Contributors:
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd
- Ashish Dikshit
- Biren Vora
- Naresh Tyagi
ASOS
- Sue Williamson
- Tara Luckman
Better Cotton Initiative
- Alan McClay
- Daren Abney
- Lena Staafgard
- Paula Lum Young
Burberry
- Louisa Holbrook
- Pamela Batty
C&A
- Charline Ducas
- Jeff Hogue
- Kate Heiny
Laudes Foundation
- Anita Chester
- Ipshita Sinha
- Leslie Johnson
- Margarida Curti Lunetta
- Lakshmi Poti
Centre for Sustainable Fashion
- Dilys Williams
- Renee Cucou
Cotton Australia
- Allan Williams
- Brooke Summers
CottonConnect
- Agnieszka Dziedzic
- Alison Ward
- Amol Mishra
- Anna Karlsson
- Arvind Rewal
Cotton Made in Africa
- Tina Stridde
- Abi Rushton
- Alexandra Perschau
- Anna Felicitas Ruechardt
- Christian Barthel
Fairtrade Foundation
- Subindu Garkhel
Fair Fashion Center, Glasgow Caledonian New York College
- Maggie Kervick
Forum for the Future
- Alexa Rees-Jones
- Charlene Collison
- Elizabeth Rich
- Fiona Dowson
- Kat Campbell
- Sally Uren
- Sandra Seru
- Ulrike Stein
IDH - The Sustainable Trade Initiative
- Elea Papaemmanuel
- Joost Oorthuizen
- Pramit Chanda
ISEAL Alliance
- Patrick Mallet
Made- by
- Holly Browne
- Ria Kearney
- Sabine Ritter
Marks & Spencer
- Holly Coutts
- Phil Townsend
Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA)
- Crispin Argento
- Hilde Van Duijn
ProMundi
- Andrew Singleton
Proudly Made in Africa
- Connall o’Caoimh
- Vikki Brennan
PVH
- Gudrun Gudmundsdottir
- Samantha Sims
- Susan Irvine
Solidaridad
- Isabelle Roge
SuperGroup
- Carly Thomas
- Paula Kerrigan
Sustainable & Organic Farm Systems
- Simon Ferrigno
Target
- Cola Leung
- Emily McGarvey
- Jill Davies
- Kate Schaust
- Lalit Toshniwal
- Patty Reber
- Sandra Durrant
- Sarah Thorson
Textile Exchange
- Alaina Johnson
- Brent Crossland
- Celeste Lilore
- LaRhea Pepper
- Liesl Truscott
- Lisa Emberson
- Payton LaRocque
Sources cited:
Cotton at a glance
- Fibre used in textile sector: International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), 100% of 100 Facts About Cotton
- Hectares planted with cotton: ICAC Press Release, 1 December 2017
- Arable land: FAOSTAT, retrieved on 27 April 2017.
- Annual global cotton production: ICAC Press Release, 1 December 2017
- Number of production countries: ICAC, 2017
- Livelihoods supported: Fairtrade Foundation, 2015
- Number of cotton farmers: Better Cotton Initiative, 2017
Key facts about cotton:
- Number of production countries: ICAC, 2017
- Annual global production: ICAC Press Release, 1 December 2017
- Most abundantly used produced natural fibre: ICAC, 100% of 100 Facts About Cotton
- Production from one 227kg cotton bale: Cotton Australia, Cotton Facts
- Average water footprint of seed cotton: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017, citing Chapagain, A.K., Hoekstra, A.Y., Savenije, H.H.G. and Gautam, R. (2006) The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries, Ecological Economics, 60(1): 186-203.
- Irrigation vs rain-fed production: Water use in cotton, ICAC 2018, Forthcoming. According to ICAC, the global area under rain-fed cotton is 16.9 million hectares, equivalent to 55.7% of the total cotton acreage. Rain-fed area contributed to 10.22 million tonnes of lint, equivalent to 41.3% of the total global cotton production.
- Proportion of smallholder farmers: Fairtrade Foundation, 2015: Cotton Commodity briefing
From niche to mainstream
- 2.6 million tonnes of more sustainable cotton: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017
- Proportion of more sustainable cotton on global production: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017
What is sustainable cotton?
- Sustainable development definition: United Nations, Our Common Future – Brundtland Report 1987
- Sustainable cotton definition: based on Altieri, 1987
- Role of sustainability standards and certification schemes: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017
Understanding traceability
- Traceability definition: UN Global Compact: A Guide to Traceability, 2014
Challenges for Cotton
- Average water footprint of seed cotton: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017, citing Chapagain, A.K., Hoekstra, A.Y., Savenije, H.H.G. and Gautam, R. (2006) The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries, Ecological Economics, 60(1): 186-203.
- Irrigated vs rain-fed production: Water use in cotton, ICAC 2018, Forthcoming.
- Impact of fertilisers on water: The State of the Apparel Sector 2015 Special Report – Water
- Chemical and pesticide use: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017: Cropnosis, cited in Measuring Sustainability in Cotton Farming Systems Towards a Guidance Framework, SEEP ICAC and FAO, 2015.
- Smallholder farmers in developing countries: Fairtrade Foundation, 2015: Cotton Commodity briefing
- Smallholder farmers poverty: Fairtrade Foundation, 2015: Cotton Commodity briefing
- Income from cotton: 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge, Textile Exchange
- Forced/child labour in cotton production: US Department of Labor: List of goods produced by child labor or forced labor, Sepember 2016
- Import ban on Turkmenistan cotton: Reuters, 2018
- Forced labour in Uzbekistan: ILO, 27 September 2017 and ILO Decent Work Programme
- Land use pressure: The State of the Apparel Sector 2015 Special Report – Water
- Average world cotton yields: Bremen Cotton Exchange 2014, cited by Cotton Australia: Fact Sheet, World Cotton Market.
- Cotton markets: ‘The increasing role of financial motives, financial markets, financial actors and financial institutions in the operation of the domestic and international economies’ (Epstein 2005, 3, in Staritz et al., 2015)
The business case for sustainable cotton
- Brands with purpose have stronger customer loyalty, and attract and retain high-quality employees: LinkedIn: Purpose at Work, 2016 Global report
- Consumer preference for brands with purpose: Unilever, 2017
- Sales growth from responsible consumption: Boston Consulting Group, 2014
- Returns on KPIs: Havas Group 2017 Meaningful Brands study
- 2025 Sustainable Cotton Challenge: Textile Exchange, 2018
- Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standard: SASB: Apparel, Accessories & Footwear Sustainability Accounting Standard, 2015, section on Raw Material Sourcing & Innovation
- Companies that rely largely on cotton as a raw material play a crucial role in securing the future of the sustainable cotton market: Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2017
Image credits:
| Page | Image | Credit |
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| Homepage |
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| Cotton at a Glance |
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| Challenges for Cotton |
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| How can cotton contribute to a sustainable future |
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| What is sustainable cotton |
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| The business case for sustainable cotton |
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| Getting started |
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| Understanding standards, codes and other cotton programmes |
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| Choosing a standard to meet your sustainable sourcing ambitions |
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| Sourcing options – sustainability considerations |
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| Cotton sustainability standards and codes |
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| Understanding traceability |
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| Comparing traceability models |
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| Create a cotton strategy |
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| Overcoming barriers to sustainable sourcing |
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| Sourcing options – technical considerations |
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| Before you talk to suppliers |
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| Working with suppliers |
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| Following up after talking with suppliers |
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| Learning from others |
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| Links and resources |
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| Feedback |
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| References and contributors |
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| About this guide |
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