UNIQLO to Support UNESCO for ‘Clean Oceans’ in Asia

01 January 2024: The new project, to be launched in early 2024, will aim to build healthy relationships with the ocean through education for sustainable development (ESD) to better enable children and young people in the region to become active ‘change agents’ of environmental conservation, and even aspire towards becoming future leaders and innovators of sustainable development. In doing so, UNESCO will make full use of its capacity to develop and apply ocean science for sustainability and knowledge systems and products in its extended network and designated sites (ASPnet Schools, Biosphere Reserves, Global Geoparks, World Heritage sites, and so forth) which will also operate as ESD educational hubs.

The centerpiece of UNIQLO’s support will be a new sustainability collection to be launched under the company’s JOIN: THE POWER OF CLOTHING campaign, which will support UNESCO activities to reduce marine debris. For every purchase of qualifying products, UNIQLO’s Tokyo-based parent company, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., will donate US$1 to UNESCO – up to a total donation of US$1.5 million to support regional initiatives to reduce ocean garbage, including educational programmes aimed at raising awareness among the public of critically important marine debris issues.

“Achieving a sustainable ocean depends on all of us doing our part. We are grateful for the exemplary role which UNIQLO is playing by joining hands with UNESCO in the advancement of ocean cleanup, especially during the current UN Ocean Decade (2021-2030), and for motivating all environmental stakeholders in working together towards ‘the ocean we need for the future we want’ in Asia !” said Wenxi Zhu, Head of Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s Sub-Commission for Western Pacific (IOC-WESTPAC), UNESCO Bangkok.

www.unesco.org