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Creating a Smarter Cotton Future

U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is advancing Sustainably Grown Cotton

In a period of ever greater supply chain scrutiny and Smarter Cotton Future,” with Edward Hertzman, that
a growing demand for transparency, The U.S. Cotton the Protocol’s main objective is to enroll U.S. cotton
Trust Protocol® sets a new standard for more farmers in a program that advances the issue of
sustainably grown cotton. Aligned with the U.N. responsibly grown cotton production and drives
Sustainable Development Goals, the Trust Protocol continuous improvement in key metrics.
brings quantifiable and verifiable goals and
measurement to more sustainable cotton production The participating farmers then provide field-level
and drives continuous improvement in six key analysis data such as fertilizer usage, field cultivation
sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water and other “sophisticated information that allows us to
management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions, collect, aggregate and provide to the textile supply
and energy efficiency. chain,” Adams said. Dr. Gary Adams
President
The Trust Protocol underpins and verifies U.S. Having this data gives brands and retailers the critical U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol
cotton’s sustainability progress through sophisticated assurances they need that the cotton fiber element of
data collection and independent third-party their supply chain is more sustainably grown with
verification. Choosing the Trust Protocol cotton will lower environmental and social risk. opportunities to seek to improve, to be even more and 30 brands and retailers, he noted. This includes
provide brands and retailers the critical assurances efficient with their resources.” Gap Inc. and its Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic
they need that the cotton fiber element of their supply Hertzman, noting that sustainability has become an and Athleta chains, as well as U.K. retailers Next plc
chain is more sustainably grown with lower “evolving process of continuous improvement,” not In addition, farmers are asked what areas they would and Byford. The Trust Protocol also has welcomed
environmental and social risk. reliant on a single program of entity, asked Adams like to improve upon or get involved in, and the Protocol the first U.S. mills, the first members in Latin America,
how the program can ensure that farmers’ practices can then look to provide resources to make changes in and Advance Denim, one of China’s top three denim
Launched in the summer of 2020, the Trust Protocol continue to evolve. areas such as cover crops or irrigation. manufacturers.
is voluntary for U.S. cotton producers and allows us
to report on six key sustainability metrics from the One way the program does that, Adams said, is that Turning to the rampant forced labor allegations rocking “As we look forward in 2021, we’d like to be able to
farm-level. Firmly rooted in their established as farmers document what they are doing to grow China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Adams double the level of participation by cotton produc-
principles of continuous improvement, this initiative cotton, it tells that how they rate on key environmental said the program does query farmers about labor ers,” Adams said. “An objective for us going forward
will help drive all U.S. cotton production towards their measures such as land-use efficiency, energy and practices, such as wages and safety procedures. is to be able to take the aggregate information we
2025 sustainability targets and beyond. water use, and greenhouse gas emissions have accumulated and present it to brands and
compared, for instance, to a state or national “That’s part of the message we give to brands and retailers in a way that is useful to them.”
Dr. Gary Adams, president of the U.S. Cotton Trust average. The Trust Protocol gives evidence to the retailers, that the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol provides
Protocol, said the organization’s role in fashion’s sustainability credentials that are proven via Field to not only the environmental data, but also mitigates The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol is overseen by a
environmental efforts is to enable verifiable goals for Market, measured via the Field Calculator and some of the social and labor risk,” he said. multistakeholder board composed of representatives
U.S. cotton production and a level of data from verified with Control Union Certifications. from brands and retailers, civil society and independ-
participating producers, and provide that information The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has grown to include ent sustainability experts, as well as the cotton-grow-
to the textile supply chain. “So, they get some feedback on knowing where they more than 300 cotton producers that have completed ing industry, including growers, ginners, merchants,
stand and they can see how their peers are doing,” the requirements for participation, as well as more wholesalers and cooperatives, mills and
Adams said during his conversation on “Creating a he said. “Hopefully, that gives them some than 200 mills and manufacturers and between 25 cottonseed handlers.

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