Better Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, has signed the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) sustainability pledge ahead of the launch of a traceability solution by the end of 2023.
The Sustainability Commitment is an open source set of policy proposals, guidelines and standards that enable industry actors to validate their sustainability claims. The aim of the commitment is to create a community of practice that can jointly develop traceability and transparency as key enablers of sustainability and circularity.
UNECE has launched a framework to convene trusted solutions providers in knowledge exchange, in the belief that companies, academics and subject matter experts can together promote transparency. supply chain by engaging in open discussion.
By recognizing legitimate tools and projects that enhance industry traceability, this commitment will benefit policymakers, companies, workers and consumers alike. use.
“We are signing UNECE’s sustainability commitment not only to affirm our commitment to improve traceability and transparency in the Better Cotton supply chain, but also to support traceability and use of claims. more credible sustainability claims across the industry,” Alia Malik, senior director of data and traceability at Better Cottonspeak.
“Once we know where the clothes we buy come from and how far they have traveled in the global value chain, we can make informed decisions as consumers about our claims. sustainability of those goods. We welcome Better Cotton’s commitment and call on other players to join in and make traceability and sustainability the new standard in the textile industry.” Elisabeth Türk, director, economic and trade cooperation at UNECEspeak.
As a signatory, Better Cotton joins more than 90 businesses that have already committed, including Inditex, Vivienne Westwood, WWF, Retraced and FiberTrace.
Better Cotton’s submission explains the development of a traceability solution that was developed as part of Strategy 2030. With more than 2,500 members around the world, Better Cotton is well positioned. to develop a solution that can scale globally.
It will give retailers and brand members the opportunity to verify the physical country of origin of Better Cotton in their products and allow farmers and suppliers further access to the price chains. international governance is increasingly tightly regulated. All of this will support Better Cotton’s work to improve lives and protect livelihoods in cotton-growing communities.
The development of Better Cotton’s traceability solution was based on extensive consultation with more than 1,500 stakeholders including suppliers, members and industry consultants.
In signing the sustainability pledge, Better Cotton outlined key actions and the timeframe in which the solution will be delivered. A phased rollout will follow later, giving all supply chain actors the opportunity to comply with the new chain of custody requirements that will enable traceability by 2025.
The fashion and textile sectors face increasing regulatory pressure, especially around ‘boycott’ – the use of unsubstantiated claims to mislead consumers about information endorsement of the sustainability of a company or product.
Better Cotton’s upcoming traceability solution will cater to cotton’s provenance and lifecycle recording, starting at the national level with the aim of improving data granularity in the future. .
Better Cotton, the world’s largest sustainable cotton initiative, has signed on to UNECE’s sustainability commitment to enhance traceability and transparency in its supply chain. The commitment aims to create a community of practice to develop traceability and transparency as key enablers of sustainability. Its upcoming traceability solution will be launched in 2023.
