Peqod :: Classes - Columbia University Catalog of Classes

FASHION POLICY AND THE POLITICS OF GOVER

The fashion industry is an ideal case study on how governments, citizens and international institutions attempt to limit the environmental and social impacts of complex consumer industries with global supply chains. Historically, apparel and textiles have been at the center of some of the most consequential government actions under liberal Western democracy, including the abolition of slavery and the passage of the first workplace safety and labor laws in the United States. In recent years, fashion has returned to the center of dynamic policy debates within the sustainability and social impact space.

The $2.5 trillion global fashion industry’s social and environmental impacts often evade regulation. Major brands leverage long and opaque supply chains for raw materials and cheap manufacturing costs with very little accountability. Private regulation and voluntary commitments have policed fashion for the better part of four decades, an approach that arguably has ended in failures to protect human and environmental rights. The industry’s lack of accountability has cost lives, including the notorious Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 where 1,132 garment makers died, and now contributes to a sizable percentage of annual climate change. Profits have been pushed to the top of the supply chain while garment makers consistently toil for poverty wages, and the pollution and environmental degradation of fashion is a burden almost exclusively carried by low-and-middle income nations and communities of color that manufacture clothing and produce raw materials.

But the tide is turning. Governments are being asked to step in and regulate the fashion industry. Can effective fashion policies police international supply chains and achieve their intended aims? Might they unleash unintended consequences and in what ways? This course is an introduction to the fast-evolving space of modern environmental and labor policy as it intersects with fashion, and which seeks to incentivize more responsible business behavior in the realm of social, environmental and governance impacts. The class will use recently passed and proposed fashion social and sustainability policies as our case studies, including the New York State Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act; mandatory human rights due diligence in Europe; California’s Garment Worker Protection Act and Congress’s FABRIC Act; the FTC Green Guides and the UK CMA’s Green Claims Code; and Europe&rsquo

Department: Sustainability Management
R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
3 points

Details

SUMA PS6125

Navigating Global Sustainability: Corpor

Global Sustainability Dis

This course takes a dual-pronged approach to the importance of sustainability reporting: examining both the corporate perspective on preparing sustainability disclosures and the investor perspective on how these disclosures are used to inform capital allocation, risk assessment, and stewardship decisions. At a time when the sustainability reporting landscape—both voluntary and mandatory—is rapidly evolving, focusing on the investor perspective provides clarity. This approach helps students anchor their learning in what matters most for capital markets, enabling them to organize and lead sustainability reporting processes within their own organizations. The goal of this two-sided lens is to equip students with the skills to deliver decision-useful, transparent, and consistent sustainability information that aligns with the demands of today’s regulatory and investment environments.

In the first half of the course, students will explore the evolving landscape of sustainability frameworks and regulations. Key regulatory regimes—such as California’s SB 253 and SB 261, the EU’s CSRD, and the CSDDD and GRI, Sustainability Reports, ISSB —will serve as anchors for case discussions. These discussions will play a crucial role in helping students understand how to administer sustainability reporting as a strategic organizational function, and in emphasizing the organizational capacity and management practices needed to comply with these frameworks. By the end of the course, students will be able to design, manage, and implement the internal processes required to respond to mandatory and evolving ESG disclosure expectations.

The second half of the course will adopt the lens of the investor, exploring how ESG disclosures are integrated into decision-making across three asset classes: public equity, private equity/alternatives, and fixed income. Students will engage in structured modules for each asset class, assuming the role of institutional investors tasked with interpreting disclosures, engaging with companies, and making recommendations. Each module will feature live engagements with real-world investors, offering students direct insight into market practices and expectations.

Department: Sustainability Management
W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
Instructor: Carolyn Allwin
Info
3 points

Details

SUMA PS6130