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Global Change Award 2026 Honours Innovators Tackling Fashion’s Biggest Climate Challenges

• By  Textile Excellence
• June 15, 2026

The fashion industry's race to cut emissions has found ten new champions.

The H&M Foundation has announced the winners of the Global Change Award (GCA) 2026, recognising early-stage innovators developing solutions to some of fashion's most pressing environmental challenges. From turning agricultural waste into fibres to replacing elastane and creating biodegradable dyes, this year's winners reflect a growing push towards practical, scalable innovation.

The winners:

• Agro-Lyocell by Canvaloop (India) - Turns agricultural waste into forest-free textile fibres, replacing wood-based inputs
• Alu (US) - Uses psychology and AI to make digital product passports drive circular behaviour
• ArtSilk (Sweden) - Creates spider silk-inspired fibres using microorganisms
• EntroMetrix (UK) - Develops its own AI models to optimise energy and material use in manufacturing
• Fiberly (France) - Turns textile waste into precision-engineered, cotton-like fibres
• KelTex (Tanzania) - Turns seaweed into biodegradable leather alternatives
• MicroBlue by Microbeworks (India) - Biodegradable dyes that work in existing dyeing systems
• RheaCycle™ by Rhea’s Factory (US) - Uses AI-designed enzymes to break down polyester waste into new fibre building blocks
• Tera Mira (UK) - Turns seaweed into stretch fibres, replacing elastane with a bio-based alternative
• threadBridge (Bangladesh) - Brings real-time defect detection to factory floors using smart glasses

Each of the ten winners will receive a grant of €200,000 and participate in the year-long GCA Changemaker Programme, delivered by the H&M Foundation in partnership with Accenture and KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The programme provides mentorship, systems-thinking tools and industry connections to help turn promising ideas into real-world solutions. The Foundation takes no equity or intellectual property rights from participants.

Since its launch in 2015, the Global Change Award has supported 66 teams from 24 countries with grants totalling €12 million. For the H&M Foundation, the message is clear: the solutions exist. What the industry now needs is the speed and scale to bring them to life.

“What stands out this year is not just the strength of the ideas, but the people behind them. These changemakers combine a deep understanding of real-world challenges with the determination to solve them. A common thread running through many of the winning solutions is resource efficiency - from reducing waste to making smarter use of existing materials and resources. Ultimately, transforming the textile industry will require both breakthrough technologies and the people committed to bringing them to life.” - Beatrice Oldenburg, Project Manager at H&M Foundation.