manager_1 Better Cotton, the largest cotton certifier in the world, announced that it will reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 50%.
Better Cotton was founded in 2009 and has been working to make cotton production more sustainable around the world. Better Cotton has trained more than 2.5 million farmers worldwide and raised 99 million euro since 2010. This number is expected to rise to 125 millions euros by 2021-22 season.
Recent research found that Better Cotton produced 19 percent less GHG emissions per ton of cotton than the production in China and India, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Pakistan.
Better Cotton has set 2030 as the deadline and will announce four additional targets by 2022. This is based on a 2017 baseline. These targets include soil health, pesticide usage, smallholder livelihoods, and women’s empowerment.
Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton said that this is a promise for Better Cotton farmers as well as a stake for the global cotton sector. “The Better Cotton Standard is used to produce nearly 25% of the world’s cotton. That number will be at least twice by 2030, according to our goal,” he adds.
During the 2019-2020 season, farmers in India were employed by Better Cotton. India’s farmers saw a 9 percent increase in yields and an 18 percent increase in profits during the 2019-2020 season than farmers who did not grow Better Cotton.
They used 10% less water and 13 percent fewer synthetic fertilizers than other farmers.
McClay stated that Better Cotton members and their partners want to see tangible, measurable changes on the ground in accordance with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. “We encourage continuous improvement at the farm level, regardless of where cotton farmers are in their sustainability journey.”
