Apparel retailer C&A, joined Prince of Wales global Sustainable Cotton Communiqué, a pledge launched at the 2017 Textile Exchange Sustainability Conference and commits apparel retailers to use 100 per cent sustainable cotton by 2025. Around 37 major fashion brands, including Asos and Nike, have signed the pledged in an effort to drive sustainable practices in the apparel industry and alleviate the negative environmental impact of cotton production, including the use of pesticide and eliminate greenhouse gases.

C&A pledged to source more eco-friendly cotton over the next three years. Jeffrey Hogue, C&A’s global Chief Sustainability Officer elaborates on the pledge, “By joining this initiative we – as the world’s No. 1 buyer of certified organic cotton and the world’s No. 3 brand sourcing more sustainable cotton – have the opportunity to share our learning with the industry on how to source and accelerate the use of more sustainable cotton. Our 2020 goal is for 100 per cent of the cotton we use to be more sustainable. Today, already over 70 per cent of the cotton we sell meets this standard.”

As per C&As 2016 global sustainability report, 53 per cent of the cotton C&A sold met the standard for sourcing more sustainable cotton and 33 per cent of the cotton the company sold was organic. The brand revealed it does not blend organic cotton with non-organic cotton in its apparel range and makes sure that all organic cotton it uses are certified by leading third-party standards, including the Global Organic Textile Standard and the Organic Cotton Standard.

In 2015, C&A signed the Better Cotton Initiative, a program crafted around adoption of better farming practices and support eco-friendly cotton production.