The recent Bremen Cotton Conference warned participants against sustainability rating systems that misrepresent natural fibers. Attended by over 450 participants from 32 countries, the online conference cautioned attendees that, under current ratings systems, products made from wool and cotton are at risk of being rated poorly compared to synthetics.

At present, fiber rating schemes do not reward the attributes of natural raw materials; likewise, they do not penalize key environmental impacts of fossil fuel-based raw materials.If this misleading picture remains the same, the net result will be falling demand for wool and cotton as brand purchasing managers are forced to look for alternative fibers with ‘better’ ratings.

If the industry wants to establish responsible textile and fiber production standards for the future, it will have to get over its addiction to fast fashion. This highly lucrative business model, enabled by the massive growth in fossil fuel-based fibers turned into low quality garments by the lowest labor rate available for the season, has been dominating its industry for the past 30 years, resulting in opaque supply chains.

Natural fibers such as wool and cotton offer many solutions to the current environmental crisis. Unlike fossil fuel-based fibers, wool and cotton are indefinitely renewable, and they can be grown again year after year.