London Climate Action Week: Manufacturers launch new initiative to transform sustainability across the global apparel and textile industry

 

“The launch of ATTI marks a new era in our eff orts to transform the industry,” said Matthijs Crietee, Secretary General of IAF. “Manufacturers are not just participants—they are leaders in developing the practical solutions our sector urgently needs.”

ATTI introduces a structured framework for national implementation, supported by governance at a global level. Through the establishment of ATTI Country Chapters, national industry associations take the lead in developing an Apparel and Textile Transformation Plan tailored to their local context. The initiative is overseen by the ATTI Global Council, which provides strategic guidance and support to Country Chapters, facilitates peer learning, and ensures alignment across geographies. Action will be coordinated globally, but grounded locally, across all production tiers bringing together manufacturers, brands, fi nancial institutions, policymakers, and civil society actors to co-design practical, country-specifi c solutions that are scalable and aligned with international goals.

“This initiative supports real transformation at the national level across all tiers, while ensuring lessons and innovations are shared globally,” added Christian Schindler, Director General of ITMF.

The initiative has an open scope, covering sustainability challenges including emissions, water consumption and discharge, chemicals and waste. The nationally grounded structure enables the highest priority challenges in each country to be tackled on a case by case basis, for greater impact and more measurable progress.
ATTI seeks to complement, rather than add to, existing sustainability programmes and initiatives by taking a holistic, needs-best approach comprising three key phases:

• Phase 1; a comprehensive Needs Assessment to identify activities, successes, gaps and challenges in each country:
• Phase 2; a collaborative Solutions Design phase involving relevant industry stakeholders, including manufacturers, brands, government, fi nancial institutions, technical experts and industry initiatives;
• Phase 3; a structured implementation stage that may, according to the Solutions Design, activate targeted investments, enhance technical assistance, clean technology deployment, or enable policy frameworks.

Pilot Country Chapters have already begun in Bangladesh and Türkiye with the instigation of a national needs assessment in each country. These are being led by local industry associations and include input from brands sourcing from each region, existing industry initiatives, regional expertise and government representatives.

In Türkiye, progress has already been made on the fi rst phase with a meeting held last week in Istanbul convening Turkish manufacturers, international brands, and government stakeholders to review the fi ndings of the initial needs assessment and defi ne priority areas for joint action, including technology upgrades, access to fi nance, and regulatory engagement.
Olivia Windham Stewart, a key advisor to the initiative, comments: “Manufacturers are expert innovators and bring fi rst-hand knowledge of their own operating environments to deliver this transformation. They also understand the importance of designing solutions that refl ect their local context.”

She adds: “We’re already attracting strong support from leading industry stakeholders who recognise the vital role that manufacturers and national associations play in shaping the future of the sector. We welcome all stakeholders committed to accelerating industry transformation to join us.”

For further information please contact:

• Matthijs Crietee, Secretary General, IAF – crietee@iafnet.com
• Christian Schindler, Director General, ITMF – christian.schindler@itmf.org
• Olivia Windham Stewart – Senior Advisor to IAF / ITMF and ATTI Lead – olivia@oliviawindhamstewart.org