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A Diverse Approach Is Key to Assessing Better Cotton’s Field-Level Results and Impact

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Global Cotton Sustainability Conference Moves to March 2021

Joe Morphet on March 24, 2020

 
The 2020 Global Cotton Sustainability Conferencehas been postponed until 2 – 4 March* 2021.

The decision to postpone this year’s conference was not taken lightly, butthe BCI Leadership Team agreed that postponement is the most responsible approach given the current situation regarding Coronavirus COVID-19 and its global impact on health and travel. BCI’s priority is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all BCI staff, members, partners and stakeholders.

“The spread of coronavirus will have an ongoing impact all over the world, and affect the entire BCI community, including members, staff, partners and other stakeholders. The situation now requires a significant step-up in the BCI management response. We need to face an unprecedented crisis with unprecedented solutions. It is inspiring to see how quickly, and with a deep sense of engagement, our stakeholders, partners and team members have stepped up to the plate and embraced new ways of working and living in order to continue delivering on their commitments. With this level of engagement, we feel confident about the sustainable cotton community’s ability to meet the challenges of this period of crisis and uncertainty and emerge stronger.” –Alan McClay, CEO, BCI.

The conference in 2021 will deliver the same programme, designed to address sustainability issues across the entire cotton supply chain. Join us next year to hear from inspiring speakers from farm to fashion, and network with leaders and experts from across the cotton sustainability sector.

Some of the exciting conference sessions already lined up include:

Keynotes

  • The Value of Cotton in the Circular Economy
  • Money, Magic, Measurement & Sustainable Agriculture
  • Making Purpose Real

Plenary Panel Discussions

  • Experiences from the Field: Smallholder Farmers
  • Getting Aligned on Impact
  • Reaching Our 2020 Goals

Breakout sessions

  • Farm Adaptation to Climate Change
  • Can Cotton be Carbon Neutral?
  • Embedding Climate Action: Internal Engagement and Communications
  • Innovation Showcase
  • The Cotton 2025 Challenge
  • Impact for People: The Case Studies
  • Community Partnerships
  • Women in Agriculture and Beyond

The goal of the 4th Global Cotton Sustainability Conference is to bring the entire sector together in shaping a more sustainable future for cotton.

The full conference agenda, list of registered attendees and more is available now in the free conference mobile app. Find out more and download the app today.

We hope you can join us in Lisbon on 2 – 4 March 2021*.

*BCI intends to postpone the conference to 2 – 4 March 2021, with final arrangements currently under review. We are providing advance notice, so you can make arrangements for attending now. Pending venue confirmation, logistics may be subject to change.

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Highlights: 2020 Better Cotton Implementing Partner Meeting & Symposium

Joe Morphet on February 26, 2020

 
In January 2020, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) convened more than 45 of its field-level partner organisations – Implementing Partners – from 12 countries, for the fourth edition of the BCI Implementing Partner Meeting & Symposium. The annual meeting provides BCI’s Implementing Partners with an opportunity to come together to share knowledge, best practice and innovations across teams, organisation, regions and countries.

We’ve picked out some event highlights in this short video!

The three-day event focused primarily on biodiversity and the practices and innovations being implemented on the ground. BCI’s Implementing Partners had the opportunity to share their successes and challenges, while biodiversity experts took to the stage to share their insights. Guest speakers included Olivia Scholtz, High Conservation Value (HCV) Resource Network; Gwendolyn Ellen, independent consultant; Nan Zeng, The Nature Conservancy; Liron Israely, Tel-Aviv University; and Vamshi Krishna, WWF India.

Sharing practical solutions was a key element of the event and each partner organisation had the opportunity to showcase the methods and tools they are most proud of. This created a great opportunity for hands-on learning, and attendees explored a rich variety of biodiversity practices from different BCI Programme countries.

To further recognise the great work of BCI’s field-level partners, 10 Producer Unit Managers* were shortlisted and awarded for their outstanding efforts in the field. Meet the winners.

