中文title: “Paris Calling: Why the Sustainable Leather Forum 2026 Could Be the Industry’s Most Important Meeting This Decade” original_url: “https://leathernews.org/sustainable-leather-forum-2026/” source: “Leather News”
Paris Calling: Why the Sustainable Leather Forum 2026 Could Be the Industry’s Most Important Meeting This Decade
On September 7, 2026, a remarkable gathering will unfold in Paris — one that brings together the full spectrum of global leather stakeholders under a single, increasingly urgent theme: sustainability. The Sustainable Leather Forum 2026 isn’t just another industry conference with recycled talking points and stale networking sessions. It’s shaping up to be the most consequential leather industry gathering of the year, and potentially the most important of this decade.
Who’s Coming to Paris
The event’s participant list reads like a comprehensive directory of the leather value chain. From raw hide and skin collectors and traders to tanners, footwear manufacturers, luxury fashion houses, retailers, and technical service providers — the forum is designed to be genuinely inclusive. This matters because sustainability challenges in leather cannot be solved by any single segment acting alone. Traceability, for instance, requires cooperation from farm to finished product, making cross-sector dialogue essential.
A Programme Built for Impact
The forum’s schedule reflects an ambition that transcends typical sustainability rhetoric. The day begins at 8:30 AM with a breakfast reception and networking session before the official opening at 9:00 AM. What follows is a carefully curated programme designed to move conversations from aspiration to action.
The opening keynote comes from Hubert Vedrine, France’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, addressing geopolitical changes and their economic impact on production systems and global trade. This framing is strategic — sustainability doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and geopolitical realities increasingly shape what environmental practices are feasible and enforceable.
The Roundtables That Matter
Three major roundtables anchor the programme, each targeting a different dimension of leather’s sustainability challenge.
The first, titled “Leather industry: where does the future lie?”, examines the future of livestock farming and leather production across major global regions. The speaker roster is impressive — Kim Sena of JBS Couros, Manon Gauthier of Les Cuirs de l’Ouest, Burak Uyguner of the International Council of Tanners, Marie Gabriel of T’Rhéa, Marie Hiriart Carriat of Tannerie Remy Carriat, and Luca Boltri of UNIC. This panel effectively brings together representatives from major producing regions, chemical companies, and industry associations — the exact coalition needed for credible progress.
Edoardo De Paola, Secretary General of COTANCE, will deliver a keynote on European regulations, specifically addressing how new sustainability, traceability, and competitiveness requirements could create both challenges and opportunities. This topic is especially timely given the European Commission’s recent decision to remove leather from the EUDR scope — a development that has generated both relief and debate within the industry.
The Collaboration Imperative
A second roundtable, provocatively titled “Playing as a team, really?”, focuses on how collaboration and innovation can strengthen French and European leather industry competitiveness. The title’s skepticism is intentional — it acknowledges that industry cooperation has historically been easier to discuss than to implement. By openly questioning whether genuine collaboration is possible, the forum creates space for honest dialogue about the barriers that have historically hindered collective action.
The final roundtable, “Will we still love leather tomorrow?”, tackles perhaps the most existential question facing the industry: how culture, creativity, and sustainability can strengthen consumer demand for leather. This session opens with the presentation of the Leather and CSR study by the Economic Observatory of Alliance France Cuir, grounding the discussion in empirical research rather than anecdote.
Why This Forum Feels Different
What distinguishes the Sustainable Leather Forum from countless other industry gatherings is its apparent willingness to grapple with uncomfortable truths. The programme doesn’t pretend sustainability is a solved problem or that leather’s environmental credentials are beyond question. Instead, it creates space for stakeholders to acknowledge challenges, share practical solutions, and build the relationships necessary for meaningful progress.
The cocktail reception closing the event at 6:00 PM may prove as consequential as any formal session. Some of the industry’s most important deals and collaborations have emerged from informal conversations at exactly such gatherings.
The Stakes for the Industry
For the global leather industry, September 7 represents an opportunity to demonstrate that it can self-organize around sustainability in a credible, inclusive manner. With increasing scrutiny from regulators, consumers, and investors, the sector’s ability to present a unified, action-oriented sustainability narrative may determine its social license to operate in the decades ahead.
Paris in September could be where that narrative begins to take coherent shape.
Source: Leather News — “Sustainable Leather Forum 2026 to Bring Global Leather Industry Stakeholders to Paris on September 7” (July 9, 2026)
