The project, led by Cascale, brings together major industry players including Textile Exchange, CottonConnect, Organic Cotton Accelerator, and Cotton Incorporated.
The initiative addresses a critical gap in the industry: the absence of standardised methods for calculating and analysing environmental impact metrics from LCAs.
The newly developed methodology provides a unified framework for measuring key environmental impacts, including global warming potential, water scarcity, and eutrophication in cotton production.
Better Cotton is among the first organisations to implement this standardised approach, having already collected data from its India programme spanning the 2020-2023 growing seasons. The data will be made available on Cascale's Worldly platform, offering insights into crucial environmental metrics such as carbon emissions and resource depletion.
"With the launch of Better Cotton Traceability, we can now track cotton back to the country of origin. This is a major advancement, as it enables us to conduct country-level LCAs, maintaining alignment with the broader cotton sector," explained Miguel Gomez-Escolar Viejo, head of monitoring, evaluation and learning at Better Cotton.
Initial findings point to fertiliser challenges
Preliminary analysis of the India programme data has identified fertiliser production and usage as the primary contributors to carbon emissions in cotton farming. While fertiliser production falls outside Better Cotton's direct scope, the organisation plans to continue promoting reduced usage, more efficient application methods, and the adoption of lower-emission products where feasible.
Industry-wide benefits
The collaborative approach to developing this methodology offers several advantages for the sector:
- Enables consistent discussion of innovations and developments across organisations,
- Reduces resource expenditure on multiple LCA models,
- Prevents misinterpretation and misuse of LCA data,
- Provides a standardised framework for measuring progress.
Looking ahead
Viejo explained that the LCA data from India will serve as a baseline for further analysis and action.
“The findings also highlight the need for coordinated, multistakeholder action beyond the farm level to truly drive sustainability across the entire supply chain,” he said.
Better Cotton plans to share detailed findings and an action plan in the coming months, focusing on strategies to support farmers in reducing emissions.
The organisation is also developing a new Claims Framework, set to launch in early 2025, which will provide guidelines for members on using LCA data in their reporting and claims.
Better Cotton states it aims to regularly update and expand its LCA datasets to cover other country programmes.