The event concluded with each attendee committing to actions to protect, enhance and restore biodiversity in 2020 based on the challenges and solutions identified and tested in the previous cotton sessions.

*Each BCI Implementing Partner supports a series ofProducer Units, which is a group of BCI Farmers (from smallholder ormedium sizedfarms) from the same community or region. Each Producer Unit is overseen by a Producer Unit Manager and has a team of Field Facilitators; who work directly with farmers to raise awareness and adoption of more sustainable practices, in line with the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria.
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Better Cotton Publishes Key Assurance Programme Revisions for the 2020-21 Cotton Season

Joe Morphet on February 25, 2020

 
In 2018, BCI launched a project to revise the Better Cotton Assurance Programme – a key component of the Better Cotton Standard System that involves regular farm assessments to ensure that the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria are adhered to. The Assurance Programme is based on a series of complementary mechanisms: self-assessments, 2ndparty checks, and 3rdparty verification, and is the central mechanism for assessing whether farmers can be licensed to sell Better Cotton.

The revision was undertaken in line with BCI’s approach to continuous improvement. The revisions incorporate learnings to strengthen and ensure the continued effectiveness and integrity of BCI’s model. Following the two-year process, the revised Assurance Programme is now effective for the 2020-21 season.

Key Assurance Programme Changes

  • Most new Producer Units* of smallholders or medium farms will now spend their first season focusing on farmer outreach and training, before being assessed for licensing in their second season. This “set-up phase’ will give new Producer Units more time to train and recruit field staff, engage with farmers and develop effective management systems. This will improve the quality of farmer training and management systems, and over time should lead to greater field-level impacts. It will also strengthen credibility by giving Producer Units more time to ensure they fully meet all required Core Indicators of the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria before being licensed.
  • All Producer Units will now require a BCI or third-party verifier assessment (to confirm they comply with all Core Indicators of the Principles and Criteria) before a group of farmers can receive a licence to sell Better Cotton. Therefore, Producer Units will no longer be able to receive a licence based on a self-assessment or Implementing Partner checks only.
  • BCI Implementing Partners will be expected to focus less effort on compliance, and instead deliver more meaningful support to farmers. Partners will be expected to assess all new Producer Units for readiness before licensing, and to carry out support visits on existing Producer Units to address any gaps in field staff competence, management systems, farmer awareness and practice adoption.
  • All licenses to sell Better Cotton will be issued farmers for a standard three-year period, rather than variable license durations based on self-reporting against improvement indicators (indicators designed to incentivise and measure continuous improvement across all areas of sustainable production).
  • Tracking progress against continuous improvement objectives has now been embedded into multiple assurance mechanisms, including self-assessment, licensing assessments, and Producer Unit support visits carried out by the Implementing Partner.

Together, these revisions will help strengthen BCI’s assurance model while reinforcing the focus on farmer capacity building and field-level improvements.

For more information, you can find a short summary of changes and the updated documents on the assurance page of the BCI website.

*Each BCI Implementing Partner supports a series ofProducer Units, which is a group of BCI Farmers (from smallholder ormedium sizedfarms) from the same community or region. Each Producer Unit is overseen by a Producer Unit Manager and has a team of Field Facilitators; who work directly with farmers to raise awareness and adoption of more sustainable practices, in line with the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria.

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2020 Sustainable Cotton Ranking Launched

Joe Morphet on February 17, 2020

 
For the fourth time, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Solidaridad and the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK have published the Sustainable Cotton Ranking. The ranking analysed the 77 largest cotton users among international apparel brands and retailers, reviewing their policies, actual uptake of more sustainable cotton and transparency in their supply chains.

Access the 2020 Sustainable Cotton Ranking.

