Half of apparel and furniture companies sourcing significant amounts of cotton are not thinking about the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the cotton they source (according to the Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020)

Organisations PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF have ranked companies (apparel brands, supermarket chains, and furniture and department stores) which use a significant amount of cotton (over 10,000 metric tonnes of cotton lint per year). 77 companies were assessed based on their policy, uptake of sustainable cotton as well as traceability (the origin of their cotton, who their suppliers are, and how much cotton passes through their supply chain).

The resulting Sustainable Cotton Ranking 2020 found that 38 out of these 77 companies have not yet started considering sustainable cotton. Front-runners included Adidas, IKEA, H&M, C&A, Otto Group, Marks and Spencer, Levi Strauss, Tchibo, Nike and Decathlon. In interviews, Marks & Spencer and H&M provide some tips for companies, including the importance of senior management support and public targets.