The report is available for download here.
The words of United Nations agencies carry considerable weight and are generally construed as representing the position of the organisation as a whole.
Economist and analyst Veronica Bates Kassatly and statistician Dr. Terry Townsend, have evaluated the validity and accuracy of recent UN agency publications on the sustainability of textile and apparel fibres.
Conflicts of interest instead of science
Bates Kassatly/Townsend demonstrate that recent publications by some UN agencies rely, not on the work of other UN organisations, but on that of entities created and funded by vested interests. The conflicts of interest stemming from the involvement of stakeholders deeply tied to the production/promotion of clothing of fossil origin undermines the scientific and just foundations of these reports, violating global agreements, and contradicting the work of other agencies and even in some cases, different departments of the same agency.
Funded by global cotton interests and published by the Bremen Cotton Exchange.
Veronica Bates Kassatly is an independent analyst of sustainability claims in the global apparel sector. A former World Bank economist and analyst, and briefly, the co-owner of a niche fashion brand, she is a leading voice in apparel sustainability. Bates Kassatly has co-authored multiple published papers on apparel and fiber impacts as well as green claims and legislation, including four papers with Professor Doro Baumann-Pauly for the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights, and more recently, two papers with Dr. Townsend for the Cotton Research and Development Corporation of Australia (CRDC).
Terry Townsend began his career in agriculture in 1974 as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Saipan in the Western Pacific. He worked at USDA for five years in the 1980s as a cotton analyst. He served as statistician for the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) for 12 years and executive director for 15 years before retiring at the end of 2013. He remains active in support of natural fibres through membership in the Discover Natural Fibres Initiative, as an author of articles and papers for industry publications, and as a consultant. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Oregon State University in the United States.
Both authors are available for questions and interviews. The Bremen Cotton Exchange is available to help you get in touch with them.