The Aid by Trade Foundation takes positive stock of the first Hamburg Sustainability Conference
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The Aid by Trade Foundation takes positive stock of the first Hamburg Sustainability Conference
Hamburg, 8 October 2024: At the international Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), high-ranking representatives from politics, science, business and civil society spent two eventful days discussing measures and the necessary framework conditions for social and ecological transformation. At two very well-attended events, the Aid by Trade Foundation presented new approaches to sustainable cotton production that can serve as the basis for sustainable business models to promote environmental protection and safeguard human livelihoods.
‘The HSC was a great opportunity to clearly emphasise the need for a socially and environmentally sustainable cotton and textile sector,’ says Tina Stridde, Managing Director of the Aid by Trade Foundation. ‘Climate change is already threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of smallscale farmers - and thus also the cultivation of cotton, one of the most important fibres for the textile industry. We now need efficient solutions for a sustainable transformation of the cotton and textile industry. We are working on this as AbTF with our global partners. The HSC enabled us to publicise the challenges facing small-scale farmers in Africa on an international stage and to discuss possible solutions.’
On the first day of the conference, Tina Stridde took part in the HSC event ‘SMEs, Gamechangers in a Just Transition to Circular and Low-Carbon Economies’ together with representatives of innovative companies from the Global South. The aim was to show that small and medium-sized enterprises and organisers such as the AbTF play a decisive role in establishing sustainable and circular economies. Tina Stridde emphasised the extent to which AbTF standards have not only led to a rethink in the global textile industry in recent years but have also been followed by concrete action. The AbTF standard Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) is continuously expanding its global network in the textile value chain. There is great demand for CmiA cotton.
On the second day, the participants of the HCS workshop ‘Harvesting Opportunities: Leveraging the Value-to-Business Approach for Sustainable Solutions’ by Torsten Stau (Executive Buying Director Non Food / Indirect Spend Rewe Group Buying), Tina Stridde and Francisco Ferreira dos Santos (CEO of the CmiA-verified cotton company San-JFS Cotton Company from Mozambique) learnt more about the successes that have already been achieved. The speakers also discussed the challenges that still need to be overcome to preserve biodiversity and soil quality for future generations and give cotton production a future.
The lively exchange between the panel participants and the interested questions from the audience demonstrated the importance of the topic of sustainability for the most important natural fibre in the global textile industry. ‘The Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2024 was a significant step towards a more sustainable future. The number of innovative ideas that found a forum here offer inspiration and reason to hope that we can effectively support the global fight against climate change and its consequences,’ says Torsten Stau. ‘With the HSC as an annual conference, this development has found another important driving force.’
Yours sincerely,
Holger Diedrich
Press Contact
Aid by Trade Foundation | Gurlittstraße 14 | 20099 Hamburg | Germany
MAIL holger.diedrich@abt-foundation.org
About Cotton made in Africa
The Cotton made in Africa initiative (CmiA) was founded in 2005 under the umbrella of the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF). CmiA is an internationally recognised standard for sustainably produced cotton from Africa, connecting African small-scale farmers with trading companies and fashion brands throughout the global textile value chain. The initiative’s objective is to employ trade, rather than donations, to protect the environment and to improve the living conditions of small-scale farmers and their families. Apart from the farming families, people working in ginneries also benefit from improved working conditions. Additional projects addressing schooling, health, environmental protection, and women’s empowerment contribute to better living conditions in farming communities as well. Learn more at: cottonmadeinafrica.org/en
About the Aid by Trade Foundation
Founded in 2005, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is an internationally renowned non-profit organisation that works throughout the world to promote sustainable raw materials. Its activities make a decisive and measurable contribution to improving the living conditions of people and animals while protecting the environment. AbTF takes a practical approach by creating and maintaining a variety of standards to verify raw materials: Cotton made in Africa (CmiA), Cotton made in Africa Organic (CmiA Organic), Regenerative Cotton Standard (RCS), and The Good Cashmere Standard (GCS). A global alliance of textile companies and brands purchases the verified raw materials, paying a licensing fee to AbTF’s marketing company, ATAKORA Fördergesellschaft GmbH. The payment of this fee entitles partners to sell their goods under the standards’ labels. As the challenges facing textile companies and small-scale farmers grow, the standards have a major role to play in ensuring their resilience and future viability. AbTF collaborates closely with industry experts and with specialists in animal and nature protection. Learn more at: www.aidbytrade.org
