Welcomes

The day kicked off with a warm regional welcome from Jimmy Wedel of TOCMC, followed by a heartwarming story told by Textile Exchange’s Managing Director La Rhea Pepper of the letters she and her late husband wrote to each other with their vision for the organic cotton sector. Cara Chacon of Patagonia followed with a heartstopping reminder of the issues facing our planet and the urgency with which we must act.

“Keep the vision, build the bridges, and be willing to take the journey.”

Simon Cooper, Global Communications Lead, UNDP GCP| MC for the day
Jimmy Wedel, President, Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative
La Rhea Pepper, Managing Director, Textile Exchange
Cara Chacon, VP, Social and Environmental Responsibility

PART 1: GREATER TOGETHER

Members of the Organic Cotton Collective Impact (OCCI) initiative then presented the progress being made and the next steps of the collaboration between Textile Exchange, OCA and the wider organic cotton sector.

Moderator:

Kathleen Wood Organizational Development Consultant

Panelists:

Arun Ambatipudi, Co-Founder and Advisor, Chetna Organic
Crispin Argento, Executive Director, Organic Cotton Accelerator
Cara Chacon,VP  Social and Environmental Responsibility, Patagonia
Sabrina Mueller,Lead Manager Sustainability, Tchibo
Liesl Truscott, Director of European & Materials Strategy, Textile Exchange

PART 2: REGIONAL DIALOGUES

This session provided insights from key regional representatives on each region’s production trends, future outlook, and the progress of key regional initiatives. Each regional representative posed a challenge that the region is currently facing and invited attendees to join them in co-creating a solution during the lunch break.

Moderator:

Simon Cooper, Global Communications Lead, UNDP GCP | MC for the day

Panelists:

Amish Gosai, South Asia Manager, Textile Exchange
Hammad Khan, Director General, WWF Pakistan
Lakshmi Poti, Programme Manager | Sustainable Raw Materials, C&A Foundation
Sandra Marquardt, Regional Ambassador – USA, Textile Exchange
Silvio Moraes, Regional Ambassador – Latin America, Textile Exchange
Evonne Tan, Regional Data Management & China Strategy Director, Textile Exchange
Silvere Tovignan, Regional Ambassador – Africa, Textile Exchange
Aydin Unsal, Owner, Egedeniz

Working Lunch: Co-creating a Manifesto for Organic Cotton

Each organic cotton producing region had a dedicated Regional Hub on the outskirts of the room. All attendees were invited and encouraged to take a virtual “tour of the regions” during the lunch break and then join a table discussion at one of the regions to participate in the co-creation of a manifesto for organic cotton.

PART 3: INTEGRITY DEBATE

The afternoon started back with a lively role play session in the style of a court case. A dual-fishbowl set up saw one side argue that suppliers should be walked away from if integrity issues were found, while the other argued that the issues should be worked through together.

#1. “Our side would walk away from a supplier if we discovered integrity problems”
#2. “Our side would work with our suppliers if we found integrity problems”

Each thoughtstarter had been assigned to one side of the argument and an expert Jury gave their input before going to a full audience vote.

Fishbowl Thoughtstarters:

Rhett Godfrey, Co-Founder & Lead Coordinator, Chetna Coalition
Tobias Meier, Senior Project Manager Green Economy, ecos
La Rhea Pepper, Organic Cotton Farmer, Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative
Brad Boren, Director of Innovation & Sustainability, Norrøna
Gwendolyn Wyard, Vice President, Regulatory & Technical Affairs Organic Trade Association
Lori Wyman, GOTS Representative for North America

Jury members:

Prama Bhardwaj, CEO, Mantis World | Chair of Textile Exchange’s Pan-Africa Sourcing Working Group
Eric Ducoin, Managing Director – Sourcing, Biocoton
Aydin Unsal, Owner, Egedeniz Tekstil A.S.
Bruno Van Steenberghe, Founder, KALANI S.A.

15:55    PART 4: SEED CELEBRATION   

Commercializing non-GM cotton hybrids

Subindu Garkhel, Senior Cotton and Textiles Lead, Fairtrade Foundation
Shivraj Singh Raghuvanshi, Seed Expert, Pratibha Syntex Pvt. Ltd.

Panel discussion

This session began with a short introduction from Subindu Garkhel, session moderator, to introduce the broad topic and the issues the industry is facing. The focus was on celebrating the progress and investments that are being made, particularly in India where the problem is most critical.

Moderator:

Subindu Garkhel, Senior Cotton and Textiles Lead, Fairtrade Foundation

Panelists:

Nandakumar Rajagopalan, Co-Founder & CEO, CHETNA ORGANIC, India
Zach Rees, Cotton Lead, Gowan Seed Company
Shivraj Singh Raghuvanshi, Seed Expert, Pratibha Syntex Pvt. Ltd.
Christa Suter, CEO, bioRe Foundation
Bart Vollard, Program Director, Organic Cotton Accelerator