Opportunities for a Just Transition to environmental sustainability and COVID-19 recovery in the textile and garment sector in Asia

The impact of COVID-19 on the textile and garment sector in Asian countries has been and continues to be immense, and may last for a very long time. While countries in the West are emerging from the pandemic with some optimism that life will soon return to pre-pandemic levels, new COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia are pushing back hopes for a recovery in 2021 and the health and mental effects in communities are challenging pre-pandemic achievements related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This report examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the textile and garment sector, specifically the employment and enterprise impacts, and contextualizes these within the wider development impacts of the sector – social, economic and environmental; both positive and negative – to ask the question: how sustainable is the sector