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Good Earth Cotton (GEC) has highlighted the importance of independently verified environmental data as new EU rules raise the requirements for businesses making sustainability claims.
The European Union’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EmpCo) began applying from September 27, restricting generic environmental claims that cannot be substantiated by recognised environmental performance.
GEC said the changes reflect its approach to cotton production, which focuses on measurable environmental outcomes, primary farm-level data and independent verification, alongside physical verification of fibre at source.
The company’s model assesses farm performance against established baselines, with Downforce Technologies measuring farm-level data and SGS independently verifying greenhouse gas assessments under the ISO 14064 framework. FibreTrace technology then helps verify the physical presence of marked GEC fibre through defined stages of manufacturing.
Danielle Statham, founder and owner of Good Earth Cotton and FibreTrace, said: “For years, we used the language of regenerative agriculture because it helped describe the direction farming needed to take. But a practice is an intervention; an outcome is the evidence.
“The next generation of fibre will not be defined by the practice it claims. It will be defined by what can be measured, independently verified and connected to the physical fibre itself.”
GEC currently represents approximately 60,000 metric tonnes of physically verified fibre, which the company estimates could produce around 300 million T shirts.
The company said the directive was not an endorsement of its model, but reflected a wider industry shift towards greater transparency and evidence to support environmental claims.
