None of Their Business? an Ethical Defense of Corporate Responsibility for Environmentally Harmful Clothing Consumption

There is a global consensus that contemporary consumption and production patterns are unsustainable and urgently need to change. A case in point is fast fashion, which is subject to severe criticism due to its huge environmental and carbon footprint. Recently, the success of e-commerce giant Shein, which adds thousands of new, trendy, and cheap styles to its online store every day, has reinforced this criticism. At the same time, more and more clothing companies – among them fast fashion pioneer H&M – claim they intend to change the wasteful consumption patterns of their customers by, for instance, offering clothing rental or clothing care tips. Thus, it seems like these companies assume some kind of responsibility for the transformation of consumption patterns.
In my dissertation, I examine the ethical dimension of this development. I argue that corporations have a moral responsibility to contribute to the transformation of environmentally harmful consumption patterns. This responsibility derives from the companies’ connection to structural injustice. I further develop my approach by discussing and countering three common business ethics objections to this corporate responsibility view. The first objection states that taking responsibility for consumption is impossible or undesirable because businesses operate in competitive markets. According to the second objection, there is a moral division of labor between the market and the state, and the state is responsible for encouraging more environmentally friendly consumption. The third objection is that consumers are sovereign and direct production through their demand; firms have only a passive role with respect to consumer preferences.