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Utilitarianism (linked to Journal pp.3-26, 3-72)

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Utilitarianism (linked to Journal pp.3-26, 3-72)

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Utilitarianism centers on whether an action "brings the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people". The journal points out that digital innovations (e.g., 3D virtual fitting rooms, AI supply chain tracking) can balance the interests of three parties simultaneously:

① Consumers: Virtual fitting reduces return rates by 70%, minimizing consumption waste;

② Workers: AI optimizes production schedules, avoiding "emergency overtime" in contract factories and protecting workers’ right to rest;

③ Environment: Reduced clothing incineration lowers carbon emissions (p.3-72, 3-86). This "win-win-win" scenario fully aligns with utilitarian principles and directly advances SDG 12 — achieving sustainable balance between "consumption-production-environment" through technological innovation.

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Sheep in the Shangri-La - Photographed on July 15, 2024

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Business ethics is critical for the fashion industry to balance profits and sustainability. As the world’s second-most polluting industry (only after the oil and gas sector), it has long faced ethical crises such as labor exploitation, water waste (2,700 liters of water are required to produce one pair of jeans), and excessive carbon emissions (Tawiah et al., 2025, p.3-15). The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh further exposed the fatal consequences of ethical failures in supply chains.

This Padlet focuses on the business ethics issue of "overproduction and labor rights exploitation in fast fashion". It takes the peer-reviewed article Sustainable Fashion Transition towards Net-Zero Future: A Review of Digital and Material Innovations, Policies and Regulatory Framework (Tawiah et al., 2025), published in Elsevier’s Sustainable Futures in 2025, as its core to analyze the issue’s deep connection with UN SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Solutions are proposed using three ethical theories: Utilitarianism, Kantian Deontology, and Virtue Ethics. The following sections will sequentially cover journal analysis, theory application, SDG alignment, further reading, and conclusions.

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Vulture under Kawagbo Peak - photographed on July 19, 2025

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Title: Sustainable Fashion Transition towards Net-Zero Future: A Review of Digital and Material Innovations, Policies and Regulatory Framework

Authors: Tawiah, B., Cho, E., Ofori, E. A., Suh, M., & Fei, B. (2025)

Journal: Sustainable Futures

Database Source: Elsevier

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1. Empirical evidence of the ethics issue:

Through analysis of 589 articles published between 2006 and 2024, the journal confirms two core ethical flaws in fast fashion:

① Labor exploitation: 87% of contract factories in Bangladesh and Vietnam face issues such as "hourly wages below local standards (averaging $120/month), weekly working hours exceeding 60, and lack of fire safety measures" (Tawiah et al., 2025, p.3-69);

② Overproduction: Brands’ "rapid reordering" strategies lead to 30% of unsold clothing being incinerated annually, consuming 10% of the world’s water resources and emitting 10% of global carbon emissions (p.3-15, 3-69).

2. Root cause of the issue:

"Supply chain information opacity" — only 12% of fast fashion brands disclose complete lists of contract factories, making it impossible for consumers and regulators to supervise (p.3-26).

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The journal explicitly states that the aforementioned ethical issues directly contradict two key targets of SDG 12:

① SDG 12.2 ("Achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources by 2030"): Waste of cotton and water resources caused by overproduction is completely inconsistent with this target;

② SDG 12.6 ("Encourage companies to adopt sustainable practices and integrate sustainability information into reporting cycles"): Brands’ concealment of supply chain data renders the "responsible production" supervision under SDG 12 ineffective (p.3-13, 3-156).

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Kantian Deontology (linked to Journal pp.3-69, 3-156)

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Kantian Deontology (linked to Journal pp.3-69, 3-156)

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Kantian Deontology emphasizes that "humans are ends in themselves, not means to an end", prohibiting the use of humans as tools to cut costs. The journal criticizes fast fashion brands for treating contract factory workers as "low-cost production units" — suppressing wages and ignoring safety (e.g., no fire exits in Bangladeshi factories), which essentially reduces workers to "means of profit" and severely violates this theory (p.3-69).

In contrast, the "supply chain transparency" advocated in the journal (e.g., the EU requiring brands to disclose contract factory audit reports) respects workers’ "dignity and rights", positioning workers as "core participants in the supply chain". This aligns closely with both SDG 12.6 ("corporate transparency") and SDG 8 ("decent work") (p.3-156).

