Climate Change, Plastic and Fashion: ‘Review’ Highlights the Dangers and Opportunities We Face

The June 2021 Review of the World Situation is a mixed bag of warnings and optimism. For example, the weather changes being brought about by climate change pose a significant risk to cotton. On the other hand, cotton has a negative carbon footprint so as long as we keep protecting it, it will keep protecting us.

On the surface, the five articles in the June 2021 Review touch on different things: market dynamics, fast fashion, plastic fibres, climate change and an oddly titled feature about soil health and the crucial difference between two words. But they all have a common underlying theme: a warning about our future.

As always, the Review opens with a brief overview of the current and near-term outlook for the cotton market.

Next, Dalena White, Secretary General of the International Wool Textile Organisation, follows with a study of our bad romance with clothing and what we can do to keep it from harming the earth.

The third article, written by analyst and consultant Veronica Kassatly, takes a graphics-filled, step-by-step approach to dissecting and disproving some of the myths surrounding synthetic fibres.

In the fourth article, ICAC Executive Director Kai Hughes lays out, in no uncertain terms, the threat of climate change and the damage changing weather patterns could cause - and what we (and cotton) can do about it.

The issue concludes with an article from ICAC Communications Director Mike McCue and the headline is one of the strangest published in the history of the Review. But believe it or not, dirty underwear and a dictionary really can save us from a grim future.