The organisation commits to developing a cotton-specific carbon insetting accounting framework to be integrated into the Better Cotton traceability platform. Better Cotton’s traceability system is due to be launched in 2023 and will provide the backbone for the insetting mechanism. Once implemented, the insetting mechanism will enable retail companies to know who grew their more sustainable cotton and allow them to incentivise farmers directly with credits, Better Cotton said in a media release.

Better Cotton has announced its involvement with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. As part of this initiative, Better Cotton is working with smallholder farmers to pioneer an insetting mechanism to incentivise sustainable agricultural practices.

Until now, it has been impossible to build a carbon insetting mechanism to reduce GHG emissions in the cotton supply chain at scale. Farmer centricity is a key pillar of Better Cotton’s work, and this solution ties into the 2030 Strategy, which lays the foundation for a strong response to climate threats within the cotton value chain, and mobilises action for change with farmers, field partners and members.

To launch Better Cotton’s Commitment to Action, Better Cotton COO, Lena Staafgard, attended the CGI meeting on September 19, 2022. The event showcased the initiatives of organisations working towards climate resiliency, and featured a video of Alia Malik, senior director of data and traceability at Better Cotton, introducing Better Cotton’s innovative solution.

Better Cotton CEO Alan McClay said, “We are pleased to be a part of the CGI community. This will amplify our work with smallholder farmers, and ultimately help us achieve our goals of enabling farmers to profit from implementing more sustainable practices in cotton growing. It will also allow to further build the business case for traceability up and down the supply chain and enable brands to have more insight in to who grows the cotton in their products.”

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)