ASN exits clothing company trading planet for profit

Asset manager ASN Impact Investors sold shares of apparel companies, citing their slow progress on sustainable development goals as they face competition from Chinese fast-fashion companies.

ASN, which owns stakes in H&M, Inditex and Asics, said working conditions had improved but nothing else had changed.

ASN director San Lie said in a statement that the industry is in an increasingly fast production cycle. statement“They are competing with Chinese companies like Shein and Temu, which are producing faster. This poses a threat to sustainability,” he said.

ASN Impact Investors, which manages the ASN Biodiversity Fund and ASN Bank, is a subsidiary of Volksbank and has total assets of EUR 4.2 billion. Of this, around EUR 70 million has been invested in clothing companies.

Mr Lie said the endless supply of cheap clothes was too tempting for consumers. “We know about the poor conditions in garment factories and the textile waste that litters African beaches. Yet when we walk into a shopping street, we pick up another piece of clothing,” he said.

He said governments should take steps to address the negative impacts of the fast fashion industry on climate, biodiversity and human rights. In other countries, such as France, legislation is being prepared to impose a 10 euro tax on each fast fashion product.

In Europe, a digital product passport, due to be launched in 2027, will show consumers in detail where a garment has come from and the CO2 emissions generated in its production. It will then be up to the consumer to make an informed choice.

according to Data from the European Environment AgencyIn 2020, water and land use pressure caused by EU textile consumption ranked third, and raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions ranked fifth.