Textile Exchange has released a study on the environmental and social impact of two major ways to produce cashmere: nomadic grazing systems, where herders follow the livestock where they go, and farmed systems.
The 149-page life cycle assessment (LCA) study, which will still be submitted for peer review for publication in a scientific journal, is meant to add to the library of data-driven information that stakeholders can use to reduce supply chain impacts, improve sustainability, and guide future research.
The results essentially found no significant difference in the climate change impacts of the two systems, based on data collected from 170 production sites in two major cashmere-producing countries, China and Mongolia.
“This study found no significant differences in climate change impacts between management systems when impacts were assessed per kilogram of clean dehaired cashmere, suggesting that nomadic and farmed systems can achieve comparable outcomes,” it read.
The primary production stage—which results in raw cashmere, live weight for meat consumption, and milk for dairy products—is the most significant contributor across key indicators, namely climate change, water use, ecotoxicity and land use, the study noted.
Extreme climactic events, however, can increase the environmental impacts per kilogram of cashmere, primarily due to reduced productivity and higher mortality, the study said. Both countries experience extreme winter weather events, which are known as “dzuds” in Mongolia and “snow emergencies” in China. This is often made worse by the summer droughts that follow harsh winters.
“Enhancing resilience through better dzud management and infrastructure could mitigate these effects,” the study said.
Textile Exchange’s study also explored the social impact of cashmere farming in both countries, which it said had a history spanning thousands of years. The analysis painted a picture of a sector that was “shaped by both deep-rooted tradition and accelerating change.”
Cashmere farming is just not an economic activity in China and Mongolia; it’s a way of life which is closely tied to identity, family, and community, the study said. But there are growing pressures, such as market volatility, debt cycles, and climate shocks, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including women, small scale herders, and those in remote areas.
“Building a truly sustainable and equitable cashmere supply chain will require shared responsibility—among producers, processors, brands, governments, and civil society—to ensure that transformation strengthens, rather than displaces, the social fabric of herding life,” the study said.