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ISEAL awards Better Cotton full membership status

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ISEAL awards Better Cotton full membership status

Well Studio on March 29, 2016

The Better Cotton Initiative is pleased to announce that it has been accepted as a full member of the ISEAL Alliance by achieving full compliance with ISEAL’s Standard-Setting Code. The decision was approved by ISEAL’s Membership Committee, which reviewed BCI’s performance under ISEAL’s Independent Evaluation Mechanism.

The Better Cotton Initiative, which exists to transform cotton production worldwide by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity, has demonstrated overall compliance during an independent evaluation against ISEAL’s Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards (Standard-Setting Code). The organisation has also demonstrated progress towards implementing the Impacts Code and the Assurance Code.

”BCI is extremely pleased to be awarded ISEAL’s full membership status,” said Damien Sanfilippo, Director of Standards and Assurance at BCI. ”This recognition is a testament to BCI’s credibility as a sustainability standard, and it gives us the opportunity to continuously improve our work of transforming the future of cotton through collaboration with a community of diverse standard systems.”

BCI was founded as part of a round table initiative led by WWF in 2005 with the goal of finding more sustainable solutions for cotton farmers, the environment and the future of the sector. To achieve this goal, BCI works with a diverse range of stakeholders across the cotton supply chain to promote measurable and continuing improvements for the environment, farming communities and the economies of cotton-producing areas.

”I would like to congratulate BCI on achieving full ISEAL membership status,” said Karin Kreider, Executive Director at ISEAL Alliance. ”I have watched BCI grow over the years and witnessed their incredible dedication to transforming cotton production. To now achieve full ISEAL membership reflects their commitment to credible practices and ensuring continuous improvement. We look forward to working with BCI in the years to come.”

Cotton is one of the world’s most important natural fibres. Over 25 million tonnes of cotton are produced every year in over 80 countries around the world, supporting 250 million people’s livelihoods in the production stages alone. Cotton is a renewable natural resource but the future of cotton production is vulnerable to poor environmental management, poor working conditions and unstable markets.

The Better Cotton Standard System gives assurance that cotton is being produced in a way that cares for the environment by minimising the negative impact of fertilisers and pesticides, and caring for water, soil health and natural habitats. BCI Farmers achieve higher yields and more financial security through access to global markets, while improving the working conditions in their fields. BCI Farmers are also expected to continuously improve in key environmental, social and economic areas over time. The Better Cotton Standard can be applied to different scales of cotton production – from smallholder farms in Mali, Mozambique and Tajikistan to large, industrialised operations in Brazil, China and Australia.

BCI is the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. In its fifth harvest season, BCI licensed 1.2 million farmers in 20 countries across five regions of the world, and accounted for 7.6% of global cotton production. BCI now counts over 700 member organisations, including major retailers and brands such as adidas, H&M, IKEA, Levi Strauss & Co., Marks & Spencer, and Nike, who have set ambitious public targets to source sustainable Better Cotton in their supply chains.

Now with 21 full members, the ISEAL Alliance covers a diverse range of sectors and industries. ISEAL membership includes respected standards, such as Forest Stewardship Council, Fairtrade International, the Alliance for Water Stewardship and Aquaculture Stewardship Council.
ISEAL is the global membership association for sustainability standards. Its mission is to strengthen standards systems for the benefit of people and the environment by defining credibility and bringing organisations together to strengthen their effectiveness.

Members embrace the essential values for delivering positive impacts, as reflected in the ISEAL Credibility Principles. Full ISEAL membership helps to distinguish their adoption of credible practices and commitment to delivering and improving positive impacts through standards.

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Pioneer member adidas Group exceeds 2015 Better Cotton target

Well Studio on March 11, 2016

BCI Pioneer member adidasannounced that in 2015 the company sourced 43% of all its cotton as Better Cotton, exceeding the originally planned 40% target. This marks the highest volume in sustainable cotton used in the company’s history.

