Page 40 - Masala Lite Issue 162 June 2024

SUSTAINABLY Over half the Cerrado region has been cleared for large-scale agriculture, mostly

STYLISH destruction creates climate
in recent decades. According to estimates from the Brazilian government, the
impacts equivalent to 50
million more cars on the
road each year. Hundreds
of species now face
extinction due to habitat
loss. Each year, billions of
A SOBERING litres of fresh water are
diverted to cotton fields
REPORT that are doused with 600
million litres of the most
poisonous pesticides.
Aparna Sharma unveils Environmental researchers are concerned that the demand for cotton, which is a
thirsty crop, is creating problems for the local communities, and it is driving them
Earthsight’s report that links
off their land which they have used for grazing for many generations. According to
deforestation to some of your Mauricio Correia Silva, a research consultant, “Communities have lost access to
favourite fast-fashion brands. plateaus that have natural pastures where cattle used to graze.”
Rubens Carvalho, head of Deforestation Research at Earthsight told Deutsche Welle,
a German-based international broadcaster, “It’s shocking to see these links between
The UK-based investigative Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Earthsight, very recognisable global brands that apparently don’t make enough effort to have
spent more than a year analysing court rulings, satellite records, and shipments from control over these supply chains to know where the cotton comes from and what
the Cerrado region, a popular cotton-growing region in Brazil. They went undercover kind of impact it causes.”
to a few trade shows, and their findings showed that up to a million tons of cotton
have been linked to land grabbing, largescale illegal deforestation, violence, and Earthsight director Sam Lawson said: “While we all know what soy and beef have
done to Brazil’s forests, cotton’s impact has gone largely unnoticed. Yet the crop
corruption. They traced the supply chain of this tainted cotton and found that they
has boomed in recent decades and become an environmental disaster. If you have
were sent to factories in Asia, which make garments for Zara and H&M.
cotton clothes, towels or bed sheets from H&M or Zara, they may well be stained
The cotton estates in this region are owned by some of Brazil’s richest families, and by the plundering of the Cerrado. These firms talk about good practice, social
some of the finished products from this tainted cotton have sustainable production responsibility, and certification schemes; they claim to invest in traceability and
labels on them. According to Earthsight, the sustainability certification process sustainability, but all this now looks about as fake as their highstreet window
called ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ used by these brands was fundamentally flawed. arrangements. It has become very clear that crimes related to the commodities
The industrial-scale farms in the report are among Brazil’s biggest cotton producers, we consume have to be addressed through regulation, not consumer choices. That
and they have a long record of court injunctions, corruption rulings, and millions of means lawmakers in consumer countries should put in place strong laws with tough
dollars in fines related to clearances of around 100,000 hectares of Cerrado wilderness. enforcement. In the meantime, shoppers should think twice before buying their
next piece of cotton clothing.”
Earthsight tracked 816,000 tons of cotton from the investigated estates to eight
Asian firms that, in a year, made nearly 250 million items of clothing and homeware
for global stores of H&M, Zara, and Zara’s sister brands Bershka and Pull&Bear, Aparna Sharma is a non-conformist who believes that fashion must become a
among others. The main destinations were China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, force for good and style must meet sustainability. She breaks down the
Bangladesh, and Pakistan. nuances of slow fashion and how we can stay stylish without being trendy.

MASAL A LITE ISSUE 162 - JUNE 2024