Carbon taxes will halt textile sector progress

In the global race to decarbonise the textile industry, urgency is no longer debated.

The pressure to shift away from fossil-derived fibres is real and intensifying. Among policymakers, activists, and corporate sustainability leads, a growing consensus seems to be emerging. If synthetic fibres like polyester remain artificially cheap because of fossil fuel subsidies, then the solution seems obvious. Remove those subsidies. Let prices rise. Recycled and next- generation materials will finally compete on fair terms.

This is the logic. On the surface, it appears both moral and mathematical. What it does not appear to be is dangerous. Yet that is exactly what it may turn out to be.