Country Road has launched the first fashion industry climate fund in Australia, the Country Road Climate Fund, which will see the heritage retailer invest $1.5 million in grant funding over the next three years to help accelerate climate solutions for Australia’s fashion industry.  The fund has been a year in the making and was inspired by the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned that drastic and immediate action is needed to prevent an environmental disaster. “If these predictions don’t spur us to change, what will?” Fabia Pryor, Country Road’s brand sustainability manager, told Inside Retail.Like many fashion brands, Country Road has been taking steps to reduce its environmental impact in recent years. It has opened a number of five-star-rated Green Star stores in Australia and New Zealand and started incorporating more recycled, organic and traceable materials into its collections. But the launch of the Climate Fund marks a shift in focus from reducing its own carbon footprint to that of the fashion industry more broadly. “We really think that partnerships are key to tackling these industry-wide challenges and driving deep long-term change,” Pryor said. “While there are existing climate fashion solutions, many of them are lacking the finance to be developed or deployed across the fashion industry, particularly within Australia.” First Nations-led solutionsCountry Road aims to change that by offering two types of funding: incubator grants of up to $30,000 per year, which are geared towards organisations with up to 10 employees and annual profits of less than $100,000, and accelerator grants of up to $200,000 per year, which are aimed at organisations that “already have some runs on the board”.The retailer’s primary mandate is to fund projects that directly or indirectly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it is also targeting projects that align with certain “sub-themes”, which it sees as being key to positive climate outcomes: biodiversity, circularity, First Nations and innovation. “We know that the climate and biodiversity crises are dual crises, they’re fundamentally linked and need to be worked on simultaneously,” Pryor explained. “Equally, we know that the move to a circular economy is absolutely pivotal in addressing climate change. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation highlights that approximately 45 per cent of global fashion emissions can be addressed through circularity.” She said the industry also needs to leverage the knowledge and creativity within the First Nations communities, who bring 60,000 years wisdom to the table, as well as innovative technology. “I really don’t think technology and innovation alone will drive the change required. They’re part of the solution for sure, but not all,”  she said. Multi-pronged approachRenowned sustainability leader Dr Helen Crowley, managing director at Pollination, which advised Country Road on the Climate Fund, said that reducing the fashion industry’s impact on climate change will require pursuing and supporting multiple approaches simultaneously. “This is exactly what Country Road is doing with its new fund that focuses on protecting and restoring biodiversity, supporting Indigenous Peoples and innovating around business models and products,” she said.Dr Crowley is part of the assessment committee that will select the grant recipients. Other members of the committee include Aleasha McCallion, co-founder of the circular economy textiles program at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Yatu Widders-Hunt, a descendant of the Dunghutti and Anaiwan Peoples from north-western New South Wales and general manager of Cox Inall Ridgeway, an Indigenous social change agency, which has been working with Country Road for the past few years, and Pryor herself.Applicants must be an Australian resident or an Australian-registered company, and the project must operate from within Australia in order to be eligible for funding. Those applying under the First Nations pillar must be majority First Nations-owned or operated. The deadline for applications is 1 December, with the winning grant recipients to be announced in April 2023. While the Climate Fund is currently set to run for three years, Pryor said the goal is to replenish it annually to make it an ongoing initiative.The right thing to doWith the launch of the Climate Fund, which will divert $1.5 million from the brand over the next three years, Country Road is redefining what it means to be a responsible retailer. “This isn’t just something that we as a business see the need for, customers are definitely demanding this,” Pryor said. “They want to know the origins of the materials we use, they want to understand the backstory of our products and they’re interested in supporting local.” This has led the retailer to return to making some of its products locally, such as its 90s reissue sweat, 80s reissue chambray shirt and men’s T-shirt. Later this year, it will release its first T-shirt made from Good Earth Cotton, which is grown in Australia and certified as carbon-neutral.“We’re not just doing this because it’s the right thing to do,” Pryor said. “Our community is expecting it of us, and it supports companies that are doing the right thing as well.” Beyond the Climate Fund, Country Road has committed to donating a minimum of $725,000 to its partnerships with Landcare Australia and the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation between 2020 and 2023.