Using Data to Drive Sustainability: Insights from the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol’s 2023 Report

SJ Studio
·4 min read

As consumers become increasingly conscious about the environmental impact of their purchases and legislation regarding transparency and traceability gains traction in key markets, many fashion brands and manufacturers are responding by sourcing more sustainably grown raw materials—including cotton.

According to a recent report by market research company SNS Insider, the sustainable apparel market is projected to reach $20.51 billion in 2030 from $10.22 billion in 2022—representing a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent from 2023 to 2030. Per the report, this accelerating trend toward sustainable apparel is happening on a wide scale, with North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region all experiencing growth.

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Brands and retailers are also facing legislation that will require them to be more transparent and prove their environmental footprint and progress. Starting in financial year 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will mandate that all large and listed companies based in or operating in the EU disclose information regarding risks and opportunities originating from social and environmental issues, as well as the impact of their activities and operations on people and the environment. The recently published European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) also establish reporting guidelines that will unify the methods by which companies disclose their ESG performance.

To meet both consumer requests and regulatory requirements for more sustainability details, companies need data. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, the voluntary sustainability program for U.S. cotton growers and traceability platform for all U.S. cotton, knows that improving the industry’s environmental footprint begins at the field level. The Trust Protocol is the only sustainable cotton initiative that provides quantifiable, verifiable goals and measurement and drives continuous improvement across six key sustainability metrics: land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency. It is also the first to offer article-level supply chain transparency to members.

“We want brands and consumers to have a stronger sense of the origins of the cotton they buy – to better know the growers that produce it and the lengths to which they are going to improve their environmental impact,” said Daren Abney, executive director of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.

The Trust Protocol features several unique characteristics that can play a fundamental role in helping members comply with the CSRD and ESRS. It constantly monitors, identifies and evaluates where its data proposition aligns with the ESRS. The data and transparency the program provides to members make it well-positioned to help them adhere to several disclosure requirements established in the ESRS, including climate, pollution, water, biodiversity and workers’ well-being.

To help improve the environmental footprint of the cotton industry, and, by extension, the apparel and textile industries, the Trust Protocol is dedicated to continuous progress across its key sustainability targets. For the 2022-23 crop year, the Trust Protocol reported improvement across all six of these metrics, compared to a 2015 baseline, including:

  • A 79 percent reduction in soil loss with yields 10 percent greater than the national average

  • An increase in soil carbon of 83 percent

  • Water efficiency enhanced by 14 percent

  • GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions cut by more than a fifth (21 percent)

  • A 27 percent reduction in energy use

Growers achieved these improvements by adopting more sustainable techniques such as regenerative agriculture practices. These include planting cover crops, using minimal or no-tillage methods, promoting biodiversity, practicing rotational farming, utilizing precision agriculture techniques, adopting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques, and using inputs tailored to specific landscape conditions to best suit the needs of their land. Employing these methods helps minimize soil disturbance and loss, maintain living roots year-round, keep the soil covered and maximize crop diversity.

The Trust Protocol’s membership across the supply chain continues to grow, with the program reaching a milestone of 1.7 million planted cotton acres enrolled—accounting for nearly a quarter of total planted acres in the U.S. and representing all 17 Cotton Belt states. This not only demonstrates the program’s advancement, but also means that an ever-increasing amount of more sustainably grown cotton will be available for brand and retailer members to source.

The program also continues to gain momentum within the supply chain with more than 2,000 supplier members and over 40 global companies and their brands, including icons such as Ralph Lauren, Levi Strauss & Co., Macy’s and J.Crew.

“Building transparency into the supply chain is one of the most important challenges that we face in today’s global economy,” said Wilson Avalos, executive vice president of Ropa Siete Leguas, a Mexico-based denim producer and supplier member. “The Trust Protocol allows us to produce with confidence, responsibly and proudly; from cotton to garments, which is essential for our reputation as a manufacturer.”

For more insights from the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol’s 2022-23 Annual Report, click here.