H&M, the Swedish group that also owns the Cos, & Other Stories, Monki and Weekday brands, is aiming to have 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030, up from 57% now. It is also testing out a free mending service.

Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability officer at Kering (whose boss François-Henri Pinault, was asked by French president, Emmanuel Macron to help pull together the G7 fashion-industry deal) said the international fashion pact would enable global retailers to share best practice and ideas and combine their buying power to push for change right back to the agricultural practices involved in supplying raw materials.

“Many companies have taken the initiative but if they do things on their own it has less impact on the ground than if they work together,” said Daveu. She said the group could combine efforts to find solutions to problems such as effective recycling of textiles and fibres for garments that can’t be worn again.

“More and more customers and clients, generation Z and millennials, are expecting brands to act,” she said. “Listed companies also find more and more investors and financial analysts are taking factors like climate change into account on risk management. Chief executives and designers are also citizens of the world and very conscious that they have an important role to play in one of the most important issues of our century.”

“It’s not an option, it’s now a duty of running a global company.”

Several retail and sustainable fashion experts told the Guardian they were concerned that the array of standards and global groups which brands and their suppliers were now expected to sign up to could divert resources from actual action.

“It’s great what Macron is doing,” said one big retailer who has held back from signing up to the G7 pact, referring to the fact that it was the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who asked Kering’s boss, François-Henri Pinault, to help pull together the G7 fashion industry deal. “But our responsibility is not to just sign something and the job is done. It is fine to say stuff but actually doing stuff is what’s important. Resources can be consumed by meetings. Let’s keep the balance on delivering.”

David Moon, of Scap,said global initiatives served to get big company bosses focused on environmental issues but he said “national action like Scap can really drive change. We can [muster] capital investment and ensure people are measuring and managing change.”

The UK government has backed an extension to Scap when it winds up next year and the new deal is expected to involve more retailers and to take steps towards developing industry-wide systems to recycle and reuse textiles and fibres.

Most big retailers now agree they have to adapt to survive. Waltier said: “Our planet doesn’t have the resources available to facilitate the linear production model that the vast majority of the fashion industry operates and therefore systemic change is the only option.”

This article is part of a series on possible solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems. What else should we cover? Email us at theupside@theguardian.com