Adidas scored the highest in the 2020 Sustainable Cotton Ranking, followed by IKEA, H&M Group, C&A, Otto Group, Marks and Spencer Group, Levi Strauss & Co., Tchibo, Nike Inc., Decathlon Group and Bestseller, who all fell into the “leading the way’ category. Nine of these companies are BCI Retailer and Brand Members and also sit at the top of the Better Cotton Leaderboard, based on volumes of cotton sourced as Better Cotton.

The 2020 Sustainable Cotton Ranking illustrated that 11 companies are “leading the way’ when it comes to their sustainable cotton sourcing efforts, followed by 13 more companies that are “well on their way’ and 15 others which are “starting the journey’. According to the report, the remaining 38 companies have not yet started the journey.

Overall, the report found that progress has been made across the board on policy, uptake and traceability. Increasing numbers of companies are sourcing more sustainable cotton including Organic, Fairtrade, CmiA and Better Cotton, and overall uptake of more sustainable cotton has increased.

However, there is still a long way to go. With this ranking, PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF hope to accelerate demand and uptake of more sustainable cotton by clothing and home-textile retailing companies around the world.

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Global Cotton Sustainability Conference | Meet the Speaker: Reuben Turner

Well Studio on February 13, 2020

As of 20 March 2020, the Global Cotton Sustainability Conference in Lisbon moved from 9-11 June 2020, to be hosted on 2-4 March 2021. The decision to postpone was in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its global impact on health and travel.

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In just a few months’ time, the 4th annual Global Cotton Sustainability Conference will take place in Lisbon. Farmers, brands, manufacturers, suppliers, NGOs, civil society organisations, agricultural experts and researchers will meet to collaborate on a more sustainable future for cotton.

Ahead of the conference, we caught up with the keynote speakers to gather their insights on key industry challenges and the innovations they are particularly excited about right now.

Meet Reuben Turner, Creative Partner and Founder, GOOD Agency

Reuben Turner has a long and distinguished background in marketing and advertising for social purpose. He is co-founder of London-based creative agency GOOD, one of the first agencies founded with social, ethical and environmental principles at its core.

As well as having worked with a number of leading NGOs, Reuben focuses on helping commercial brands understand, define and grow through social purpose, with current clients including Pernod Ricard, the Kingfisher group and leading fashion brand ESCADA.

How have approaches to defining and communicating an organisation’s purpose changed over time?

For a long time, an organisation’s “purpose’ was primarily about statements, manifestos or mood films. Although business leaders understood the need to have an organising principle that would make an emotional connection with stakeholders, staff and customers, they saw it primarily as a brand or positioning project. That led us to the era of “purposewash’, where brands would make emotive claims to stand for things or awkwardly link themselves to social issues.

How damaging is “purposewash’?

In an era of accelerate climate change, social division and structural inequality, such claims are rightly being seen as superficial, and it’s arguably added to the cynicism and distrust that so many people feel towards business. Simply put, we don’t have time for “purposewash’ anymore. It’s not solving the corporate world’s trust issue.

How can organisations get it right?

Today, there’s a new breed of business leaders who understand that statements are the start, not the end of the purpose journey. What actually matters is what businesses DO: the actions they take, the policies they change, the product innovations they invest in and the ways in which they help customers live healthier, more sustainable and equitable lives. These are all things that people care far more about than adverts.

Are there any innovative approaches to communicating purpose which you are particularly excited about right now?

I’ve been talking for a couple of years about the dynamic of “ally brands’ – these are brands that reject traditional leadership principles and think deeply how they can authentically be an ally to groups that need them. That could be working mothers struggling to make themselves heard at work or marginalised communities around the world. Ally brands grow their power and influence by seeing and sharing it. That’s counterintuitive to most brand thinkers but it’s a fundamentally important role in an unequal world.

You can hear Reuben Turner speak at the Global Cotton Sustainability Conference, which has been moved to 2-4 March 2021 in light of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Find out more and register here.

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Register Now for the 2020 Global Cotton Sustainability Conference: Early Bird Offer Expires 15 February

Joe Morphet on February 12, 2020

 
Are you planning on joining BCI and partners for the 4th annual Global Cotton Sustainability Conference? From 9–11 June 2020, representatives from the entire cotton sector and beyond will meet in Lisbon to shape a more sustainable future for cotton.

