Cashmere is the fine undercoat combed from cashmere goats, used across knitwear, scarves, coats and premium accessories. It is prized for warmth at very low weight. The carbon footprint of cashmere averages 199.05 kg CO₂e per kg of fibre, the highest of any fibre in common apparel use and roughly ninety-three times that of cotton.
What are the CO₂e emissions of cashmere?
199.05 kg CO₂e per kg of cashmere fibre
Around 11 times sheep’s wool and 93 times global-average cotton
The figure covers cradle-to-gate production, i.e. goat husbandry, combing, and the scouring and dehairing that separate the fine down from coarse guard hair. It stops at fibre ready to spin.
Cashmere’s footprint is so high because of yield. A cashmere goat produces only a small quantity of usable down each year, far less than a sheep produces in wool, so the animal’s full-year burden of feed, land and enteric methane divides across very little fibre. Dehairing compounds it, because a substantial share of what was combed is discarded and everything discarded still carries the herd’s emissions.
How does cashmere compare to other fibres?
| Fibre | kg CO₂e per kg |
| Cotton, global average | 2.13 |
| Polyester | 4.78 |
| Wool | 18.08 |
| Silk | 117.97 |
| Cashmere | 199.05 |
Cashmere sits at the top of the fibre range by a clear margin. At the other end, linen averages about 1.03 kg CO₂e per kg — among the lowest natural fibres at commercial scale.
Cashmere water use
Cashmere uses 0.60 m³ of water per kg of fibre, close to sheep’s wool at 0.60 and below global-average cotton at 0.75. Linen sits slightly lower still at 0.50 m³ per kg.
What cashmere means for a product footprint
A cashmere sweater using 300 grams of fibre:
| Fibre choice | Fibre-stage emissions |
| Cashmere | 59.7 kg CO₂e |
| 30% cashmere, 70% merino blend | 21.7 kg CO₂e |
| Wool | 5.4 kg CO₂e |
| Recycled wool | 0.2 kg CO₂e |
One 300 gram cashmere sweater carries about as much fibre-stage carbon as 280 cotton t-shirts.
Blending is the most workable reduction for most brands. For example, 30% cashmere, 70% merino blend at the same garment weight cuts the fibre footprint by roughly 65% while keeping much of the handle that justifies the price.
Garment weight matters more here than in any other fibre. At 199.05 per kilogram, every 50 grams of cashmere added to a design costs around 10 kg CO₂e, so gauge and construction decisions that would be immaterial in cotton are significant in cashmere.
Spinning, knitting, dyeing and finishing all add to these figures and are not included.
What these figures cover
Fibre stage only. Husbandry through to scoured and dehaired fibre. Yarn, garment manufacture and end of life are all separate.
Industry averages. These figures support an estimate of your cashmere footprint. They cannot support a claim that your herd or processor outperforms the sector.
Origin is not distinguished. Mongolian, Chinese and Afghan cashmere all carry the same figure, even though herd management and grassland condition differ substantially between them.
Carbon and water only. Grassland degradation, land use and biodiversity are not represented, and those are the issues most associated with cashmere production.
