The H&M Foundation has unveiled the Global Change Award 2025 (GCA), introducing a transformative approach to tackling climate change in the textile industry. With a bold ambition to halve greenhouse gas emissions every decade and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the initiative focuses on fostering innovation while ensuring an equitable transition for people and the planet.
The GCA highlights the textile industry’s urgent need to address its environmental impact, as it remains one of the highest contributors to global emissions. This renewed strategy emphasises collaboration, innovation, and systemic change to ensure sustainability and inclusivity.
A Comprehensive Approach to Sustainability
The Global Change Award 2025 aims to identify innovative solutions addressing significant emission hotspots within the textile value chain. Applicants are invited to address challenges related to:
- Sustainable Materials: Innovations in renewable and recyclable resources.
- Responsible Production: Processes that minimise waste and energy use.
- Mindful Consumption: Strategies to promote long-lasting and circular use of textiles.
- Wildcard Innovations: Unique solutions that align with GCA’s net-zero mission.
H&M Foundation board member Karl-Johan Persson underscores the importance of this initiative:
“The textile industry requires collective efforts to achieve its climate objectives. Innovation is crucial to decarbonising the industry, and the Global Change Award can help identify and support changemakers capable of driving transformative progress.”
Since 2015, GCA has supported 46 pioneering innovations with €8 million in grants. This year, the foundation will continue its commitment by awarding 10 winners €200,000 each, alongside a robust support programme.
New Features of the 2025 Programme
This year’s Global Change Award introduces key updates to its structure:
- Decarbonisation Focus: Prioritising innovations aimed at reducing carbon emissions.
- Holistic Mindset: Empowering innovators to consider both human and environmental impacts.
- Nomination Process: Shifting from open applications to a nomination-based model to identify diverse participants.
- Systemic Impact: Encouraging solutions that address interconnected challenges across the textile value chain.
Annie Lindmark, Innovation Programme Director at H&M Foundation, explains the initiative’s unique approach: “The holistic perspective is often missing in decarbonisation efforts. By addressing the textile value chain as a system, we can unlock significant change, particularly in the critical early stages of innovation.”
Empowering Future Changemakers
Winners will also benefit from a robust network of mentors, collaborators, and leading industry experts. Through partnerships with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the H&M Foundation has developed a Changemaker Programme tailored to support winners in refining and implementing their innovations. This year-long programme provides guidance, expertise, and resources to help bring solutions to life.
The Global Change Award 2025 winners will be announced in April 2025. This landmark initiative reinforces the H&M Foundation’s commitment to fostering sustainable innovation and shaping a future where the textile industry contributes positively to the planet while supporting the well-being of people.
The GCA 2025 underscores the role of philanthropy in bridging gaps, empowering changemakers, and driving actionable solutions to the climate crisis.
With the textile industry at a critical juncture, the GCA is poised to spark meaningful change, enabling breakthroughs that benefit both the environment and humanity
