The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international organization dedicated to exploring and monitoring global issues across economies, like climate change.
An article published on July 5 by website The People's Voice claims the WEF says fashion would be “abolished” and “humans will all wear a uniform” by 2030. The article goes on to claim that people would be limited to just a few items of clothing. In the days following its publication, some online users shared similar claims.
One tweet with more than 675,000 views says, “The World Economic Forum has stated that Fashion will be unnecessary by 2030…are these the Uniforms they say we’ll all be wearing?"
THE QUESTION
Did the World Economic Forum declare everyone will have to wear the same uniform by 2030?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, the World Economic Forum didn’t declare that everyone will have to wear the same uniform by 2030.
WHAT WE FOUND
The claims in the two articles misrepresent a 2019 study by C40 Cities, a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world's leading cities that work together to confront the climate crisis.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is not listed as a contributor to the report, or a funder of the report, as claimed by The People’s Voice. Additionally, there was no place in that report where “global uniforms” were mentioned as a recommendation.
The only time the word “uniform” was mentioned in the C40 Cities report was on page 10, where it says, “Consumption patterns and consumption-based emissions are not uniform across all cities,” which has nothing to do with clothing choice.
“The World Economic Forum never called to abolish fashion,” Yann Zopf, a spokesperson for the WEF, wrote in an email to the Associated Press. “These are false claims to discredit the important work that the World Economic Forum does on serious global challenges.”
The report from C40 Cities outlines ways emissions could be progressively cut in six different categories: buildings and industry, food, private transport, clothing and textiles, electronics and appliances and aviation.
Based on data collected in 2017, this report attributes 4% of all emissions in the 40 cities participating in the C40 Cities network to the clothing and textile industry. The report says if people limit new clothing purchases to just eight items, that would cut the emissions in this category by 47%.
If people limited their clothing purchases to three garments per year, by 2030 there would be a further 19% emissions reduction, for a total 66% reduction in emissions.
The information in the report was just a recommendation, not a directive.
SOURCE OF THE MISINFORMATION
The viral claim first appeared in The People’s Voice before being picked up by other publications and social media users. The People’s Voice is a conservative website that peddles in conspiracy theories and has been known to publish misinformation.
This is not the first time the WEF has been a target among conservative or conspiratorial websites. Most recently on June 8, The People’s Voice led with an article titled “RFK Jr. [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] Vows To Destroy the ‘World Economic Forum’ if He Becomes President.”
The WEF is led by an executive chairman, with a board of trustees, managing board and executive committee composed of individuals that represent different areas of expertise. It would not be possible for a president to dismantle the forum.
According to reports from The Week magazine, the WEF has been a target among conspiracy theorists since its founding in 1971, but conspiracy theorists really became fixated on the group during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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