”As a pioneer member, the adidas Group has been involved with the Better Cotton Initiative from the very beginning. It is exciting to see how Better Cotton is becoming a sustainable mainstream commodity and we will continue to increase the amount of sustainable cotton we use over the coming years,” says Frank Henke, adidas Group VP, Social and Environmental Affairs.

Upon this milestone, BCI applauds adidas’s achievement and celebrates the work of all its members. To date, BCI has over 700 members sourcing and supplying Better Cotton at all stages of the textile supply chain. Led by a group of pioneering organisations, BCI’s members can be proud of their efforts to make a responsible alternative the mainstream norm.

”We are very proud of the work we do with our members. Their commitment to BCI is extremely important to us, as it helps support the work of our farmers and drives demand for Better Cotton throughout the supply chain,” says Paola Geremicca, BCI Programme Director of Fundraising and Communications.

As a BCI Pioneer member, adidas has committed to source 100 percent “more sustainable cotton’ across all product categories in all its brands by 2018.

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Better Cotton reaches 700 members

Well Studio on February 15, 2016

We are proud to announce that the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) reached its 2015 target of 700 members.

For five years, BCI has worked to convene actors across the supply chain, facilitating uptake of Better Cotton. Enabling cooperation between all actors in the industry – from producer organisations to retailers and brands – has been a hallmark of our efforts to achieve a more sustainable cotton sector. With the support of our members, BCI is working towards our mission of making Better Cotton a responsible mainstream solution.

“In our sixth year, BCI and Better Cotton have reached a level of maturity that the entire sector can be proud of. We could not have done this without our members. This year, we call on all 700 of you to do your part in transforming the future of cotton, and increasing the uptake of Better Cotton even further’, said Programme Director, Ruchira Joshi.

BCI’s retailer and brand members, now totalling 46, have played an important part in this journey so far. Their investments in farmer capacity building generate supply of Better Cotton at field level, and their work with suppliers creates a more transparent and trustworthy supply chain. BCI’s retailer and brand members remain committed to the uptake of Better Cotton, helping BCI move toward its 2020 goal of 5 million farmers and 30% of global cotton production.

2015 is the fifth consecutive year with an increase in new members of 50% or more. The recruitment rate continues to progress at an average of 20 new companies per month.

New members to have recently signed up include C&A, PT Indo-Rama, Manufacturas Kaltex SA de CV and United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA).

Being a member of BCI means supporting the BCI mission as part of your organisation’s involvement in cotton and committing to improving cotton production through both your own actions and through direct financial investments. To find out more about our membership offer, click here, or for enquiries, contact our membership team by e-mailing: [email protected].

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Better Cotton to review volume-based fee and member value proposition

Well Studio on February 12, 2016

BCI entered its ”mainstreaming” phase on 1 January 2016 with the launch of a new funding mechanism for farmer capacity building, the BCI Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF). With funding from the GIF, BCI aims to reach 5 million farmers and account for 30% of global cotton production by 2020. This year, BCI will make adjustments to our strategy in order to facilitate progress toward our 2020 goals, and transform the future of cotton.

Among these adjustments is a review of both our current member value proposition and the Volume-based Fee (VBF) applied since 2013 to Better Cotton sourced by our retailer and brand members. The review process will ensure that BCI and its fee structures support our ambitious scale up throughout the mainstreaming phase. The VBF in particular will be used to capitalise the GIF, while institutional donors and government agencies will be invited to match fees contributed by the private sector in order to achieve a multiplier effect.

Upon receiving feedback from members regarding the complexity of BCI fee structures, we are working with an external consultant to dramatically simplify them. At the same time, we will continue to be an attractive sustainability initiative for all sector players from producer organisations to retailers and brands. We look forward to communicating BCI’s new fee structures in a simple, clear and consistent manner – making them an easy sell within your business. The revised proposals will be presented to the BCI Council for approval in June.

Ultimately, a membership fee and VBF model, which is easy to understand and based on a clear value proposition, will incentivise procurement, enabling the GIF to invest in farmer training and successfully address the most pressing sustainability issues in cotton farming, including pesticide use, water efficiency and severe working conditions such as child labour, gender issues and unfair pay. Positive changes in the field overall will help BCI achieve its mission of making cotton production better for the people who grow it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the future of the sector as a whole.

