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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CottonUP is a new interactive guide launched by Cotton 2040 to help brands and retailers fast track sustainable sourcing across multiple standards. The guide answers three big questions about sourcing sustainable cotton: why it’s important, what you need to know and do, and how to get started.
The guide was developed by the Cotton 2040 coalition, which includes retailers and brands, cotton standards and industry initiatives. Sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future led the work, with funding from the C&A Foundation.
BCI caught up with Brooke Summers, Manager, Supply Chain Relationships at Cotton Australia, a CottonUP contributor, to talk about her organisation’s involvement.
Why did Cotton Australia decide to be involved in the creation of the CottonUP guide?
Cotton Australia became involved for a number ofreasons.Firstly, the issues being raised by Forum forthe Future were similar to ones the brands here in Australia were experiencing and we wanted to be able to help them overcome them in order to source sustainable cotton. Secondly, we wanted to make sure the farmer voice was heard inthe group. Sometimes their valuable insights can be lost in these discussions.Finally, we saw a great opportunity to collaborate with the other cotton standards to achieve something together forthe first time. The challenges for cotton are often positioned as challenges for all, but we are dealing with complex natural systems that are different acrossgeographies and cultures–trying to find simplicity in this complexity was part of what we hoped to help with.
How do you envision the CottonUP guide driving change in the sector?
In Australia specifically, there are brands at various stages of the sustainabilityjourney, some just beginning. We hope the guide will drive change in the industry by making sustainable cotton sourcing easier. We also hope it will lead to increased collaboration between brands to drive more uptake of sustainable cotton. This increased awareness, and desire to take action, will in turn drive participation in Cotton Australia’s on-farm sustainability programmes, which is a key goal of ours.
CottonUP seeks to address one of the main barriers for companies looking to start sourcing or increase the amounts of sustainable cotton they source: the time and resource required to research and implement the most appropriate sourcing approach for their organisation’s sustainability priorities.
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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