What Does Sustainability Mean for the Cotton Industry?

摘要

For a term that carries so much significance for the cotton and textile industries, it's surprising how ambiguous and poorly understood "sustainability" is. Then again, maybe it isn't so surprising. In 1987, the United Nations released the BrundtlandReport, which provided one of the most widely used definitions: Terry Townsend, executive director of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), believes that's a good starting point - but it isn't exactly measurable. "There is no worldwide consensus on what 'sustainability' means for the cotton industry, so individual companies can make up their own definition," he told Cotton International. "It also means different things in different countries."