Can the global fur trade continue to grow after questioning ethical values and environmental protection?
The fur trade is a worldwide business dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur including deer, otter, raccoon, mink, wolf, fox and beaver. It is widely believed that fur was used as one of the first materials for clothing and body decoration. The “Sumptuary Legislation” published in England reserved the wearing of certain furs to higher social status, which also impacted people’s opinion today - fur clothing is still considered as a symbol of wealth and luxury.
History of fur trade
The fur market was globally established in the 1600s and started in Canada. During the 17th century, Europeans started to be interested in wearing felt hats and firstly started this commerce by providing their local goods to the Canadian indigenous people in exchange for beaver pelts. This profitable business quickly attracted the British. Some different companies were set up. The development of this commerce also stimulated the exploration and colonization of areas like Siberia and North America.
Current situation of global fur trade
Nowadays, the global fur trade has been valued at more than $40 billion which shows its important role in international commerce. Moreover, for some countries such as Russia, Greece and Canada, the fur trade is also regarded as one of their pillar industries and provides tens of thousands of jobs. In Canada, the fur trade contributes almost $1 billion to its economy per year. Concerning the European market, the fur retail trade represents $4.8 billion even considering the impact of the pandemic. According to research carried out by the University of Copenhagen, the global fur market will attain $20.1 billion after the pandemic. All these figures illustrate the huge potential of this commercial activity.
Today, China is the biggest producer of fur in this international trade. With the strong economic growth experienced in the 2000s, Chinese benefited from a higher standard of living. Therefore, local consumers are becoming more and more interested in purchasing luxury products including fur clothes in order to show their social status. During 2019 and 2020, thousands of minks were killed in Europe due to the possibility of transmitting the coronavirus. This shortage of European supply has raised the price of fur and given Chinese producers more opportunities, which expands the market.
With increased awareness of sustainability and slow fashion, consumers consider products from natural materials including fur as a solution to climate change. However, the reality is completely the opposite.
Social and environmental controversies of fur trade
According to several European advertising standards committees, advertising treating fur as an eco-friendly product is false and deceptive. Fur farming is not only harmful to animals but also damaging for our local environment. There are tons of manure producing greenhouse emissions and polluting the water resources. “The climate change impact of 1kg fur is at least 5 times higher than the highest scoring textile (wool) – due to the production of animal feed and manure emissions”, illustrated CE Delft in its LCA study (Life cycle assessment) carried out in 2011.
Nowadays, the fur trade seems to have shrunk due to the protection of animal rights. The process of production is so violent that sometimes animals are skinned alive. Each year, around one hundred million animals are bred and killed in order to meet the fashion industry’s demand for producing different clothes such as coats, hats, gloves etc. In addition to fur farming, a considerable number of animals are trapped and skinned in the wild. In 2017, there were more than 3 million animals killed for their pelts by trapping in North America.
Fur
farming is extremely cruel as the animals will be confined in small cages for
their whole lives. The terrible living conditions don’t even allow them to
express their basic natural behaviors and may make them insane physically and
psychologically. What is worse is that, to ensure that their pelts are at their
prime, animals are killed before one year old and suffer a lot during this process, being gassed, electrocuted, beaten or even neck broken.
Because of all these inhumane actions, the fur trade has been widely criticized. In 2021, Israel became the first country in the world to ban real fur sales. Many different brands such as Burberry decided to stop fur and choose other alternative materials. With more and more attention paid to this issue, animals seem to be less threatened.
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Hi Xiaorong, I found the subject of your article very interesting.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that as the mentality regarding global warming and animal rights will evolve, the fur industry will collapse? Or with the developing countries´ upper middle class surge, demand is expected to grow?
Princilia S.
Hi Princilia,
DeleteThank you for your comment.
As for me, I think the fur industry will shrink little by little due to ethical values and environmental protection. There are more and more brands that have already banned fur in their production such as Burberry and Calvin Klein. Although the emergence of the upper middle class in many different developing countries will stimulate the fur trade in the short term, some substitutions, like faux fur, could also be seen as a solution, instead of using the real fur. In addition, more and more countries started to pay attention to the protection of animal rights and set up laws in order to control the fur industry or even to totally forbid it. Therefore, I think that as people become more aware, the real fur trade will decrease.
Xiaorong Z.