Better Cotton, a worldwide cotton certifier and sustainability initiative that has several promo suppliers among its members, has signed the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Sustainability Pledge to encourage traceability and transparency.

The initiative says it plans to launch its own traceability solution at the end of the year.

The U.N.’s pledge is an open-source suite of policy recommendations, guidelines and standards that enable the industry to authenticate sustainability claims. The aim is to create a community of practice that will develop traceability and transparency as key enablers for sustainability and circularity.

There’s growing demand for clarity about supply chains and the origin of cotton and other materials, particularly due to things like forced labor concerns and claims of greenwashing. Signing the pledge helps “not only to affirm our commitment to improving traceability and transparency in Better Cotton supply chains, but also in support of traceability and the use of more credible sustainability claims across the industry,” said Alia Malik, senior director of data and traceability at Better Cotton.

The UNECE says its pledge is an important part of creating a new normal in the textile industry.

“Once we know the provenance of the clothes that we buy, and the path they have traveled in global value chains, then we can make informed decisions as consumers about the sustainability claims of those goods,” said Elisabeth Türk, director of economic cooperation and trade at UNECE.

Better Cotton joins more than 90 businesses that have committed to the pledge, including Inditex, Vivienne Westwood, WWF, Retraced and FibreTrace.

Better Cotton says its own Traceability Solution, part of its 2030 strategy, will offer retailers and brand members the opportunity to verify the country of origin of the physical Better Cotton in their products and enable farmers and suppliers to continue accessing increasingly regulated international value chains. The development of the solution was based on extensive consultation with more than 1,500 stakeholders, including suppliers, members and industry consultants. A phased roll-out of the solution will allow all supply chain actors the opportunity to align with new chain of custody requirements that will enable traceability before 2025, according to Better Cotton.

Better Cotton has more than 2,500 members. Among them are promotional products suppliers Threadfast Apparel (asi/91163) and Fruit of the Loom (asi/84257). Shahi, a factory in India that Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863) partners with, is also a Better Cotton member.

Promo for the Planet is your destination for the latest news, biggest trends and best ideas to help build a more sustainable and socially-responsible industry.