The textile industry is dependent on nature’s capacity – both to produce the raw materials on which the value chain is based and to absorb the materials and substances that society puts into circulation. At the same time, global fibre production continues to rise, whilst more than 99 per cent of material flows still consist of virgin resources. All textile fibres originate in nature and are eventually returned to the same biosphere, but with very different consequences for soil, water, climate and biodiversity. How these flows are managed is therefore crucial – not only for individual products, but for nature’s long-term capacity to sustain the textile value chains of the future.

For industry, the public sector and other stakeholders, this presents a growing challenge. Demands for traceability, transparency and sustainable raw material supply are increasing, whilst climate change, soil degradation and biodiversity loss are affecting the systems on which textile production depends. To make well-informed decisions, we need knowledge that describes not only products and processes, but also the natural conditions upon which the value chains rely.

The Textile Compass is being developed to complement and strengthen existing knowledge bases. By gathering, structuring and highlighting knowledge about the impact of different textile fibres on soil, biodiversity and ecosystems – from soil and seed to fibre – the project is developing an open and scientifically based decision-making framework. The aim is to create a shared knowledge base that can harmonise with established tools whilst also contributing perspectives that are currently difficult to capture and compare. The project’s focus is not solely on developing new knowledge, but on making existing and new knowledge more accessible, comprehensible and useful for the decisions that will shape the textile value chains of the future.