Programme: Eliminating hazardous chemicals from supply chains

Lead agency: UNEP

Programme partners: FAO, UNDP, UNEP, and UNIDO

Total number of countries: 8

UNDP supported countries: Ecuador (Construction and Textiles), Mongolia (Fashion), and Peru (Fashion)

Programme financing (UNDP supported countries):

• GEF: US$ 13 million
• Co-financing: US$ 128.5 million

Programme timeframe: January 2026 – December 2031

Programme overview

The textile and fashion industry is extremely important, providing employment for hundreds of millions of people around the world, especially women, and creating significant economic and export opportunities for developing countries.

However, the world is producing and consuming more textiles and fashion than ever before. The environmental footprint of the sector is enormous, relying predominantly on non-renewable inputs including fossils fuels for plastic-based fibers, pesticides and fertilizers for cotton production and chemicals for processing and dying of textiles. On average, producing 1 kg of textiles requires 0.58 kg of chemicals (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). Many of these chemicals are harmful to the environment as well as the user of the product. They also hamper the recycling of textile products.

To address these challenges, this GEF programme aims to achieve transformational change in the textile and fashion supply chains by replacing resource-intensive chemical processes and materials with sustainable alternatives and promoting sustainable design and consumption.

The programme encompasses the following components: 

• Regenerative design and circular business models – Design and make available innovative, regenerative products and business models.
• Innovative materials – Substitute non-renewable materials with innovative, responsibly managed, recycled, regenerative or nature-based materials where possible.
• Cleaner production – Transform production processes to no longer use harmful chemicals, use less water and energy, and produce less waste.
• Sustainable consumption – Change consumer behavior towards better and less consumption.
• Post-use and 9Rs – Design and implement reverse logistic processes to return products and materials back to manufacturers for reuse or recycling. 

Anticipated impact: Combined the UNDP supported projects will benefit a total of 118,000 women and 78,000 men, avoid the release of 1,800,000 tons of CO2e and 60 g-TEQ of dioxins and furans and reduce the use of 280 tons of highly hazardous pesticides. The projects will also avoid the generation of 2,530 tons of plastic waste and the production of 3,300 tons of POPs containing products and improve the management and soil health of 222,000 hectares of agricultural lands.