Better Cotton is the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton. Our mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
In just over 10 years we have become the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. Our mission: to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment.
Better Cotton is grown in 22 countries around the world and accounts for 22% of global cotton production. In the 2022-23 cotton season, 2.13 million licensed Better Cotton Farmers grew 5.47 million tonnes of Better Cotton.
Today Better Cotton has more than 2,700 members, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the industry. Members of a global community that understands the mutual benefits of sustainable cotton farming. The moment you join, you become part of this too.
The founding premise of Better Cotton is that a healthy sustainable future for cotton and the people that farm it is in the interests of everyone connected with it.
Let us help you find what you’re looking for
Results for {phrase} ({results_count} of {results_count_total})
Displaying {results_count} results of {results_count_total}
Better Cotton has launched a targeted update to the Better Cotton Principles & Criteria (P&C), one of the core components of our Standard System. The update is being undertaken with the aim of ensuring that our farm-level standard continues to reflect evolving expectations on sustainability and remains practical and effective for farmers and partners around the world.
This revision forms part of a broader set of steps that Better Cotton is taking to further strengthen its commitment to protect and restore the environment and to align with regenerative agriculture, as announced at the 2025 Better Cotton Conference. While the current revision alone does not define this shift, it contributes to it by clarifying expectations at the farm level and supporting improved outcomes.
Strengthening Through Alignment
The P&C define what it means to grow cotton in a way that is better for farmers, communities, and the environment. Today, they are used by over 2.7 million licensed Better Cotton Farmers globally.
This update is classified as a Partial Substantive Revision (Regular) according to Better Cotton’s Standard-Setting and Revision Procedure v2.2, which is informed by the ISEAL Code of Good Practice v1.0. This classification signals that while targeted changes are expected, the overall structure, intended outcomes, and application of the Standard will remain unchanged.
The objectives of this revision are to make updates and clarifications to specific indicators and guidance. These changes are being considered and consulted on to ensure the standard remains relevant, feasible, and auditable.
This revision is not expected to result in significant implications for field-level implementation and/or producer compliance requirements.
Proposed changes are informed by:
Auditability checks
Feedback from sustainability standard rating schemes
Lessons learned from implementation
A key goal is to ensure that indicators remain feasible and relevant for stakeholders across our global cotton-growing contexts.
Timeline
The P&C Partial Substantive Revision process launched in June 2025 and is expected to run until March 2026. It is expected that version 3.2 of our P&C will be released by the end of March 2026, following Better Cotton Council approval in December 2025.
Get Involved
We are pleased to announce an upcoming 30-day public consultation in August 2025 and warmly encourage all stakeholders to get involved. The consultation will take the form of a targeted survey open to the public, alongside focused outreach to key stakeholder groups to ensure diverse perspectives are captured. Keep an eye out for more details on how to participate.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the revision process, please contact the Better Cotton Standards Team at: standards@bettercotton.org.
Additional Resources
The Better Cotton Principles and Criteria Terms of Reference v2.1 provides further detail on the purpose of the P&C, describes Better Cotton’s approach, and outlines the scope and expected outcomes of the Standard. It also sets out the revision process and identifies risks and mitigation strategies related to implementation.
For more information on the P&C update process, please see our public summary here:
PDF
1,004.23 KB
Principles and Criteria Partial Substantive Revision – Regular: Public Summary June 2025
Do you want to know what the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world is up to? Keep up to date with the latest developments and hear from BCI Farmers, Partners and Members in the new BCI Quarterly Newsletter. BCI Members also receive a Monthly Member Update.
Leave a few details below and you’ll receive the next newsletter.
We’ve updated our Data Privacy Policy
These updates are intended to reflect changes to the Better Cotton Platform’s default sharing settings and data use in our Audit management system.
You don’t need to do anything to accept these changes – they’re effective from today, 2 April 2025.
You can read the full text by visiting our Data Privacy Policy page.
