#Sustainability

2024-12-05

The Good Cashmere Conference 2025: Two-day event in Hamburg

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) invites you to the annual conference of The Good Cashmere Standard® (GCS), which will be held on 25 and 26 March 2025 in the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district of the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. At this event, the independent sustainability standard will bring together international experts, fashion brands, companies, and scientists to discuss the latest developments in sustainable cashmere production.

Cashmere Goats in Inner Mongolia © 2024 Aid by Trade Foundation

The focus will be on animal welfare, due diligence in the supply chain, biodiversity, and the use of virtual reality. The latter offers the opportunity to experience a GCS model farm in Inner Mongolia.

Established in 2019 by the Aid by Trade Foundation, The Good Cashmere Standard® has always been committed to sustainable cashmere production and transparent traceability for casmere fibres in the textile supply chain. As one of the world’s leading standards for sustainable cashmere, its focus is on the welfare of over four million cashmere goats and on working conditions at more than 9,000 farms. Over 50 international brands, including H&M, Galeries Lafayette, J.Crew, or The White Company, rely on GCS-verified cashmere.

Aimed at representatives of textile companies, fashion brands, cashmere producers, standards organisations, and non-governmental organisations as well as members of the textile supply chain and other stakeholders, the two-day conference will offer valuable insight into current developments and trends in the cashmere industry. It will also present an opportunity to establish new contacts and gain deeper knowledge about sustainable cashmere production.

The conference will be opened by Prof. Dr Michael Otto, the founder of the Aid by Trade Foundation, on Tuesday, 25 March, and Wednesday, 26 March 2025, in Hamburg’s historic Speicherstadt warehouse district.

More information about the conference and the event programme is available on the conference website. Direct ticket bookings can also be made there.

https://gcsconference.aidbytrade.org/

Aid by Trade Foundation publishes 2024 annual report: Growing impact for environment and people

The Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) is on a growth track. Despite a challenging global economy, AbTF increased its income by six percent from 2023 to 2024, reaching a total of EUR 8.6 million. This revenue has been invested in comprehensive measures for the sustainable production of cotton and cashmere as well as for expanded measures to ensure transparency in global value chains. In addition to gaining new partners in 2024—including big names like Mango, Nordstrom, and CWS Workwear—AbTF was able to expand its global stakeholder network active in the production of raw materials or textiles.

Aid by Trade Foundation receives Honorary Award of the German Africa Foundation 2025

On the evening of 25 June, the Hamburg-based Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) received the Honorary Award of the German Africa Foundation 2025. Prof. Dr Michael Otto, the foundation’s founder and a prominent entrepreneur, accepted the award at a ceremony held at the German Bundestag. The Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Dr Bärbel Kofler, presented the award in the presence of guests from politics, business and civil society as well as representatives of African embassies.

Aid by Trade Foundation turns 20, invests half a million Euros in new biodiversity fund

To effectively promote nature conservation and biodiversity, the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF) announced at the second Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) that it would be investing 500,000 euros in the ‘AbTF Biodiversity Fund’ to mark the foundation's 20th anniversary. Since it was established in 2005 by the entrepreneur Prof. Dr Michael Otto, AbTF has been committed to transforming the textile and fashion industries.

Laly Lichtenfeld joins AbTF Board of Trustees

The Aid by Trade Foundation is pleased to welcome Laly Lichtenfeld, an internationally renowned leader in community-driven nature conservation, to its board of trustees. After years of researching community-driven conservation, including as a Fulbright Scholar in 1996, she co-founded African People & Wildlife in 2005 with the aim of promoting peaceful coexistence between rural communities and wildlife such as lions and elephants.

The region of renewable raw materials: Central German Alliance for Bioplastics

The development of sustainable plastic solutions is rapidly gaining importance in light of global environ- mental pollution, dwindling fossil resources and ambitious climate protection targets. As part of the re- gional alliance RUBIO, which brings together 18 partners from central Germany and the Berlin-Branden- burg area, the bio-based and biodegradable plastic polybutylene succinate (PBS) was comprehensively investigated, starting with the raw material, through the manufacturing process, to industrial application.

Peak Sustainability Ventures & Arvind launch India’s first industrial-scale cotton-stalk torrefaction project, decarbonizing textile manufacturing in Gujarat

Arvind Limited, one of India’s leading textile-to-retail conglomerates, and Peak Sustainability Ventures, a Mumbai-based global climate investment firm, have entered into a partnership to build a large-scale cotton stalk torrefaction plant in Gujarat, with a capacity of 40,000+ tonnes per year, to accelerate Arvind’s decarbonization goals and promote torrefaction at scale in India.

Navis TubeTex announces U.S. partnership with Icomatex

Navis TubeTex, a global leader in advanced dyeing and finishing machinery solutions, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Icomatex (www.icomatex.com), a respected European manufacturer of high-quality stenters and textile finishing equipment. Under this agreement, Navis TubeTex will exclusively represent the Icomatex stenter line in the United States.

ADVANSA launches ADVA®tex: A new step toward textile-to-textile recycling

ADVANSA has introduced ADVA®tex, a new filling fibre made entirely from recycled pre-consumer textile waste, positioning the material as a significant step forward in textile-to-textile (T2T) recycling. The fibre is designed for use in duvets, pillows, mattresses, and furniture applications and is available in three versions.

KARL MAYER celebrates 35 years of EL pattern drive

KARL MAYER is celebrating an anniversary this year: on 30 November 1990, the first warp knitting machine with electronic guide bar control, the KS 4 EL, was delivered – another milestone for patterning. As early as 1980, the SU gearbox with the MRS42SU had initiated the transition from mechanical chains to digital data.