimum wage review, the first in five years, which will happen at the end of the year.
The garment sector makes up around 84 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports and will be a leading contributor to the country’s burgeoning economic status. The BAE’s rebranding initiative, which will include a second conference in 2024, is a vital platform to help shift the narrative and improve its reputation globally.
Action is still necessary to address ongoing issues like wages, the right to organise and violence toward workers, and steps are necessary from manufacturers and the global industry alike. Major brands should not only answer the sector’s call for investment, but do so in less extractive and exploitative ways by establishing stronger working relationships and financially supporting more manufacturers through the sustainability transition. In the same way that Bangladesh is unduly impacted by the climate crisis, its apparel sector is vulnerable to the fluctuations of the global market. “The event was a testament to how interconnected social and environmental issues are and highlighted the need for us to work collectively to address the systemic challenges our world is facing,” said Lisa Domoney, senior director of membership and corporate engagement, at Sustainable Apparel Coalition, after the conference.
At its core, Best of Bangladesh Europe is an invitation to strengthen these bonds for the benefit of an ambitious emerging nation and the wider industry. “It presented a great opportunity for stakeholders, sustainability experts and advocates in attendance to deepen collaborations between the Global North and the Global South, to share different perspectives in our collective effort to find common ground to ultimately transform the industry,” said Domoney. “It showcased the reach, creativity, innovation, knowledge and collaborative spirit we have to offer as an industry to serve as leaders, setting an example for other sectors to follow.”
“We cannot only be a fantastic sourcing destination by producing renewable energy, water recycling and the latest technology. We have to take care of our worker’s wages, how they live and their health. We understand that,” says BAE’s Uddin. “Please help us, support us, keep trust in us, inspire us and also criticise us in a positive way so we can improve the situation.”
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