The CmiA Carbon Neutral Initiative is a partnership between the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), which founded CmiA, and atmosfair, a non-profit dedicated to climate change mitigation. Its goal is to lay the groundwork for a more environmentally friendly textile supply chain.

The Aid by Trade Foundation is pursuing a holistic strategy that prioritizes the inclusion of CmiA small-scale farmers and their families and ensures that individual measures have a positive impact on this target group by reducing and offsetting greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during cotton production and processing. These farming families have been directly impacted by the climate issue for a long time, and their very survival is now in jeopardy. Aside from its reduction and compensation efforts with atmosfair, the foundation is working on a variety of additional (pilot) climate-smart agriculture projects.

These projects aim to reduce GHG emissions and permanently tie atmospheric CO2 to the soil through new agriculture practices. The ultimate goal is to help small-scale farmers become more resilient to climate change.

Tina Stridde, general director of the Aid by Trade Foundation, said that by partnering with CmiA Carbon Neutral, the Aid by Trade Foundation is helping to decarbonize the whole textile supply chain. The global textile sector has recognized how significant textiles are in terms of climate change. Cotton production contributes between 0.3 and 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Stridde added that a large number of businesses have established climate targets and are now looking for strategies to achieve them. Selecting the basic material with care can already make a significant difference. Cotton grown in Africa is a dependable and effective way to protect the environment. Cotton created in Africa Certified cotton has a smaller environmental impact than the global average for cotton production since it emits fewer greenhouse gases and uses less water. CmiA Carbon Neutral is the result of our ongoing efforts to develop cutting-edge solutions for a more sustainable textile industry.

Dr. Hansjörg Zeller, team leader for new technologies at atmosfair, said that CmiA Carbon Neutral offers companies that are already implementing ambitious climate goals of their own additional, effective climate-protection measures in and around their own value chains, thereby supporting these companies in their ambitions.