By aligning standards and leveraging expertise, the new partnership aims to make responsible business conduct more practical, effective, and impactful.

Amsterdam/Berlin, 11 September 2025 – Fair Wear, an international multi-stakeholder initiative, and the Green Button, Germany’s government-run textile label, have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to establish a strategic partnership that advances responsible business conduct in the global garment and textile industry. 

The collaboration aims to scale impactful Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) by aligning approaches and leveraging the combined expertise of two of the sector’s most credible initiatives. Together, they will help more companies turn commitments into action that benefits workers, the environment and resilient supply chains.  

Achieving more together

The garment and textile industry remains a high-risk sector for human rights violations and environmental harm. Workers in production countries continue to face unsafe working conditions and low wages, while ecosystems are threatened by unsustainable practices. With increasing commercial as well as legislative due diligence requirements for European companies, there is a need for more harmonised, practical, and scalable approaches. This new partnership will enable brands and manufacturers to overcome practical challenges more effectively and deliver impact where it matters most.

The Green Button and Fair Wear will work together in three key areas to accelerate HREDD efforts: 

• Harmonisation of standards: reducing complexity for businesses by further aligning both organisations’ OECD-based requirements while ensuring ambition and impact;
• Joint tools and aligned brand guidance: co-creating and sharing best practices and proven methods to facilitate step-by-step implementation of HREDD;
• Credible and transparent accountability: strengthening ways to assess, verify and communicate to stakeholders and consumers how corporate due diligence leads to real improvements.

What this means in practice
The strategic partnership between Fair Wear and the Green Button has immediately kicked off with concrete benefits: Green Button companies now gain access to Fair Wear’s grievance mechanism and its due diligence Academy. At the same time, the two organisations are collaborating on the Green Button’s standard revision process and advancing approaches on environmental due diligence topics benefiting Fair Wear members. 

“The textile sector is facing a decisive moment with mandatory yet still evolving due diligence laws coming into force. Companies need reliable and practical guidance now. Through this partnership, brands will benefit from clearer expectations, shared resources and efficient support to implement HREDD more effectively,” says [Christine Moser-Priewich, Green Button].

“Our collaboration is about making due diligence practical and accessible to more brands. By aligning with the Green Button, we give companies clearer pathways to embed responsible practices into their operations—strengthening resilience, reducing risks, and driving improvements for workers across supply chains” adds [Annabel Meurs, Fair Wear].

About the Green Button

The Green Button is a government-run label for sustainable textiles, introduced in September 2019 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It aims to improve working and production conditions by systematically assessing and verifying whether companies fulfil HREDD in their textile supply chains. 

About Fair Wear

Fair Wear advances workers’ rights across global supply chains by embedding human rights into business. With 25+ years of experience, over 100 member brands, local stakeholder networks, and principled pragmatism, we co-create scalable, worker-centred approaches that make responsible business conduct both practical and impactful.

https://www.fairwear.org/