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Better Cotton’s Hong Kong China general assembly features industry leaders

Eva Benavidez Clayton on February 6, 2016

The BCI 2016 General Assembly on 14 – 15 June in Hong Kong, China is poised to convene and inspire BCI members from around the world with a distinguished line-up of speakers.

Ranging in topics from transformation in other sectors, to transformative trends in traceability, standards and agricultural research & technology, BCI is proud to welcome these industry leaders:

In addition to the BCI Council elections, this meeting serves as a key BCI event and opportunity to inspire and motive members in their efforts to achieve scalable commodity transformation. Complete meeting details are online: www.amiando.com/BCI2016GeneralAssembly.

Prior to the BCI 2016 General Assembly, BCI is hosting a Recruitment Meeting on 13 June in Hong Kong, China. This is open to the industry and a great platform for updates on the Better Cotton Standard System and global supply. Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from members like Nike, Inc. and Dayao Textile Co., and network with the BCI Leadership Team. Limited seats are still available for this recruitment meeting, go to www.bettercotton.org/get-involved/events/ for more details.

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Closing the loop on traceability

Well Studio on January 27, 2016

This is an old news post – to read the latest about Better Cotton traceability, please click here. 

BCI is now implementing the final step to establish end-to-end online traceability for Better Cotton products.

In January 2016, BCI added garment manufacturers to its traceability system, the Better Cotton Tracer. This addition marked the completion of ”end-to-end” traceability, allowing BCI to verify the volumes of Better Cotton being sourced by our retailers and brands through products and suppliers from field to store.

The development of the Better Cotton Tracer started in 2013. Initially, ginners, traders, spinners, and retailers and brands were the only supply chain actors to have access to the Tracer. Over a period of less than three years, the system has been developed to include fabric mills, import-export companies, traders of yarns and fabrics, and finally garment manufacturers – so that all actors in the supply chain can now record their transactions.

”The Better Cotton Tracer is the most widely-used and the only end-to-end traceability system of its kind in the cotton industry. Any ginner, merchant, supplier, agent or retailer can use our system no matter where they are located in the world for any Better Cotton-related raw material or finished product: from seed cotton to t-shirts. It is simple, lean and user-friendly, which are the keys for developing a system that could be used by a ginner in Africa, a supplier in Turkey or a retailer in San Francisco with equal ease,” says BCI Supply Chain Manager, Kerem Saral.

End-to-end traceability simplifies the administrative process for Better Cotton sourcing, particularly for retailer and brand members who drive Better Cotton uptake. Having an end-to-end traceability system allows BCI retailer and brand members to receive documentation and information about the volume of Better Cotton they source electronically. Added simplicity for BCI’s members helps to supportourmission ofestablishingBetter Cotton as a responsiblemainstream solution.

The Better Cotton Tracer records how much Better Cotton is sourced by any user in the supply chain. Actors in the supply chain record the number of Better Cotton Claim Units (BCCUs) they received with a product, such as yarn, and allocate these units to the product sold the next actor, such as fabric, so that the amount ”allocated” does not exceed the amount ”received.” Although BCI’s current system does not physically trace Better Cotton through the supply chain, end-to-end traceability strengthens the credibility of Better Cotton claims made by our retailer and brand members.

To learn more about BCI’s Chain of Custody, watch our shortvideo.

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Better Cotton launches the Growth and Innovation Fund

Well Studio on January 19, 2016

BCI has launched its Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF), which came into force on 1 January 2016. The Fund is BCI’s new global investment vehicle for supporting Better Cotton projects in cotton-growing regions around the world. The scale of the Fund will help BCI advance its goal of reaching 5 million farmers and accounting for 30% of global cotton production by 2020. The portfolio is jointly run by BCI, its partners and members from the worlds of business, civil society and government. The Fund is managed by BCI’s strategic partner IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, which also ran the very successful Better Cotton Fast Track Programme (BCFTP) from 2010 to 2015.

