The H&M Foundation has declared a significant shift in its overarching strategic direction, concentrating on helping the textile sector cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half every decade by 2050 while advocating for a fair and equitable transition for both people and the environment. The first effort that reflects this change is the Global Change Award 2025 (GCA), an innovation competition.
GCA is currently looking for creative solutions that target several high-emission areas within the textile industry value chain, such as conscious consumption, sustainable materials and processes, responsible production, and “wildcards” that further the organization’s goals.
“If we are to accomplish our climate targets by 2050, the textile sector needs everyone on board, and we need to make sure that this transition is equitable for all,” Karl-Johan Persson, a board member of the H&M Foundation, says adding, “I firmly believe that innovation is essential to decarbonising the industry and that the Global Change Award can help identify and develop future changemakers whose ideas can have a transformative impact if given the right support.”
Since its inception in 2015, GCA has supported 46 innovations and awarded a total of US $ 8.64 million in grants. Additionally, it continues to recognise 10 winners each year, each of whom receives US $ 216,000.
Winners will receive financial assistance as well as access to a strong network of industry professionals, mentors, and collaborators to help them realise their ideas. The winners will be invited to take part in a year-long, specially designed Changemaker Program by the H&M Foundation in collaboration with partners Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology.