Fashion brands based in the West or so-called developed countries really have all the power in global supply chains. They outsource production to less developed countries or countries where workers basically receive poverty wages such as in many countries in South and Southeast Asia.
Like the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the Green Button's requirements for corporate due diligence processes are based on international frameworks from the United Nations and the OECD. Green Button companies must prove that they take responsibility for their supply chains and take human rights risks into account. Unfortunately, human rights violations are not uncommon in textile producing countries.
The situation of women* workers in textile production, which supplies European countries, has hardly improved in the last two decades. The audits and CSR initiatives have hardly changed the culture of gender-based violence that is commonplace in most factories.
In our organisation, we try to promote female empowerment by doing a lot of awareness raising on health, rights, gender-based violence, women in leadership and collective bargaining. Our main goals are freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, living wages, ending gender-based violence and social protection. This is what we work for: Women Leadership and Collective Bargaining.
The credibility of certification labels depends on a variety of factors. First and foremost, the certification body must be independent and technically competent, and these characteristics must be monitored by the government at regular intervals. This is how it works with accredited systems such as the Green Button. All certification bodies involved in the Green Button scheme offer a high level of guarantee of their independence and the correctness of their conformity statements.
The textile industry is one of the economic sectors that is particularly globalized: Over 90% of all textiles and clothing in Germany is purchased internationally. Many production sites are located in countries that themselves care too little about the observance of human rights in their economy, i.e.
The Green Button is an important certification for VAUDE that confirms our high level of implementation of environmental and social standards in the supply chain. It offers our customers additional assurance that the VAUDE brand and VAUDE products credibly meet these requirements.