Innovations from Uganda and Tanzania selected for H&M’s Global Change Award 2026

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The GCA accelerates innovation to support the textile industry in halving its greenhouse gas emissions every decade until 2050, while promoting a socially inclusive and planet-positive future.

By focusing on early-stage changemakers, the programme aims to catalyse ideas that can unlock systemic transformation across the value chain.

H&M Foundation explores the power of early-stage innovation

27 Oct 2025

Challenging climate change

This year’s finalists reflect the breadth and complexity of the textile industry’s climate challenge — from raw material innovation to manufacturing efficiency and shifting consumption models.

Among the selected ideas are carbon-negative dye systems that turn atmospheric CO₂ into bio-based colourants, seaweed-derived stretch fibres designed to replace fossil-based elastane, and AI-powered digital twins that help manufacturers identify inefficiencies and reduce energy loss in real time.

Other finalists are rethinking quality control in garment factories through machine-learning-enabled smart systems, while community-led initiatives are rebuilding local repair ecosystems to extend garment lifespans and make circularity visible and accessible.

The 20 finalists demonstrate that decarbonising fashion requires both technological breakthroughs and cultural shifts, addressing emissions at source while reimagining how garments are produced, used and valued.

“This year’s top 20 list shows that innovation in fashion is becoming more applied and more connected to industrial reality,” says Beatrice Oldenburg, project manager at H&M Foundation.

“We’re seeing solutions that address digitisation, recycling of blended textiles, bio-based alternatives and energy reduction, all areas that require both technical depth and system-level thinking.

“Early-stage ideas like these need backing and the right support to move from concept into real-world implementation.

“That’s exactly what the Global Change Award is designed to provide.”

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Check out the 20 Global Change Award 2026 finalists:

• Curbon by Joe Wahba and Alan Zhang (US)
  
• EntroMetri by Mohammed Ali, Iusiph Eiubovi and Steve Evans (UK)
  
• ThreadBridge by Md Ridwan Hossain (Bangladesh)
  
• ALU by Donatela Bellone (US)
  
• Menders Without Borders by Bhaavya Goenka, Filippo Ricci and Orsola De Castro (India)
  
• AIPER by Ailton Pereira (Brazil)
  
• AgroLyocell (Canvaloop) by Shreyans Kokra and Dhruv Gupta (India)
  
• ArtSilk by Anna Rising and Benjamin Schmuck (Sweden)
  
• Dawn Technologies (Avantium) by Peter Mangnus (Netherlands)
  
• DiamondCool™ by Shadi Houshyar (Australia)
  
• EnzymeThreads by Alfonso Gautieri and Emilio Parisini (Italy)
  
• Fiberly by Bénédicte Quinta (France)
  
• KelTex by Laetus Baberwa and Emeliana Said (Tanzania)
  
• Living Carbon Capture Dye Systems by Kavuma Henry (Uganda)
  
• MicroHues by Suchitha Raghunathan and Anjana Badrinarayanan (India)
  
• Colour Earth by Aurelie Fontan, Meredith Wood and Christopher Ferguson (UK)
  
• RheaCycle™ by Arzu Sandicki and Mert Topcu (US)
  
• Tera Mira by Jeanne Begon-Lours and Lucy Dain-Williams (UK)
  
• Arxy Fashion OS by Meng Ji (Luxembourg)
  
• MycoRenew by Tomasz Mierzwa and Katarzyna Turnau (Poland)

The finalists will now be reviewed by the GCA Expert Panel, who, together with the H&M Foundation team, will recommend 10 winners to the H&M Foundation Board.

The Global Change Award 2026 winners will be announced in June and will join the GCA Changemaker Programme, receiving a €200,000 grant, mentorship and access to a global network designed to accelerate their ideas from concept to impact.