On Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th April, EJF hosted a roundtable for sustainable and ethical cotton in London.

The meeting was a rare opportunity to bring together a mixture of organisations including major retailers, NGOs, campaigning groups, and consultants to discuss important topics, such as how to eradicate child labour in the cotton industry, the environmental and human health impacts of cotton, together with an overview of industry initiatives and their supply chains.


Organisations and speakers included:

Mali Association for Participatory Development (AMADIP), AOFG India, Better Cotton Initiative, Ethical Trading Initiative, Fair Planet, Fairtrade Foundation, Greenfibres, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, Helvetas, Historic Futures, Hivos, Human Rights Watch, IIED, India Committee of the Netherlands, International Fair Trade Association, International Labour Rights Fund, International Research on Working Children, IUF, Labour Behind the Label, Legambiente, MADE-BY Foundation, Marks and Spencer, Monsoon Accessorize, MV Foundation, Next Plc, OBEPAB, Oikos Norway, Open Society Institute, Organics for Kids, Oxfam GB, Patagonia, Pentland Group, PAN Germany, PAN UK, Quantum Group, Sainsbury’s, Soil Association, Solidaridad, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, Tesco, Topshop, Twin and Twin Trading, Youth and Society, Tajikistan.
 
Guest Speaker Presentations Wednesday 25th April

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How to eradicate child labour in the cotton producing industry
Moderator: Bama Athreya, International Labor Rights Fund

Venkat Reddy, MV Foundation: Child labour and cotton in India

Davuluri Venkateswarlu, Glocal Research: Child labour issues in the cottonseed production sector

Albertine de Lange, IREWOC Foundation: Child trafficking in Burkina Faso's cotton sector

Alisher Ilkhamov, Open Society Institute: Child labour in Uzbekistan's cotton industry

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Reducing the environmental impacts of cotton and enhancing benefits for people
Moderator: Damien Sanfilippo, Pesticide Action Network UK

Davo Vodouhe, OPEBAP: Pesticide poisoning and opportunities for organic cotton in West Africa.

Jens Soth, Helvetas: Opportunities and challenges in implementing organic cotton production in Central Asia.

Vivek Vyas Agriculture and Organic Farming Group: Small farmer participation in the cotton supply chain.

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Industry initiatives and supply chain transparency
Moderator: Jens Soth, Helvetas

Graham Burden, Marks and Spencer: Progress towards organic and fair-trade cotton in the marketplace.

Jonathan Petty, Patagonia: Patagonia's commitments to organic cotton.

Tim Wilson, Historic Futures / Esther Verburg, MADE-BY Foundation: Sustainability in the cotton supply chain.

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Future steps in the cotton industry - towards cleaner cotton
Moderator: William Lana, Greenfibres

Lise Melvin, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) – Ingrid Schullström, Hennes & Mauritz H&M AB: The Better Cotton Initiative.

Dr Camilla Toulmin, International Institute for Environment and Development: <a Cotton production in Africa - driving solutions by consumers and retailers in the West.



Changing ‘bad’ cotton to ‘good’

Moderator: Anthony Richter, Open Society Institute

Susan Haffmans, PAN Germany: Advocacy to eradicate the most toxic cotton pesticides.

Jetteke van der Schatte Olivier, Hivos: Policy and action to end child labour in the cotton industry.

Bama Athreya, International Labor Rights Fund: Policy and progress in the USA to improve. labour issues.
 
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