Opens Up to Brands and Retailers for the First Time
The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol and Field to Market: the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture are partnering to accelerate sustainable outcomes for U.S. cotton production. The partnership strengthens the ability of cotton growers and the value chain to drive continuous improvement. In other news, the U.S. Cotton Council has announced that brands and retailers will now be able to join the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol for the first time, enabling them to better demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices and products in line with growing customer demand.
About the Field to Market Partnership
In a memorandum of understanding, the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol and Field to Market have committed to:
- Scale grower access to sustainability measurement
- Track U.S. cotton’s sustainability journey
- Foster an increased level of collaboration
Together, Field to Market and the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol will assess progress against the U.S. cotton industry’s established environmental targets. By 2025, the industry aims to achieve reductions in four key areas, decreasing soil loss by 50% per acre, water use by 18%, greenhouse gas emissions by 39%, and energy use by 15%, while increasing land use efficiency by 13% and soil carbon by 30%.
The Trust Protocol completed a successful project pilot in 2019, and began fully implementing its programs in 2020, with a goal to enroll at least 500 producers by December 2020.
Read the official partnership announcement here.
About Brands, Retailers and The Cotton Trust Protocol
In another new development, The U.S. Cotton Council has announced that from this month, brands and retailers will be able to join the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol for the first time, enabling them to better measure progress towards reducing their environmental footprint and achieving sustainability targets, which has become an increasingly important consideration for their customers. In a recent global survey by U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, over half of respondents say that they have seen their customers’ demands for environmentally sustainable practices and products increase since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Liza Schillo, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability Integration, Levi Strauss & Co. and Trust Protocol Board Member said, “At Levi Strauss & Co., the quality and sustainability of the cotton we use is critical to our business and important to our customers. We are deeply committed to sourcing sustainable cotton and reducing water usage, carbon emissions, and chemical usage.
“We are therefore in strong support of the introduction of standards – including the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol – that champion sustainably grown cotton and drive wider adoption over the long-term of sustainable cultivation practices.”