Cotton is the world’s most widely used natural fibre, accounting for nearly 24% of global fibre production. Yet the textile industry - driven by the fast fashion model - is one of the largest contributors to climate change, responsible for an estimated 1.2 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year. The sector’s fragmented and opaque supply chains make it difficult to measure - let alone reduce - emissions, with Scope 3 emissions (those generated across the value chain) representing up to 95% of a brand’s total carbon footprint.
At the same time, cotton has a unique opportunity to become part of the climate solution. When managed regeneratively, cotton soils can act as carbon sinks, storing organic carbon while improving water use efficiency and biodiversity. However, the lack of reliable farm-level data has long prevented the textile industry from quantifying and verifying these benefits.
To address this challenge, the University of Plymouth and SAWiE joined forces under the Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) initiative to explore how digital could revolutionise cotton traceability and climate reporting. Their pioneering project - “Evaluating the Feasibility of a Comprehensive Tool for Traceability in the Net-Zero Supply Chain for Sustainable Cotton Fibre - A Farm-to-Fashion Intervention” - aimed to establish a digital pathway linking farm practices directly with corporate sustainability metrics.
