H&M and Zara are two fashion giant names have reportedly made use of cotton from farms that are associated to massive deforestation, corruption, violence, and land-grabbing in Brazil. This has been stated by a report by Earthsight, an environmental group.
The name of the report was “Fashion Crimes”. The report was based on satellite images, shipment records, court rulings, along with an undercover investigation. The report suggested that the company made use of “tainted cotton” that have been farmed by the two of the biggest agribusiness firms of Brazil, namely Horita Group and SLC Agricola.
There have been abuses associated to the production. The cotton had been labelled as ethical by Better Cotton, a leading certification scheme. The British environmental group exposes deep flaws in the oversight program.
Additionally, i t is important to note that the most biodiverse savanna on the planet, the Cerrado, has been disappearing at an incessant rate. This is due to the fact that the hug agribusiness industry has incessantly moved to the region in the last few decades.
Approximately 816,000 tonnes og cotton has been exported from the year 2014 to 2023 to the farms that are operated by Horita and SLC, as per the report by Earthsight. The report suggests that these two firms have a long record of corruption rulings, court injunctions, and millions of dollars of fines associated with clearances of over 100,000 hectares of the Cerrado wilderness.
It is in the state of Bahia where the cotton in question was farmed. It was then shipped to eight Asian clothing manufacturers. The clients of these manufacturers are the fashion giants- Zara and H&M.
In the recent years, Brazil became a leading producer of cotton. However, this has led to massive environmental destruction in Cerrado, as per the report.
In a statement, Better Cotton stated that it had conducted an audit of the highly concerning issues that have been raised in the report. It has also suggested that it would bring about a summary of these findings.
On this, Inditex, the parent company of Zaea and H&M suggested that they took these allegations seriously. The two have insisted Better Cotton to release the findings of the auditors.