"Your style of dress is a way of showing who you are without having to speak," this quote from American designer, Rachel Zoe, can describe how fashion has become part of the lifestyle of today's modern society. In Indonesia, the fashion industry is growing well. In 2019 before the pandemic , the national fashion industry is able to contribute about 18 percent of national income or around Rp. 1,500 trillion.Currently Indonesia is the 10th largest country as a textile exporter to the world. The Indonesian government noted that the textile industry has absorbed 3.58 million jobs. "This sector contributes around 21.2 percent of employment in the manufacturing sector," said President of the UN Global Compact Indonesia, Yaya Winarno Junardi, at the Textile Science meet Textile Economy symposium held at Atma Jaya Unika Jakarta on Tuesday (24/05).

Due to the contribution of the fashion world to national income, the Indonesian government has designated the textile industry as one of the national strategic industries. After facing a contraction during the pandemic, Indonesia has set a projected growth of the textile industry at 5 percent in 2022.

However, the sweet contribution of the fashion or textile industry in Indonesia is not directly proportional to its impact on the environment. "Unfortunately, the fashion industry, including the textile sector in it, is the second industry that contributes the most pollution to the environment," said Yaya Winarno Junardi.

Serious problems with the environment

The issue of environmental damage is a serious problem in the development of the textile industry. Data from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2017 states that the textile industry has produced greenhouse gas emissions of up to 1.2 billion tons per year. Data from the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion shows that the fashion industry requires around 215 trillion liters of water per year. On the other hand, this industry has also had a major impact on 20 percent of global wastewater pollution. Another problem lies in the large energy use in producing textiles.

In Indonesia, until now the process to create an environmentally friendly fashion industry still faces many challenges. Iwan Kurniawan Lukminto, Vice President Director of PT. Sri Rejeki Isman or Sritex, a large textile company in Indonesia, said "currently one of the challenges is that Indonesia has limitations in choosing energy source options to be used for the textile industry."

Energy options that are more environmentally friendly are one of the focuses of the Indonesian government. "Acceleration from the energy transition is a must. Currently, the issue of energy transition is one of the ideas that the Indonesian government has brought to the G20 presidency," said the Secretary General for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ego Syahrial.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that Indonesia has great potential to produce 3,686 gigawatts of renewable energy. But until now, only about 0.3 percent have been developed. The plan is that by 2025, Indonesia will set around 23 percent of its national energy needs from renewable energy.