Bangladesh Garment Emissions: 15 Buyers Could Help Avoid 8.59 Million Tonnes

19 October 2026: Stand.earth Research Group released an analysis recently in Dhaka, Bangladesh, estimating that 15 global fashion buyers could help avoid 8.59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2040. Its findings put buyer financing and renewable electricity at the centre of efforts to cut Bangladesh garment emissions.

According to Fashion’s Fair Share: Bangladesh Buyers’ Climate Opportunity, the companies account for 26.3% of Bangladesh’s apparel and textile exports by shipment weight, based on 2025 customs data. This measures volume, not export revenue.

The group includes H&M Group, Inditex, Primark and Walmart. Inditex, H&M Group and Primark were the three largest buyers by weight, together accounting for more than 11% of the country’s garment exports in 2025.

The findings extend Stand.earth’s earlier scrutiny of brands’ renewable energy progress, while focusing on the opportunity within Bangladesh.

How could Bangladesh garment emissions fall?

Under the report’s ambitious pathway, cumulative savings could reach approximately 8.59 million tonnes of CO2 over 2026–2040. Annual savings could reach about 1.26 million tonnes in 2040. These are modelled outcomes, not reductions already achieved or investment commitments secured.

The projection depends on brands funding industrial electrification and supporting more renewable electricity on the national grid. Stand.earth’s model focuses on on-grid renewables; it excludes potential savings from off-grid generation.

Bangladesh’s dependence on fossil fuels remains a constraint. The US International Trade Administration’s power and energy guide, published on 19 March 2026, reported that renewables supplied less than 5% of electricity generation. Stand.earth also describes unreliable electricity and persistent gas shortages affecting garment manufacturing.

Where do buyers’ climate commitments fall short?

Stand.earth’s assessment used publicly available information collected during June and July 2026. It identified several gaps among the 15 buyers:

Only Inditex and H&M Group had targets for 100% renewable electricity covering their supply chains.
Only four companies publicly disclosed participation in supplier-financing initiatives; none showed strong evidence of grant-based or debt-free financing.
The assessment found no concrete public climate-adaptation policies for the companies’ manufacturing bases. Next alone publicly disclosed supplier guidance addressing heat stress.
Only H&M Group, Bestseller and Inditex showed evidence of direct engagement with local policymakers to support the energy transition.

H&M Group showed the strongest alignment with the report’s fair-transition criteria, following its leading position in the 2025 fashion scorecard. The Bangladesh assessment nevertheless found that all 15 companies needed further action.

The disclosure-based assessment has a limit: a lack of public evidence does not establish that a company has taken no action.

What does the investment pact ask brands to do?

The official Clean Fashion Investment Pact asks participating brands to develop and publish a costed, locally specific, worker-inclusive transition plan within 18 months.

Its recommendations include grants and other financing that avoids adding supplier debt, longer-term sourcing commitments, prices that absorb decarbonisation costs, and funding for worker protection against heat and other climate risks. It also calls for policy advocacy to expand renewable electricity access.

The initiative builds on the earlier Bangladesh energy-transition roadmap. Its central demand is practical: buyers should help pay for cleaner production and share climate-related risks with manufacturers and workers, rather than leave suppliers to carry the costs.