The Better Cotton Standard System is a holistic approach to sustainable cotton production which covers all three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental and economic, and addresses the many challenges of cotton production. One of the seven Better Cotton Principles and Criteria directly...

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

The decision to postpone this year’s conference was not taken lightly, but the BCI Leadership Team agreed that postponement is the most responsible approach given the current situation regarding...

 
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...

 
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...

 
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...

 
Are you planning on joining BCI and partners for the 4^th 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...

 
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...

 
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...

 
“In my village, cotton farming is hard work and families often struggle to make a living, particularly now that the rains are increasingly unpredictable,” says BCI Farmer Balubhai Parmar. This is a situation echoed across rural Gujarat, a coastal state in India, where climate change and...

Position Statement

Discrimination and forced labour, of all forms, are unacceptable within Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) programmes. BCI is aware of and concerned by the reports of the current situation in Xinjiang where “re-education” and forced labour programmes target Uighurs and other...