Wednesdays for the Planet | The Clothes We Wear

Wednesdays for the Planet is a series of online screenings and virtual presentations with experts highlighting the natural world and other environmental challenges our planet faces. The virtual screenings are for educational purposes, non-profit and non-commercial.

Documentary

The Clothes We Wear

Presented by Deutsche Welle (DW), “The Clothes We Wear” is a documentary on sustainable fashion. As the synopsis indicates, we live in an age of hyper-consumption, and nowhere is this more obvious than the fashion industry. “Fast fashion” is the buzzword these days. Driven by glossy advertising campaigns, many consumers are constantly buying new clothes.

New collections are arriving on the market at an ever increasing rate – many of them at rock-bottom prices. And if you believe the information campaigns run by some of the textile giants, consumers can now buy with a clear conscience. It’s become trendy for clothing labels to tout their green credentials, advertising eco-friendly labels allegedly made according to strict environmental standards.

But is it all genuine? Two reporters go undercover to find out what’s really happening in the textile factories where many clothes destined for the European market are made. They discover the extent of the environmental devastation caused by the industry and how companies are making a profit from the fact that sustainability sells.

Online Screening

Experts

Maria Teresa Pisani

Economic Policy Officer, Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Maria Teresa Pisani is Economic Policy Officer at the Economic Cooperation and Trade Division of the UNECE, where she leads the work on policies and standards for sustainable and circular value chains. At UNECE since 2011, she has been focusing on trade and environmental governance. Before joining the UN, Maria Teresa worked for the European Commission, the International Labour Organization and has managed World Bank funded projects for institutional reforms in emerging economies around the world.

Ana Cândida Cipriano

Legal Expert, Competition and Law Policy and Consumer Protection Branch, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Ana Cândida Muniz Cipriano, a lawyer, is an expert in international cooperation and politics and currently works at UNCTAD. She holds an LLM in International and European Law from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and is a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ana is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association, São Paulo section, and of the International Law Association (ILA). She’s the Deputy Director for International Relations of the Brazilian Institute of Politics and Consumer Law (BRASILCON) and an Associate Legal Officer at UNCTAD.

Ann-Kathrin Zotz

Global Manager, Trade for Sustainable Development Hubs, International Trade Centre (ITC)

Ann-Kathrin Zotz works for ITC as the Global Manager of the Trade for Sustainable Development Hubs and projects, which enable SMEs to transition to a green economy by equipping them with the right set of tools and capacities as well as creating local ecosystems allowing them to implement sustainable business practices and accessing international markets.

Before joining ITC, she worked with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Inter-American Development Bank based in Santiago, Chile, where she conducted policy research on the interplay between international trade, transport systems and carbon emissions.

Ann-Kathrin holds a Master of Applied Economics in International Trade, Finance and Development of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Maastricht School of Business and Economics.

Ana Batalhone

Associate Programme Officer, Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains Section, ITC

Ana Batalhone is an Associate Programme Officer at the Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains Section of ITC. She manages trade-related technical assistance projects to support SMEs from developing countries to enhance their international competitiveness through the adoption of responsible and sustainable business practices.

She holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the University of Geneva and a master’a degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID).

Alia Malik

Director of Data and Traceability, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)

Alia Malik is the Director of Data and Traceability at BCI. She has led BCI’s global farm level programmes for the past three years and has recently started developing our key areas of focus of impact and traceability of better cotton. Alia is a development economist and social entrepreneur by background. She has founded Farmsmart and Shangrila Farms and has worked for UN organizations in China, India, Vietnam, Kenya and Malawi.