This year, the conference will dial in on three key themes – Climate Action, Innovation Now and Social Sustainability– exploring how the sector can collaborate in these areas to create and drive collective impact.

Register before 15 February 2020 to take advantage of the early bird rates.

BCI Members also receive an additional 50% discount.

REGISTER HERE

Confirmed conference speakers include Futerra, The Renewal Workshop, GOOD Agency, IDH – The Sustainable Trade Initiative, Fair Labor Association, Change Agency, Cotton Inc., JFS and KAL. Hear from Reuben Turner, Creative Partner and Founder at GOOD Agency in the first of our Meet the Speaker blogs.

We still have a number of sponsorship opportunities available, from supporting cotton farmers’ travel to the event, to sponsoring the conference dinner. Please contact Events Officer Olivia Ji for more information.

Find out more and register for the conference at globalcotton.org.

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Better Cotton Welcomes More Than 210 New Members in Second Half of 2019

Joe Morphet on January 31, 2020

 
In the second half of 2019, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) welcomed more than 210 new members across its membership categories. BCI works with members across the cotton supply chain and beyond to ensure there is continuous demand and supply of Better Cotton – cotton produced by licensed BCI Farmers in line with the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria.

New members in the second half of 2019 included 32 retailers and brands from 13 countries, 179 suppliers and manufacturers and three civil society organisations.

The civil society organisations that joined BCI in the second half of the year are the Indira Priya Darsini Women’s Welfare Association (India), which addresses women’s empowerment, sustainable agriculture, child labour, skill development and training; the Sustainability Innovation Advocacy Foundation Pakistan, an organisation of researchers, scientists and policy scholars committed to sustainable development; and the Pakistan Rural Workers Social Welfare Organisation, which seeks to improve the socio-economic conditions of disadvantaged, vulnerable and rural communities.

BCI was also joined by a number of retailers and brands in the second half of 2019. New members are Acturus Capital SL (El Ganso), Amazon Services, AS Colour, Biniaraix Manufacturing SLU (Camper), Capri S.r.L, Centrale d’Achats Kidiliz, Debenhams, Decjuba, Drykorn Modevertriebs GMBH & Co., Factory X, General Pants Co, Hawes and Curtis, House of Anita Dongre Limited,Hunkem√∂ller, Indicode Jeans, J Barbour and Sons Ltd, J.O.G. Group B.V., JoJo Maman B√©b√©, Keen & Toms Holding Limited – Hypnos Beds, Kontoor Brands Inc., Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd, M&Co, Mamiye Brothers, Medanta Oy, Mulberry Company (Design) Ltd, Oasis and Warehouse Ltd, PWT Group A/S, River Island Clothing Co. Ltd, Schoolblazer, Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited, The Cotton Group SA/NV (B&C Collection) and The Warehouse Group Limited.

In total, 66 new retailers and brands joined BCI in 2019. Of these 66 new members, 52 had already started sourcing cotton as Better Cotton by the end of the year. This reinforces the trend we see, that more sustainable materials are an important part of any sustainability programme in the fashion and retail sector.

Retailer and brand member sourcing of cotton as “Better Cotton’ directly translates into increased investment in training for cotton farmers on more sustainable practices, due to BCI’sdemand–drivenfunding model. The total uptake of Better Cotton by BCI Retailer and Brand Members in 2019 surpassed 1.5 million metric tonnes – a record for BCI.

In addition to new retailers, new supplier and manufacturer members joined from 26 countries, including Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, Malaysia, Moldova, Netherlands, Peru, Thailand and Vietnam. Suppliers and manufacturers support the transformation of the cotton sector by joining BCI and sourcing increased volumes of Better Cotton for BCI Retailer and Brand Members – forming a critical link between Better Cotton supply and demand.

