The Unlock Programme’s 2023 pilot resulted in carbon reduction of an average between 200 and 600kg per hectare in India and between 950 to 2,000kg per hectare in the US.
Developed by The Fashion Pact and sustainability consultancy 2050, the programme aims to be a catalyst for increased adoption of lower-impact and regenerative farming practices globally. A total of 25 apparel brands joined the scheme, including J. Crew and House of Baukjen.
The Unlock Programme supports and trains farmers to implement changes and report data on farming practices. It quantifies the greenhouse gas impact of the changes made for each farm and field, issuing additional outcomes-based financial incentives for the farmers called ‘Unlock Units’.
The scheme measures climate impact as well as biodiversity, water use, soil and livelihood outcomes.
Doug Forster, chief sourcing officer at J. Crew Group, explained: “Cotton makes up about 70% of our material footprint, which is why it’s so crucial that we help to accelerate the transition to regenerative farming - not only for the sake of the environment, but to support sustainable livelihoods for farmers.
“By engaging in collective action to decarbonize raw material production, we can deliver real, much needed change across the fashion sector. The Unlock Programme allows us to do that by helping brands work together to increase our impact to achieve widespread change at scale.”
The scheme is funded in part by the Laudes Foundation and works with partners including Organic Cotton Accelerator, Better Cotton, Indigo Ag, Climate Beneficial Verification Program, Staple Cotton Cooperative Association, Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative and Albini Group.
Brands investing in the scheme channel investment directly to the farmers reducing their carbon emissions, with the level of support tailored to the level of emissions improvement achieved.
The scheme claims this increased farmer enrolment and practice changes, enabling the decarbonisation of cotton production whilst supporting farmer livelihoods.
The programme now aims to scale up, working with more than 10,000 cotton farmers across India and the US in 2024. The scheme hopes to achieve at least 10,000 tonnes of total emissions reductions and removals and invest up to €1.2m in payments to farmers this year.
The scaling phase will also add biodiversity, water, soil and livelihood metrics to the farmer assessments. The scheme will also deploy remote sensing solutions to drive efficiencies in data collection, data validation and geographical risk assessment.
This next phase will also see the programme transition to be housed within registered charity Future Earth Lab. The Fashion Pact will remain engaged with the scheme to support scaling.
The Unlock Programme has an ambitious target of reaching 90,000 farmers “within the next few years” and to expand beyond the US and India.
Laila Petrie, director general of Future Earth Lab, said in a statement: “The pilot process has allowed us to create a new mechanism for change, and to test and iterate with inputs from experts, partners and farmers. It has resulted in a system that can transform how we measure and reward improved farming practices, and the alignment that we have been able to achieve across brands, cotton programmes and farming groups gives us huge potential to scale.
“Ultimately, we aim to make these solutions available to farmers all over the world, and to ensure that these types of incentives are available, inclusive and adapted to all contexts whilst retaining technical accuracy and credibility.
“The Unlock Programme continues to grow, develop and add new technologies and approaches - and we are excited to keep capturing and sharing our learnings as the work develops. We invite farming groups, experts and brands to join us in the next phase of scaling Unlock to support farming transition around the world.”
The news comes shortly after the Global Organic Textile Standard and Organic Cotton Accelerator announced the launch of a joint initiative urging the textile industry to support farmers transitioning to organic cotton.
