The International Finance Corporation on Tuesday launched a web tool named PaCT Portal to calculate resource consumption in the country’s readymade garments industry. The initiative comes as the IFC-led Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT II) enters its third year with eight partners working together to reduce the environmental impacts of the activities of the exportoriented sector, said a press release. The portal was launched at the PaCT annual meet held in Dhaka where panel discussions focused on issues including low-carbon opportunities in the textile industry. The panelists also highlighted how emerging consumer behaviour and choices are now shaping the global apparel market, the release said. Supported by Denmark, Australia, and the Netherlands, PaCT’s multi-stakeholder partnership has already helped the industry to save 25 billion litres of water and 2.5 million megawatt hours of energy annually. Launched in 2018, PaCT II works with 132 factories to adopt state-of-the-art efficiency solutions and reduce water, energy, and chemical use to meet global standards. Five textile brands – VF Corp, PUMA, Levi Strauss & Co, TESCO, and GAP Inc – have partnered with the PaCT programme while the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association is the implementing partner. The IFC release said that the data-driven monitoring software would provide realtime analytics for readymade garment factories, helping them in their efforts to improve use of resources, such as water and energy. ‘Through programmes like PaCT, we hope to contribute towards improving sector competitiveness by promoting resource efficiency through innovative ways and evolving with global trends,’ IFC country manager Wendy Werner said. Nishat Chowdhury, programme manager for PaCT, said that this monitoring tool would work as an analytical information exchange platform to help with users’ decision-making regarding water and energy consumption. It can play a big role in leading the industry towards sustainability and achieve results that are right for the industry, the planet and our future generation, she said. In a video message, BGMEA president Rubana Huq said that the industry had saved a huge amount of water and energy through the collaborative partnership with PaCT. ‘We would like to think and shape tomorrow for the better and we can only do that by being the best of partners in the days to come,’ she said.
