The 2025 annual conference of Better Cotton, the worldโs largest cotton sustainability initiative, marked a new phase for the organisation, with the introduction of its new CEO, the announcement that it will become a regenerative standard, and the initial snapshot of its first US Impact Report.
Held in ฤฐzmir, Tรผrkiye, on 18 and 19 of June, the event welcomed more than 370 attendees from over 20 countries, sparking conversation and debate on topics ranging from gender equality and climate finance to traceability and cross-commodity collaboration.
Better Cottonโs outgoing CEO, Alan McClay, bid farewell to the organisationโs vast network after a decade at the helm. โWe need to take our place more loudly and explicitly and authoritatively in the broader community,โ he said. โFor too many years weโve been doing our own thing almost under the radar to the extent that some legislation now gets passed without even knowing the constraints and the opportunities, the conditions and the impact that this can have on several hundreds of millions of farmers around the world.โ
McClay welcomed his successor, Nick Weatherill, a former Executive Director of the International Cocoa Initiative, who joined him on stage. โYou are leaving a very powerful legacy, and I am inheriting a very precious lifeforce. You have my word that I will look after it,โ Weatherill told his predecessor.
From Protecting to Restoring Landscapes
At a session focused on regenerative practices, Better Cotton announced that it will become a regenerative standard within the next year. โIt is increasingly clear that we need approaches that donโt simply mitigate or reduce harm, but that actively restore the environment,โ said Better Cottonโs Senior Director of Demand and Engagement, Eva Benavidez Clayton. โWhile Better Cottonโs field level standard is already recognised to cover many of the core tenets of regenerative agriculture, this move will further ensure that farmers who meet our standard are adopting the most commonly agreed regenerative practices.โ
Better Cotton also presented a snapshot of its first ever United States Impact Report, which reflects on the past decade (2014-2024) of Better Cottonโs progress and presence in the country. The report introduces the US programme and its partners, provides a general picture of large-scale cotton farming in the US, and paints a more complete picture of the US cotton landscape.ย
Introducing the report, Benavidez Clayton said: โBetter Cotton is a global standard, but we firmly believe in local application. [The report] does have key data on acreage, production, practice adoption, water, and input usage. Since storytelling is so important, and making things real for people, there are also profiles on farmers and projects that really bring the work to life.โ
Farmers Front and Centre
The 2025 Better Cotton Conference placed cotton farmers and field-level organisations front and centre to capture the eventโs theme: โIt Starts with Farmersโ.
Cotton farmers and field-level partners from different parts of the world participated at the conference, representing countries such as Brazil, Cรดte d’Ivoire, India, Pakistan, the US, and Uzbekistan.
Alan McClay said: โWhile it takes all of us to create lasting change, real progress must start with farmers. That is increasingly the framing that will drive all of Better Cottonโs work moving forward.โ
One of the eventโs sessions asked a provocative question, as part of a speculative debate, with arguments and counterarguments: โCan Traceability Prove Beneficial to Farmers?โ With Better Cotton representation on both sides, the discussion highlighted the many opportunities and challenges that surround traceability as it relates to farming communities, and explored ways in which solutions involving farmers can be deployed. The audience cast their votes, with a verdict in favour of traceability being capable of benefitting farmers.ย ย ย ย
โฏโฏย Notes to Editors
- For more information and interviews, contact Chris Remington, PR & Media Coordinator at Better Cotton ([email protected]).
- The traceability debate at the 2025 Better Cotton Conference was held under Chatham House Rule.