Cotton sustainability organisation Better Cotton has outlined four new impact targets as part of its ongoing 2030 Strategy and plans to drive change in key areas of the industry.

The four targets focus on soil health, women’s empowerment, pesticides and sustainable livelihoods, with each sitting alongside the initiative’s initial commitment related to climate change mitigation, through which it has set out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent per tonne of lint produced under the firm.

In a release, Better Cotton said that cotton itself was an important renewable resource, with the sector also holding the potential to reduce poverty and promote sustainability and equality, leading to the development of the new targets.

These include increasing the net income and resilience of two million cotton workers, ensuring farmers have improved the health of their soil, reaching one million women in cotton with resources promoting equal farm decision-making and reducing the use and risk of synthetic pesticides applied by workers by at least 50 percent.

Better Cotton said that it hopes the new targets will help to ensure more significant and lasting economic, environmental and social benefits in cotton-growing communities, which span 26 countries linked to the organisation.

In a release, Alan McClay, CEO of Better Cotton, said: “Driving impact at the field-level is imperative for Better Cotton’s ambitions in what is a defining decade for our planet.

“Our new Impact Targets will allow us to continue taking measurable steps to support more sustainable cotton production.

“Better Cotton continues to train an ever-growing global community on more sustainable farming practices. The Impact Targets will improve conditions across more than just cotton production, reaching beyond farming communities to benefit their landscapes, supply chains and ultimately consumers.”