Big household fashion names are “coasting and doing nothing” when it comes to sourcing sustainable cotton, one international coalition has said, with the industry unlikely to make progress in this area if more brands don’t get on board.
Despite the signatures of industry power players like Adidas, Burberry, H&M, Kering, IKEA, Levi Strauss, and Nike to the recent so-called Sustainable Cotton Communiqué, a new study has found the vast majority of the world’s cotton buyers are doing next to nothing to promote the uptake of sustainable cotton in their supply chains.
According to the latest Sustainable Cotton Ranking, an annual report that the World Wildlife Fund, the Pesticide Action Network, and Solidaridad compile every year, only 11 of the world’s 75 top buyers of cotton have established time-bound commitments or targets for increasing their use of sustainable cotton.