At the end of 2019, BCI had welcomed more than 400 new members across its membership categories, closing the year with a total of 1,842 members. You can find a full list of BCI Membershere.

If your organisation is interested in becoming a BCI Member and supporting more sustainable cotton farming practices around the globe, please visit themembership pageon the BCI website,or get in touch with theBCI Membership Team.

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Better Cotton Retailer and Brand Members Increase Better Cotton Sourcing by 40% in 2019

Joe Morphet on January 29, 2020

 
In 2019, 150 of the world’s most recognised retailers and brands collectively sourced more than 1.5 million metric tonnes of cotton as “Better Cotton’ – that is enough cotton to make approximately 1.5 billion pairs of jeans. The retailers, who are all members of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), hit a new sourcing milestone and sent a clear signal to the market that there is increasing demand for more sustainably grown cotton.

Uptake1 of Better Cotton – cotton produced by licensed BCI Farmers in line with the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria – increased by 40% on the previous year. The volume sourced by BCI’s 150 Retailer and Brand Members in 2019 represents 6% of global cotton production2. By increasing sourcing commitments year-on-year and integrating Better Cotton into their sustainable sourcing strategies, BCI Retailer and Brand Members are driving demand for more sustainable cotton production worldwide.

Long-standing BCI Member Decathlon shared their thoughts on BCI and Better Cotton; ”While physical Better Cotton is not traceable to the end-product, what matters is that the funds channelled through BCI end up contributing to farmer training and expanding the network of cotton farmers who are improving their livelihoods, while protecting and restoring the environment.Decathlon has a target to source 100% more sustainable cotton by 2020 – this is a combination ofBetter Cotton together with organic and recycled cotton. This commitment has generatedahigh level of motivation internally at Decathlon. The BCI Team has also always been supportive of our journey, listeningto our needs and quickly responding to any challengeswe met,” says Nagy Bensid, Director Yarns and Fibres, Decathlon

BCI’s demand-driven funding model means that retailer and brand sourcing of Better Cotton directly translates into increased investment in training for cotton farmers on more sustainable practices. For example, in the 2018-19 cotton season, Retailer and Brand Members, public donors (DFAT) and IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative) contributed more than ‚Ǩ11 million to field-level projects, enabling more than 1.3 million cotton farmers in China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan and Mozambique to receive support, capacity building and training.3

BCI Supplier and Manufacturer Members also play a crucial role in increasing uptake as they bridge the gap between Better Cotton supply and demand. In 2019, suppliers and manufacturers sourced more than two million metric tonnes of cotton as Better Cotton, ensuring that there was enough supply available to meet retailers’ needs.

The retailers and brands, cotton traders and spinners who sourced the largest volumes of Better Cotton in 2019 will be revealed in the 2019 Better Cotton Leaderboard, launching at the 2020 Global Cotton Sustainability Conference in June. You can view the 2018 Leaderboard here.

Notes

1Uptake refers to the sourcing and purchasing of more sustainable cotton in a supply chain.By “sourcing cotton as Better Cotton,’ BCI is referring to the action taken by members when they place orders for cotton-containing products. It does not refer to the cotton present in the finished product. BCI uses a chain of custody model called Mass Balance whereby volumes of Better Cotton are tracked on an online sourcing platform. Better Cotton may be mixed with or replaced by conventional cotton in its journey from field to product, however, the volumes of Better Cotton claimed by members on the online platform never exceeds the volumes physically procured by spinners and traders.
2As per the global cotton production figures reported by ICAC. More information is availablehere.
3While the investment from BCI Retailer and Brand Members, public donors (DFAT), and IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative), mobilised through the Better Cotton Growth and Innovation Fund, reached over 1.3 million farmers in the 2018-2019 season, the Better Cotton Initiativeis forecast to reach more than 2.5 million cotton farmers in the season. The final figures (including final licensing figures) will be released in spring 2020 in BCI’s 2019 Annual Report.
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