The Impact of Environmental Pollution by

RMG Sector: Climate Change Is Happening

Faster Than We Think
In August 2020, the Last Ice Area of Greenland has started to melt unexpectedly due to untenable
global warming1.

In Western Canada in June 2021, with an unprecedented heatwave in British Colombia, 700
Canadians have died so far as the temperature has raised over an unbelievable 50C2. More than
100 Americans have died in the North-Western part of the United States owing to the same
heatwave.

In Parts of the Mediterranean and central Europe, countries are set to experience intensely high
summer temperatures in the coming weeks of July 2021, putting them at high risk from wildfires 3.

Today I am feeling honored and truly privileged to present my research work on the Textile
Industry of Bangladesh in front of my fellow marketers of the World Marketing Summit. Some of
you might wonder, why have I started my speech with the impact of global warming, particularly
in the western world, while I am supposed to talk about Bangladeshi Garments? Well, I want to
purposefully describe the casualty of environmental pollution happening in Bangladesh and other
developing countries due to unplanned and sporadic expansion of the garments sector, which is
degrading the world climate status quo as a whole.

As we all know, the western world has strategically shifted from production economy to
knowledge-based economy almost a couple of decades ago. Today, even China is attempting to do
the same by introducing production FDIs in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar, or countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and emerging African nations.
However, developed economies are in fact fooling themselves thinking that the shift in
manufacturing factories will subsequently shift the environmental pollution to the third world
country as well. In fact quite the opposite, the global climate is holistically exacerbating at an
exponential rate unbeknownst to the source of pollution. Arctic Icecaps don’t know whether the
increase in carbon level has occurred from Asia or America. If the sea level rises by a meter, even

1
(The Indian Express, 2021)
2
(Bhattacharyya, 2021)
3
(Frost, 2021)
developed countries like Italy or Spain may go under the ocean. Nature won’t spare a dime to take
revenge if we continue to destroy her by our wrongdoings.

I appreciate Bangladeshi Textile Industry being the top source of export earnings, as Bangladesh's
economy has achieved noteworthy growth on the back of rising RMG export, steadily increasing
remittance flow, and growing domestic demand for goods and services. Bangladesh now aims to
achieve middle-income country status by 2021, and the goal looks so promising albeit the financial
challenges that we have faced due to COVID-19. Against all odds of the last year’s economic
contraction, our GDP grew by 5.2% by the end of 2020.

With almost 34 Billion USD per annum, the textile industry in Bangladesh is the single largest
contributor to national economic growth, providing one of the best-quality apparel products
exported to the rest of the world. The country is now aiming at achieving an export value of 50
Billion USD per annum by 2021, an aim that, although paves the path for a brighter economic
future, threatens to cause significant environmental disruption for the nature.

According to researchers and experts, the Textile industry is the second largest polluting industry
in the world, only to be outrun by the Oil industry. Often referred to as Fast Fashion, the textile
industry is characterized by a concise product life-cycle and a higher profit margin for apparel
tycoons. According to IPCC, the textile industry is responsible for 10% of the global CO 2 emission,
and unsurprisingly, the industry is one of the most water-polluting in the world as well. For
instance, seven thousand liters of water are required to produce a single pair of jeans, which is
adequate to serve a family of 4 for a whole month! You will be surprised to know that the
Bangladeshi Textile industry pollutes nearly 1500 billion liters of water each year. This same water
can meet the demand of 0.8 million people for a whole year.

It's high time we started framing the battle against pollution on a global scale. From a humanitarian
perspective, Bangladesh possesses a significantly higher comparative risk for environmental
pollution due to its enormous population density. As we have talked about South East Asian
countries like Vietnam or Cambodia, they have vast unused lands compared to lower population
ratios. Perhaps, those countries have the leverage to precipitate production economy and absorb
the impact of environmental pollution for a longer period of time. But for a country like
Bangladesh, where around 50 thousand people live per square kilometer in the economic hubs of
the country, we don’t have the cushion to keep polluting our environment anymore. A luxury dress
purchased by a European Lady may indirectly cause permanent respiratory disease for a
Bangladeshi Garments worker girl, who has spent more than 50 hours a week exposed to toxic
fumes generated by the knitting and dyeing yarns.

To stop the catastrophic degradation of our environment due to the garments industry, we need to
devise unified policies all around the world. Developed countries should help the manufacturing
economies both with technology and financial aids/ loans to reduce pollution by introducing
emission-less production facilities. Modern science has achieved remarkable feats in terms of
pollution reduction in manufacturing factories. Proper finance and guidance can precipitate the
bandwagon of zero-emission economic activities, and investing in those activities will pay off the
entire developed and developing world as a whole. Policies to encourage green and circular
economy should also be introduced globally to reduce unnecessary waste. Particularly for the
textile industry, the circular economic model has got enormous potential to check carbon emission
in practice. In order to depart from our current take-make-dispose linear economy, it is essential
to start designing and producing textiles and clothes of higher quality and providing access to them
via new business models to shift the perception of clothing from being a disposable item to being
a durable product.

Bangladesh, a country with such an enormous population and under the growing threat from
environmental unsustainability, should immediately take action to stop environmental pollution
caused by the textile industry. And to my extremely erudite and powerful marketing minds present
here today, I want to mention again, environmental pollution happening anywhere in the world is
ultimately hampering each living organism of this planet. None is beyond the potential threat of
the upcoming natural disaster. Please think of collective measurement, don’t be complacent. We
must leave a greener and habitable world for our future generation. And today, marketing has got
the power to promote environment-friendly policies and products before the consumers. As the
proverb goes, ‘With great power, comes great responsibilities,’ today it is our responsibility to
encourage ethical marketing over the traditional profit-centric mindset. I believe, our responsible
marketeers will make the world a better place to live in by promoting honesty, fairness, and
integrity in all aspects of marketing in the future.

Bibliography
Bhattacharyya, A. (2021, July 3). 700 dead and counting: Canada struggles to cope with
unprecedented heatwave. Retrieved from The Hindustan Times:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/700-dead-and-counting-canada-struggles-
to-cope-with-unprecedented-heatwave-101625292355991.html

Frost, R. (2021, July 5). European heatwave: Which countries face the biggest risk from wildfires?
Retrieved from Euronews: https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/07/05/european-
heatwave-which-countries-face-the-biggest-risk-from-wildfires

The Indian Express. (2021, July 3). Explained: What is the Arctic’s ‘Last Ice Area’ that is now
showing signs of melting earlier than scientists expected? Retrieved from The Indian
Express: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-is-the-arctics-last-
ice-area-that-is-now-showing-signs-of-melting-earlier-than-scientists-expected-7387570/