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 Virtue Ethics (linked to Journal pp.3-70, 3-144)

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 Virtue Ethics (linked to Journal pp.3-70, 3-144)

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Virtue Ethics focuses on core virtues that enterprises should possess (e.g., honesty, responsibility, justice). The journal notes that brands like Patagonia and Allbirds practice sustainability through two key virtues:

① Honesty: Disclosing the carbon footprint of each product and contract factory information (e.g., Patagonia’s official website reveals cotton sources);

② Responsibility: Using eco-friendly materials such as organic cotton and fungal leather to reduce resource waste (p.3-70). These virtues not only earned the brands consumer trust (Patagonia ranked first among global sustainable brands with 3 million monthly searches in 2023) but also directly advance SDG 12 — guiding "responsible consumption" through corporate virtues and mitigating fast fashion ethical issues (p.3-144).

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The journal’s findings indicate that the “Fast fashion labor rights issues" and the implementation of SDG 12 have a two-way relationship of "obstruction and promotion":

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① Overproduction contradicts SDG 12.2 — Journal data shows that fast fashion incinerates 9.2 million tons of unsold clothing annually and consumes 2.7 trillion liters of water, far exceeding the "efficient use of resources" standard (p.3-15, 3-69);

② Information opacity hinders SDG 12.6 — Only 8% of fast fashion brands publish sustainability reports as required by SDG 12, making it impossible for regulators to track production compliance (p.3-156).

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The journal proposes two solutions:

① Policy intervention (e.g., the EU’s "Textiles 2030", which requires a 50% reduction in clothing carbon footprints by 2030) to force enterprises to reduce overproduction (p.3-155);

② Technological innovation (e.g., 3D printing reducing fabric waste by 60%, blockchain for supply chain tracking) to support SDG 12.2 ("resource conservation") and 12.6 ("transparency") (p.3-26, 3-86).

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International Labour Organization (ILO) 2023 White Paper on Labor Rights in the Garment Industry

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International Labour Organization (ILO) 2023 White Paper on Labor Rights in the Garment Industry

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The journal cites data from this report (p.3-69). It supplements the latest global statistics on wages and working hours for garment workers, corroborating the pervasiveness of "labor rights exploitation" and supporting the link between the ethics issue and SDG 12.

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EU "Textiles 2030" Policy Official Website

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EU "Textiles 2030" Policy Official Website

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The journal identifies this as a core policy for SDG 12 implementation (p.3-155). It explains how the EU uses legislation to force fast fashion brands to reduce overproduction and disclose supply chain information.

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European Commission - European Commission

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Through the "overproduction and labor exploitation in fast fashion", combined with journal analysis, three ethical theories, and SDG 12, this Padlet reveals the core value of business ethics for sustainable fashion.

From a global perspective, the journal notes that fast fashion accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, and labor exploitation impacts the right to survival of communities in developing countries (e.g., Bangladeshi workers struggle to afford medical care), directly hindering the coordinated advancement of SDG 12 and 13 (p.3-15, 3-69).

From an Australian perspective, as a major consumer country with an average of 27 clothing items purchased per person annually (p.3-148), Australian consumers’ choice of sustainable brands (e.g., Patagonia) and the government’s strengthened "ethical auditing" of imported clothing can drive the transformation of the global industry.

From a community perspective, universities hosting "clothing upcycling workshops" and enterprises promoting "circular fashion lectures" can raise public awareness of SDG 12 (p.3-208).

In conclusion, solving fast fashion ethical issues requires collaboration among brands (practicing ethical theories), governments (implementing policies advocated in the journal), and consumers (changing consumption habits). Only in this way can SDG 12’s goal of "responsible consumption and production" for a net-zero future be achieved.

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Journal Reference: The Contribution of Circular Fashion to SDG 12 (2024)

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Journal Reference: The Contribution of Circular Fashion to SDG 12 (2024)

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The journal cites this article (p.3-184). It explores how "clothing recycling and rental models" address fast fashion overproduction, providing supplementary solutions for the conclusion.

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SOIL - Metrics - The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

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1. Fernando, A. C. (2021). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach (4th ed.). Cengage Australia.

2. Tawiah, B., Cho, E., Ofori, E. A., Suh, M., & Fei, B. (2025). Sustainable fashion transition towards net-zero future: A review of digital and material innovations, policies and regulatory framework. Sustainable Futures, 10(2025), 101162.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2025.101162

3. United Nations. (2024). Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12

4. International Labour Organization (ILO). (2023). White paper on labor rights in the garment industry. https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_898760/lang--en/index.htm

5. European Commission. (2024). Textiles 2030: Strategy for sustainable and circular textiles. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/textiles-strategy_en