Joint investments in training and capacity building enable the BCI GIF to address the most pressing sustainability issues in cotton farming, including pesticide use, water efficiency and severe working conditions such as child labour, gender issues andunfair pay. By mobilising public and private funds, BCI strives to mainstream Better Cotton, which is grown in a way that is measurably better for the environment and farming communities. The fund invests in capacity building programmes that train cotton producers to optimise inputs, use chemicals in a safer manner, increase yields and generate higher profits. The model is based on continuous improvement, which means BCI farmers are required to develop plans to continuously improve their practices over time.

Private partners in the Fund are some of the world’s largest cotton buyers, including adidas, H&M, IKEA, Nike, Levi Strauss & Co. and M&S, who have agreed to pay a volume-based fee related to their use of Better Cotton. Retailers and brands who use Better Cotton in their supply chains contribute to the funding of farmer capacity building. BCI currently has a retailer and brand membership of over 50 organisations, with a target to pass 60 by the end of 2016. Global institutional donors are invited to match the fees contributed by the private sector in order to achieve a multiplier effect.

The BCI GIF (and its predecessor the BCFTP) offer a five year track record of effective large-scale fund management. Results collected each year show strong positive changes in the field, which translate into large-scale environmental benefits as well as social and economic improvements for cotton producers and their families. For 2014 results, please see our most recent Harvest Report.

 

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Call for contributions: Better Cotton Production Principles and Criteria Revision

Well Studio on December 18, 2015

In spring 2015, BCI began a comprehensive review of its Production Principles and Criteria as part of its commitment to the ISEAL code of good practice.

BCI has now launched its public consultation phase, which runs until 3 February 2016. During this phase, BCI invites the general public and cotton sector stakeholders to provide their feedback viaour website.

The BCI Production Principles and Criteria present the global definition of Better Cotton. By following its six principles, BCI farmers produce cotton in a way that is measurably better for the environment and farming communities. The principles and associated criteria were first published in 2010. Since then, minor amendments and structural changes have been made.

BCI considers continuous improvement a pillar of its work, and has committed to regularly assessing its approach. The Production Principles and Criteria review process is part of its ongoing effort to uphold best practice in responsible cotton production.

”This consultation is anopportunity for cotton sector stakeholders and beyond to address the most significant global social and environmental issues associated with cotton cultivation, and to explain the intended outcomes by having the Principles and Criteria met.Retailers, ginners, spinners, traders, NGOs, trade unions, producer organizations and large independent cotton farmers are invited to come around the table during the next two months and contribute to redefining BCI’s sustainability ambition for years to come,”says Gregory Jean, BCI Standard and Learning Manager.

Several sustainability-related changes are being proposed to the Production Principles and Criteria, including amendments to land use, natural resource management and social issues. Significant changes to the structure are also being suggested.

During the revision process thusfar, BCI has consulted with cotton experts, scientists, advisers, environmental organisations and retailers to help inform the content of the review. The BCI Standard Setting and Revision Committee has provided detailed input and helped design the current version of the proposed draft.

To contribute feedback, views or expertise to the review process, please visit our website and follow the instructions. For further information, please contact , Gregory Jean, BCI Standard and Learning Manager.

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2014 Harvest Report released

Well Studio on November 9, 2015

BCI is pleased to announce the publication of our 2014 Harvest Report. The report details Better Cotton harvest data at global and field levels in 2014, and completes the second of two reporting phases for the year — the first being our Annual Report.

Important highlights include:
» 1.2 million farmers participated in BCI’s programme – up 79 percent from 2013.

» BCI farmers produced 2 million metric tonnes of Better Cotton lint – a 118 percent increase on the previous year.

» Better Cotton made up 7.6 percent of global cotton production.

» Better Cotton was grown in 20 countries worldwide, five more than in 2013.

» As an example of country results, Better Cotton farmers in Pakistan used 15% less pesticide, 19% less synthetic fertiliser, 18% less water and increased their profits by 46% as compared to comparison farmers.

