The H&M Foundation has announced the ten winners of the Global Change Award 2025 – early-stage innovations with the potential to halve fashion’s emissions every decade. Each winner receives €200K and joins a yearlong programme focused on systems thinking, personal growth and scaling impact for people and planet.
As the textile industry races to decarbonise, digitalise, and redefine itself through circularity, we face a critical question: will this transformation be fair for the people and communities most affected by it? That’s where just transition comes in – a concept that ensures that climate action and social justice go hand-in-hand.
Why this matters – and what we’ll unpack
A just transition is
Annie Lindmark, H&M Foundation, and Claire Bergkamp, Textile Exchange, explore why changemakers – not just ideas – are key to transforming fashion. The Global Change Award backs bold changemakers with early-stage ideas tackling emissions, helping reimagine a system where fashion is decarbonised while promoting the wellbeing of both people and planet.
The H&M Foundation gathers experts to select winners for the Global Change Award 2025, promoting innovative solutions to decarbonise fashion. The top 20 ideas from 476 submissions will be evaluated, with winners announced on May 20, 2025.
The System Map has been launched to guide the textile industry towards decarbonisation, facilitating collaboration among stakeholders. It encourages reflection on roles and systemic change, aiming for a net-zero future through innovative dialogue and shared insights within the value chain.
H&M Foundation supports The Fashion ReModel with 16,5 million SEK. The project redefines revenue in fashion through rental, repair, resale, and remake practices, promoting circular business models. Led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, it aims to decouple income from new garment production, fostering industry-wide transformation.
The H&M Foundation partners with SEEDS to enhance disaster resilience in vulnerable Indian communities. This three-year initiative, funded with SEK 7,500,000, focuses on emergency relief, long-term recovery, and sustainable development, empowering affected groups to better withstand future challenges.
A new guide, "Pop Culture: Bursting the Climate Communications Bubble," aids climate communicators in using cultural narratives to inspire action. Developed by New Zero World with support from the H&M Foundation, it emphasises storytelling to bridge the gap between awareness and action on climate change.
A groundbreaking report by Circle Economy, funded by the H&M Foundation, emphasises urgent action for the textile industry to enhance circularity and reduce its environmental impact through recycling, reuse, and sustainable practices to ensure a more sustainable future for the sector.
The H&M Foundation has launched a new Global Change Award to accelerate innovation towards a net-zero textile industry by 2050. The award seeks transformative ideas for reducing emissions, emphasising a just transition and fostering collaboration among various industry stakeholders.
On its passage, Typhoon Yagi affected 31.5M people. H&M Foundation is donating USD 250,000 to the Red Cross to support aid efforts in Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Nine Indian startups received recognition for their innovative solutions enhancing inclusive circularity, transforming waste into value, and providing social upliftment through job creation and empowerment. The initiative, supported by H&M Foundation through Saamuhika Shakti, focuses on environmental sustainability and social responsibility in the textile industry.