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.
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After a tenure spanning almost a decade, Joost Oorthuizen, founding CEO of Invest International and former CEO of IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, is stepping down from the BCI Council.
Joost Oorthuizen joined the BCI Council in 2012 and has been an extraordinary driving force from the beginning. He has witnessed Better Cotton develop into the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world, and his dedication and expertise have helped to achieve that success and scale.
Better Cotton would not have been able to grow its programme to reach millions of cotton farmers without IDH, and in particular, Joost’s friendly but critical eye, ability to hold the sector to account, and his unwavering support for Better Cotton and our vision and mission.
Whenever I am asked to speak about the remarkable growth and success of Better Cotton, I always cite the partnership with IDH and the launch of the Better Cotton Fast Track Programme in 2010, driven by IDH. I would like to thank Joost for his tenure on the Council and his immense contributions to Better Cotton over the past decade.
Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton
On stepping down from the Council, Joost commented:
I would like to thank Better Cotton and its members wholeheartedly for the time I served on its council and the great programmatic partnership that we developed during the time I was leading IDH. We have helped millions of cotton farmers and farming communities in the process. I am proud of all that was achieved and wish the organisation lots of luck and wisdom going forward.
Joost Oorthuizen, CEO, Invest International
As Joost leaves to focus on his demanding new venture leading Invest International, we wish him success and thank both him and IDH for their unparalleled support over the past decade.
The next Council elections will take place in 2022. Vacancies will be announced later this month, and Better Cotton Members will be invited to apply. Members can get in touch if they would like to learn more about running for a position on the Council.
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.
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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.
