Better Cotton

In today's world people move from one outrage to the next with as much ease as they swipe left over to the next reel. Last year’s Brazil cotton controversy has resurfaced not only because it has been a year to the revelation, but also because Better Cotton is itself pursuing the thread. And, the loopholes in Better Cotton's damage control exercise that was pointed out by Earthsight remain yawning.

The world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton, Better Cotton, has strategically transitioned to become a certification scheme, underscoring its commitment to maintain highest standards of sustainability and transparency in the cotton industry.

The Cotton 2040 project of the charity Forum for the Future was a platform which aimed to accelerate progress and maximise the impact of existing sustainable cotton initiatives. A year after the platform published its Impact Report, texfash speaks to Neil Walker, Senior Sustainability Strategist, about the project's legacy.

Embroiled in controversies in recent times, Better Cotton will soon launch a new product label with evolving traceability capabilities to enable its network of retailers and brands to showcase their commitment to sustainable cotton production.

Better Cotton, which has been at the receiving end over its failure to check deforestation and human rights abuses by cotton companies in Brazil, has decided to change its approach to lifecycle assessments by focusing on country-level LCAs.

A clean chit notwithstanding, Better Cotton, in not addressing the loopholes with the standard itself, has only exposed itself to further investigation. And that’s despite the sugar-coated admissions that “we will take action to expand our due diligence process."

UK nonprofit Earthsight’s investigations reveal nearly a million tonnes of tainted cotton from some of the most notorious estates in Brazil to clothing manufacturers in Asia, and being supplied to fast fashion behemoths H&M and Zara.