Sustainable Leather Forum in Paris: Global politics, self-praise, and a glimmer of hope from Normandy
On September 7th, the international leather industry gathered for the 8th time at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris. Around 150 participants came together, representing agriculture and politics, major brands, as well as the French leather industry with its tanneries and workshops. The program featured several roundtables on various topics: the first dedicated to the future of raw material availability and animal husbandry, featuring voices from France, Italy, China, Turkey, and Brazil. Another focused on consumer behavior and the perception of leather. In between, Edoardo De Paola, Secretary General of COTANCE, spoke about European regulation: rather than viewing it merely as a restriction, he advocated for targeted investments in studies and research to influence EU legislation with facts and data, and to actively shape the image of leather in Brussels.
World politics as an introduction
The day opened with a keynote address by Hubert Védrine, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who placed the leather industry within the broader context of global politics. As a political scientist, I felt momentarily transported back to the lecture hall—an unusual yet welcome kickoff for an industry event.
Raw materials and traceability
The subsequent panel discussion then became more concrete, painting an insightful picture of the current raw material situation: Chinese investors are acquiring stakes in French hide dealers. Italy lacks a sufficient supply of high-quality raw materials. At the same time, overall global demand for leather is declining, with the consequence that more and more raw hides are not processed at all, but rather sent to landfills or incinerated. In my last blog, I published figures on this. Today, the cheapest hides (due to poor quality), wet-salted from Brazil, largely no longer end up in leather production at all, but are instead exported to West Africa for food purposes.
Traceability was also at the center of many contributions, though with a direction I do not share. The discussions primarily focused on blockchain solutions and DNA markers. My understanding of traceability is different: it is not created through additional technology, but through direct relationships along the entire value chain. Because no technology will save us.
Lots of self-praise, little substance
Overall, a certain sense of complacency prevailed in the industry that day. Leather was celebrated as an outstanding material—breathable, durable, and the better alternative to plastic. Tellingly, the forum's give-away was heavily pigmented leather that bore virtually no resemblance to the original hide. Questions regarding transport routes, eco-friendly tanning methods, or a fundamentally slower, more conscious approach to the material were left unaddressed. Instead, the day was defined by appearances, even at the table. So, over lunch, I took a little break and strolled through the streets of Paris with fresh raspberries, a pain au chocolat, and a café au lait. Sometimes, that tells you more about the right direction than a conference room.
My highlight: Reforest’Action
For me, the real highlight of the day was away from the main stage: a conversation with Reforest'Action. The organization is implementing an agroforestry project in Normandy with an approach that really resonated with me: making hides from this type of land use accessible to the leather industry in the future. Here, agriculture, reforestation, and raw material production are conceived together from the ground up, rather than being linked retroactively. I'm keeping an eye on this project and will report on how it develops.