Fashion is fun. Clothes can help us express ourselves - not to mention protect us from the elements! But fast fashions addiction to excess is having a devastating effect.

The fashion industry generates more harmful C02 emissions than all international flights and shipping combined. This contributes to climate change - making extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe. And its people living in poverty who are suffering the consequences.

People like Lamuchi.

'The water level is increasing day by day'

Lamuchi is a fisherman. He lives with his wife and two sons in a village in one of Bangladeshs coastal areas. During the monsoon season, cyclones and floods are common.

Yet because of climate change, disasters such as these have become more frequent and severe. This means heavy loss of life, homes and businesses. Vulnerable people like Lamuchi are pushed further into poverty.

The water level is increasing day by day, Lamuchi says. Floods are happening very often. When I was a boy, I can remember that floods did not even occur once within five years. But now, floods take place here three to four times every year.

Desperation

The increasingly extreme weather means that Lamuchi is no longer able to earn enough from fishing. He often risks his life - braving the monsoons in his boat - just to catch enough so that his family can live

'I am struggling hard', Lamuchi tells us. 'I do that day or night, even in rainfall or flood or anything else... We can't live without eating'.

'Moreover, my two sons are studying. I need to meet their expenses. Considering all these things, we are in great suffering.'

Saving lives

Although the need is great, the hope we have is greater. Together, we can make a real, lasting difference in the lives of people like Lamuchi around the world.

The money we raise could support life-saving projects such as building flood-resistant homes; training communities in how to respond and recover when disaster hits; and planting trees to provide a barrier that will help prevent homes and crops from being washed away.

So join us in The Great Fashion Fast and help push back against poverty and the climate crisis.