Australian fashion brand Country Road has handed out over $400,000 in grant funding in 2024, adding onto $547,000 handed out last year as part of its Climate Fund.
The Climate Fund was launched in 2022 by the fashion brand, the first of its kind in the Australian fashion industry, pledging $1.5 million over three years.
In its second year, the fund granted money to four finalists, up by one from last year.
Textile waste tech solution RediRobots received $30,000. Redirobots is a robotic solution to assist in sorting and handling waste textiles for recycling.
RediRobots has reportedly developed technology to automate this process of sorting textile waste by colour and garment type. This pilot project is in collaboration with Textile Recyclers Australia and the University of Canberra.
Conservation group Mimal Women Rangers received $51,400. This group covers the Mimal Land Management, with initiatives including climate and conservation work.
Alongside their core mission, many of the women rangers and Elders are expert weavers and are culturally responsible for passing this traditional practice down to the younger generations. Backed by Country Road funding, project aims to enhance their relationship with the Djilpin Arts Centre by enabling access to different remote areas of Country.
Just under $140,000 was granted to digital platform Circular Sourcing, a solution that aims to re-circulate quality surplus materials.
The digital platform was developed by A.BCH founder Courtney Holm, and has since diverted over five tonnes of textiles in a 12-week pilot. With the Country Road Climate Fund, the project aims to divert a further 238 tonnes of textiles from landfill and into the hands of small businesses, reframing “deadstock” as an ecological choice.
Meanwhile, Greening Australia was granted $200,000, with the money going towards improving biodiversity on Tasmanian Merino Wool farms.
In partnership with a Merino wool farming family in the Tasmanian Midlands, this project will establish 30,000 native plants, restoring hectares of native, biodiverse vegetation. According to Greening Australia, this planting will create windbreaks and corridors of vegetation to connect fragmented native habitats and allow isolated populations of threatened wildlife to interact, improving genetic diversity and boosting their ability to adapt in the face of climate change.
The Climate Fund’s primary mandate, Country Road noted, is to invest in projects with a positive climate impact that directly or indirectly reduce greenhouse gas emission in the fashion industry supply chain.
The Fund is also targeted at investing in projects which align with one or more of the following pillars: biodiversity, First Nations-led projects, circularity and innovation.
This year’s finalists were selected by an assessment committee comprising industry specialists across the four Climate Fund pillars. The committee included Cox Inall Ridgeway general manager Yatu Widders Hunt; Pollination managing director Dr Carter Ingram; Country Road brand sustainability manager Fabia Pryor; and Circularity Economy Transitions strategic projects manager Aleasha McCallion.
McCallion, who is also the co-founder of Circular Economy Textiles Program at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, commended the finalists this year.
“Country Road’s Climate Fund is demonstrating leadership and a clear commitment to supporting - and importantly, directly funding - local grassroots community and industry collaborative projects which have impact,” McCallion said.
“All of the Climate Fund recipients clearly reflect exceptional innovation and dedication to sustainable and circular solutions in Australia which connect our close relationship with fibre, textiles and fashion, back to the health and wellbeing of people and planet.”
Last year, Country Road granted over $500,000 from its Climate Fund to three initiatives. Following this year, Country Road still has just over $500,000 left to grant in 2025.