Better Cotton 2025 annual conference is a major milestone for the organization
The 2025 annual conference of the world's largest cotton sustainability initiative, Better Cotton, proved to be major milestone for the organization. Held in İzmir, Türkiye, on June 18-19, the event attracted over 370 attendees from more than 20 countries, fostering discussions on topics from gender equality and climate finance to traceability and cross-commodity collaboration.
A significant highlight of this conference was the introduction of Better Cotton's new CEO, Nick Weatherill, who takes the helm from Alan McClay. After a decade of leadership, McClay emphasized the need for Better Cotton to assert itself more prominently in the global community.
Better Cotton also declared its intent to become a regenerative standard within the next year. Eva Benavidez Clayton, Senior Director - Demand and Engagement, explained, the organization needs to adopt approaches that don’t simply mitigate or reduce harm, but actively restore the environment. While Better Cotton's existing field-level standard already incorporates many tenets of regenerative agriculture, this shift will ensure farmers meeting their standard adopt the most widely agreed-upon regenerative practices, he added.
The conference also unveiled Better Cotton's first-ever United States Impact Report. This report reflects on a decade of progress (2014-2024) in the US, detailing the program and its partners, and offering insights into large-scale cotton farming in the country. Clayton highlighted the report's key data on acreage, production, and input usage, alongside farmer profiles and project stories that ‘bring the work to life.’
Focusing on the theme ‘It Starts with Farmers,’ the conference placed cotton farmers and field-level organizations on the forefront. Participating in the conference, representatives from countries including Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, India, Pakistan, the US, and Uzbekistan, reinforced McClay's statement that real progress must start with farmers. The conference ended with a debate on whether traceability could benefit farmers with the audience voting strongly favoring its potential positive impact.
