Mitigação das mudanças climáticas: uma proposta de framework para as práticas do setor têxtil

Abstract

The study proposed a framework with practices for mitigating climate change in textile industries in Brazil, given the significant emission of greenhouse gases by this industry. The first phase of the study was qualitative, with two systematic literature reviews and a multi-case study. The first review explored opportunities and challenges in adopting innovative practices to tackle climate change, while the second mapped recent studies on zero carbon and climate change in the textile sector. The multi-case study was carried out through interviews in three Brazilian textile companies, with 42 open questions, distributed in five thematic blocks, conducted via Google Meet. The second phase, of a quantitative nature, involved a survey of 38 textile companies from different regions of Brazil, using Google Forms. The aim was to analyse the applicability of climate change mitigation practices in this sector. The data collection instrument contained 41 questions on a likert scale grouped into five thematic blocks. The results of the first systematic review indicated opportunities, such as image and competitiveness gains, and challenges, including high costs, a lack of clear sustainable development guidelines and uncertainty about the risks of adopting new technologies. The second review highlighted dyes and textile wastewater as the main studies on climate change and the textile sector. The multi-case study revealed that employee remuneration based on climate change mitigation targets and the carbon management team were the least applicable practices, while emissions reporting, an organisational culture focused on climate change mitigation and internal policies for mitigation actions were the most applicable. The quantitative survey showed that most of the practices are at an early stage, but are already being adopted. Practices such as life cycle analysis, organizational culture aimed at mitigating climate change and internal policies for mitigation actions have a high degree of applicability. On the other hand, emissions inventories and remuneration based on climate change mitigation targets showed a lower degree of applicability. In view of the challenges identified for the adoption of these practices, it is recommended that guidelines be established to support governance and awareness, with a view to more effectively boosting these initiatives in the textile sector.