[pageLogInLogOut]

#Sustainability

Global Standards establishes new non-profit foundation to strengthen governance

Governing Council © 2026 GOTS
Global Standards gGmbH, the nonprofit organisation behind the globally recognised Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), announced a new governance structure designed to support its long-term mission and reinforce organisational autonomy of its Voluntary Sustainability Standards and programmes.


The newly established Global Standards Foundation is the sole shareholder of the operating organisation, which was renamed Global Standards gGmbH. The new structure will ensure that strategic decisions are guided by independent expertise, to support a more sustainable textile sector, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A key feature of the new model is the establishment of a Governing Council as the organisation's strategic governing body. The inaugural Governing Council brings together four new outstanding independent experts alongside nominees from each of the four founding organisations and an independent chair, showcasing a global range of experience and expertise. All serve in a personal capacity, collectively extending Global Standards’ expertise across sustainability, governance, finance, certification and public policy:

Prof. Dr. Christian Berg, Member of the GLS Bank Investment Committee and of the German Association of the Club of Rome and former Chief Sustainability Architect, SAP

Pietro Bertazzi, Chief Policy, Projects and Interim Growth Officer at Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

James Cashmore, former Managing Director, Soil Association

Tom Chapman, co-CEO, Organic Trade Association

Herbert Ladwig (Governing Council Founding Chair), Policy & Legal Advisor, Global Standards gGmbH

Tsuyoshi Maeda, Founder and CEO, Team O-Three Co., Ltd., and Chair, Japan Organic Cotton Association

Nicole Pälicke, Director, People Wear Organic and Board Member, Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft (IVN)

Georg Schürmann, Chair, UmweltBank Supervisory Board, Member of Supervisory Board, Oikocredit and former Managing Director, Triodos Bank Germany

Laurence Tanty, former Chair of Fairtrade International Board

The new governance structure draws from more than 20 years of industry leadership and will support Global Standards' evolution to a multi-standard Voluntary Sustainability Standards organisation. Its portfolio today includes the worldwide recognised GOTS and the new Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS), which expands to fibres beyond organic.

As expectations for Voluntary Sustainability Standards and regulatory requirements continue to intensify, the new foundation structure provides an independent governance model designed to meet those expectations while strengthening Global Standards’ ability to serve the textile sector over the long term.

Today, Global Standards is a team of around 50 professionals working around the world with a clear mission: “To ensure the highest level of social and environmental impact in textile value chains through voluntary sustainability standards and related activities.”

This new structure is designed to serve that mission better — giving Global Standards the independence, stability, and accountability it needs to keep delivering meaningful impact across global textile value chains.



More News from Global Standard (GOTS)

#Sustainability

Number of GOTS-certified facilities grow 15% globally as demand for credible sustainability standards continues to strengthen

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification continued to grow in 2025, with nearly 18,000 certified facilities worldwide, despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly evolving regulatory requirements across global textile supply chains.

#Natural Fibers

Global Standard gGmbH launches second public consultation for GRTS Draft 2 for the textile industry (1–30 April 2026)

Global Standard gGmbH is pleased to announce the release of Draft 2 of the Global Responsible Textile Standard (GRTS) for its second public consultation. The consultation will be open from 1 April 2026 to 30 April 2026, inviting stakeholders across the textile and apparel value chain to provide input and contribute to the further development of this new Standard.

#Sustainability

GOTS version 8.0 released: advanced supply chain accountability, from fibre to finished product

Global Standard is pleased to announce the release of GOTS Version 8.0, the latest update to the world's leading processing standard for organic textiles. The updated Standard strengthens requirements for air emissions and waste management, as well as criteria for product safety. It introduces new provisions on circularity, microfibre management and updates in residue testing. Version 8.0 also elevates due diligence obligations and formalises governance requirements, including ESG disclosure, anti-corruption policies and conflict-of-interest safeguards, to support credible, responsible business conduct.

#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

Global Standard strengthens presence in Southeast Asia at VIATT 2026

Global Standard will participate in the Vietnam International Trade Fair for Apparel, Textiles and Textile Technologies (VIATT) 2026, organized by Messe Frankfurt, the first textile trade show in the APAC region this year. Global Standard will host a booth and Felica Shi will lead a seminar on Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The trade fair will take place from February 26 to 28, 2026, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

More News on Sustainability

#Textile chemistry

DyStar releases FY2025 sustainability report, marking a new milestone towards its 2030 targets

DyStar, a leading specialty chemicals company with more than a century of expertise in product development and innovation, today announced the release of its FY2025 Sustainability Report, marking a significant milestone in its sustainability journey and reinforcing its commitment to long-term value creation.

#Textiles & Apparel / Garment

Catalyst Club launches in Florence: Where conversations become catalysts for change

The first chapter of Catalyst Club debuted in Florence, bringing together creative directors, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, journalists and innovators from across the fashion and textile industry for an evening of dialogue, exchange and connection.

#Sustainability

Renewables lower energy prices and play key role to reduce vulnerability to fossil fuel supply shocks

Renewables lower energy prices and play key role to reduce vulnerability to fossil fuel supply shocks Boosting the use of homegrown renewable electricity is Europe’s best way to reduce its vulnerability to volatile international energy supplies and rising energy prices according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published today.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

HKRITA signs MoU with Jeanologia and Looptworks to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) yesterday officially signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two key global partners, Jeanologia and Looptworks, to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem – a first-of-its-kind collaboration to accelerate the large-scale recycling of blended textiles.

Latest News

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Ence and ShareTex begin initial testing of the ATENEA innovation project to promote textile recycling in Spain

Ence and ShareTex are making progress on the Atenea R&D project, which aims to develop a complete value chain for textile recycling in Spain. Specifically, the goal of the ATENEA project—which is funded by the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI)—is to connect all the necessary stages for the recovery of textile waste, from collection and management, through recycling and transformation into new raw materials, to their incorporation into new textile products.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

DePoly Inaugurates its Showcase Plant in Monthey Switzerland

What if used plastic bottles, PET packaging material and polyester textiles could become raw materials just as high performing as virgin resources? That is the ambition of DePoly, a circular materials company based in Sion, Switzerland which inaugurated its Showcase Plant in Monthey on July 6th & 7th. The first depolymerization facility of its kind and scale in Switzerland, this industrial Showcase Plant represents a major milestone in the company's growth and its journey toward commercialization.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Commission clarifies rules on plastic bottles recycling

The European Commission today adopted new rules on recycling of single-use plastic beverage bottles made primarily of polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottles). These rules establish, for the first time, a methodology to calculate, verify and report chemically recycled content. This is part of the Commission’s December 2025 plastics package.

#Research & Development

TERIS reaches milestone: Fraunhofer consortium develops new standards for tire analysis

In the “TERIS” project, the Fraunhofer institutes ICT, IGD, and IWM—led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF—have reached a decisive milestone. For the first time, the teams aim to generate, analyse, and predict tire wear in the laboratory in a standardized and practical manner. As part of this milestone, results are now available on reference abrasion, particle analysis, tribological models, AI-based surface analysis, a test bench concept, and methods for accelerated aging and VOC detection. The tire industry, testing services, and environmental agencies will in future benefit from reliable, rapid laboratory procedures for emissions assessment.

TOP