Most leather comes from animals killed for their meat–but their skin is far more than a by-product. It's big business. Animal skins are considered a valuable co-product by the meat and dairy industries, and the global leather market is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Who’s being skinned?
The majority of leather comes from cows and buffalo–about two-thirds of all leather worldwide. But many other animals are also killed for their skin: sheep, pigs, goats, kangaroos, crocodiles, snakes, stingrays, deer, rabbits, emus, horses, and even dogs and cats.
Even baby animals aren’t spared. The soft skins of calves, kids and lambs are considered especially high quality. Some leather is even made from unborn calves, cruelly cut from the wombs of slaughtered pregnant cows.
Same suffering, different product
Animals used for leather endure the same fate as those raised and killed for meat: forced impregnation, separation from their babies, mutilation, slaughter–and finally, their skin is removed.
Australia also imports leather from countries like China and India–two of the world’s largest producers. China has no national animal welfare laws, meaning leather products made there could come from animals who’ve endured unimaginable suffering.
A closer look: Kangaroos
Kangaroos have lived in Australia for over 20 million years but are now hunted in the largest commercial slaughter of land-based wildlife on the planet. More than 31 million kangaroos have been killed in just the last decade.
These iconic animals are deeply social, living in large mobs and run by matriarchs. Mothers raise their joeys gently and continue to care for them after they leave the pouch. Yet every night, thousands of kangaroos are shot–often painfully and in front of their mob–to meet demand for products like sports shoes and fashion accessories.
In addition to hunting, kangaroos face mounting threats like habitat loss, bushfires and road collisions. Since European colonisation, six species have already gone extinct. Many others–like the brush-tailed rock wallaby–are now endangered, having been hunted to near extinction for their fur and skin.
Crocodile cruelty
Australia is a global leader in crocodile skin production, supplying 60% of the world's trade. Over 150,000 crocodiles are killed here each year–often after a short, bleak life in factory farms.
Crocodiles are intelligent, wild animals. Some are snatched from the wild, while others are intensively bred in captivity. They're confined in concrete pens and killed at just two or three years old. It can take up to four crocodiles to make a single designer handbag.
Isn’t leather just a by-product?
Not at all. Leather is big money. Animal skins are a crucial income stream for meat and dairy industries. Some animals are even farmed specifically for their skins, not their meat. Buying leather isn’t reducing waste–it directly supports the continuation of animal slaughter.
Leather is often marketed as ‘natural,’ ‘durable’ or even ‘sustainable.’ But behind the branding lies a harsh environmental reality. Like meat and dairy, leather is deeply destructive—to the climate, ecosystems and communities.
Same damage, different product
The leather industry is tied to the same climate-wrecking practices as the meat industry. One pair of cow leather boots creates around 66 kilograms of carbon pollution–about the same as charging 8,400 smartphones. Synthetic leather, like polyurethane, causes up to seven times less climate pollution per pair of boots.
Cattle farming, whether for meat or leather, is also a major driver of deforestation. It’s responsible for 80% of Amazon deforestation, and Brazil, a top beef and leather exporter clears enormous tracts of rainforest to meet demand. That luxury handbag? It may have cost 1,000 square metres of cleared rainforest.
Water use is staggering, too. One cow leather tote bag uses 17,128 litres of water–the equivalent of taking 537 showers. A similar bag made from synthetic leather uses 14 times less.
What makes leather uniquely harmful?
Leather might look natural, but its production is anything but. Animal skin is biodegradable–but to turn it into leather, it must be treated to stop it from decomposing. This process, called tanning, makes leather non-biodegradable and toxic.
About 90% of the world’s leather is tanned with chemicals like chromium, arsenic and formaldehyde–substances linked to cancer, skin diseases and respiratory conditions.
These chemicals poison tannery workers, pollute waterways and damage ecosystems. In countries like India, an estimated 40 million litres of toxic waste from tanneries flow into the Ganges River every day. Tannery sites are often so contaminated that the land can’t be farmed, built on or sold.
And while many tanneries in high-income countries have closed due to pollution laws, the industry has simply moved elsewhere–taking the environmental damage with it.
What’s the alternative?
Even synthetic materials have limitations–they’re often fossil fuel-based. But they still cause significantly less environmental harm than animal leather.
The future lies in innovative, next-generation materials like mushroom leather, cactus leather and apple leather–all growing in availability and popularity.
What about ‘regenerative’ leather?
Some brands promote ‘regenerative leather’ from grass-fed cows as sustainable. But no form of animal farming is climate-friendly. All grazing animals contribute to the climate crisis. Much of the so-called ‘green’ fashion movement is greenwashing–not genuine progress.
‘Fashion has always been about creativity and innovation, and we can use these as tools to build a better world.’
- Collective Fashion Justice
