Did environmental campaigners really contribute to a decline in cotton’s global share of fibre production? 

Well, according to a rather punchy opinion piece in Cotton Grower a couple of months ago, the answer is a resounding, yes.

The article claims that environmentalists have been intellectually dishonest and fed a binary narrative of cotton bad, synthetic fibers good….which created pressure from watchdogs and investor ESG mandates…which then led to brands moving away from conventional cotton to synthetics…and as a result we are now awash with cheap synthetics clothing. 

Now, this is a lot to leave at the door of environmentalists, and this polemic seemed a bit lop-sided, so to balance things out we thought it would be good to talk to Ecotextile News’ dedicated Cotton Correspondent Simon Ferrigno, who has also done his fair share of environmental campaigner over the years.  

Do people like Simon have a case to answer for?

In the podcast, we also turn the article’s claim on its head - and ask whether the cotton industry should pay more attention to the many environmentalists' trying to make cotton production more sustainable and efficient.

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