We’re extremely proud of everything we achieved in 2014. Most notably the year’s results confirmed the underlying premise of our model: higher yields, reduced inputs of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, resulting in much higher income for our farmers. As the 2015 season continues, we’re making strong progress towards establishing Better Cotton as a more sustainable mainstream commodity.

A note on timing: Better Cotton is sown and harvested in different annual cycles across the world, and when releasing data, we must first collect, check and collate information from every region. For this reason, our 2014 harvest data is ready for distribution late in the following year.

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Pioneer Member IKEA reaches 100% more sustainable cotton

Well Studio on October 30, 2015

IKEA announces that since September 2015, 100 percent of its cotton comes from more sustainable sources. This achievement highlights the impressive work of BCI’s Pioneer Members, who together are driving change in the cotton industry.

BCI’s Pioneer Members are a group of visionary retailers and brands leading the way to more sustainable business practices. In addition to IKEA, adidas, H&M, Nike, Levi Strauss & Co. and M&S have all set ambitious public targets pledging to source more sustainable cotton.

”We are very proud of the work we do with our members. Their commitment to BCI is extremely important to us, as it helps support the work of our farmers and drives demand for Better Cotton throughout the supply chain,” says Paola Geremicca, BCI Programme Director of Fundraising and Communications.

It is five years since BCI Farmers produced their first Better Cotton harvest, and there are now over one million farmers growing Better Cotton in 20 countries. By 2020, BCI aims to reach 5 million farmers worldwide.

Richard Holland, Director of the WWF Market Transformation Initiative, says the goal has always been ”a world in which cotton is produced with substantially less impact on people and nature, and with farmers making a decent living from growing the crop.”

Upon its milestone, BCI applauds IKEA’s achievement and celebrates the work of all our members. BCI has over 600 members sourcing and supplying Better Cotton at all stages of the textile supply chain. Led by a group of pioneering organisations, they can be proud of their efforts to make a responsible alternative the mainstream norm.

BCI’s Programme Director of Demand, Ruchira Joshi, says, ”BCI is its members. We could not have gotten this far without their ongoing support and commitment. We remain a member-led organisation and welcome all stakeholders in the textile supply chain to join us in improving the future of cotton.”

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Pioneer Members unveil ethical ranges

Well Studio on October 14, 2015

BCI Pioneer Members continue to generate exciting publicity around their commitments to more sustainable cotton. Their messages highlight the importance of improving cotton production worldwide while naming BCI as a key component of their sustainability portfolios. BCI’s Pioneer Members include some of the world’s biggest brands and retailers, and their campaigns help to raise the profile of BCI both among consumers and throughout the supply chain. Recent initiatives by Marks & Spencer and Levi Strauss & Co. featuring Better Cotton have prompted conversations about the role of sustainability in fashion.

Marks & Spencer has teamed with eco-activist, Livia Firth, to produce 25 pieces of sustainable clothing featuring responsibly sourced wool, leather and suede from eco-tanneries. The ”Livia Firth Edit” complements Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, a programme aimed at responsible sourcing, reducing waste and helping communities, and it’s support of the Better Cotton Initiative.

Levi Strauss & Co. announced the launch of its Wellthread Collection, which features 100% recyclable clothing made with less water and with special care for factory workers. From farm to factory, Levi Strauss & Co. strives to produce clothing that’s better for people and the planet. Sourcing responsible raw materials, like Better Cotton, is one way Levi Strauss & Co. promotes more sustainable practices.

In addition to the ranges released by M&S and Levi Strauss & Co., other BCI Pioneer Members have showcased their support of BCI across media channels in 2015. BCI featured in a blog post by adidas and a spread in IKEA’s 2015 catalogue. Together with Cotton Australia, Nike funded a video highlighting the business case for Better Cotton, and H&M produced a video featuring Better Cotton as one of its ”Conscious materials.”

BCI is proud to provide strategic marketing support to its members, allowing them to bring positive messages about cotton and sustainability to their customers.

 

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