From field to wardrobe: A cradle-to-retail-gate comparative Life Cycle Assessment of organic fair-trade cotton T-shirts.

The current socioeconomic model has driven the rapid expansion of the fashion industry, which now accounts for up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, textile production is geographically unbalanced, with a large share of environmental impacts occurring in the Global South. Certified organic and fair-trade supply chains are frequently presented as more sustainable alternatives; however, previously published studies report highly heterogeneous results, with deviations reaching up to 172%. To contribute to this debate, this study compares the environmental performance of a certified organic and fair-trade cotton T-shirt with that of its conventional cotton counterpart. Both supply chains were modelled from cotton cultivation in India to retail distribution in Spain using a cradle-to-retail-gate Life Cycle Assessment. Primary inventory data were obtained from the certified supply chain and complemented with secondary data, while environmental impacts were assessed using the ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method. Although 18 midpoint impact categories were calculated, Global Warming Potential, Terrestrial Ecotoxicity Potential, Freshwater Ecotoxicity Potential and Water Consumption Potential were selected for detailed analysis. The greatest environmental improvements occur during cotton cultivation, where Global Warming Potential decreases by 82.5%, Water Consumption by 98.7%, and both Freshwater and Terrestrial Ecotoxicity by 99.9%. Across the complete cradle-to-retail-gate supply chain, the certified organic and fair-trade model reduces Global Warming Potential by 26.9%, Freshwater Ecotoxicity by 31.6%, Terrestrial Ecotoxicity by 14.7% and Water Consumption by 23.8%, compared with the conventional system. Overall, the results show that the studied certified organic and fair-trade context substantially reduces environmental impacts during cotton cultivation in the Global South. However, the more moderate reductions observed across the complete supply chain indicate that certification and improved agricultural practices alone cannot overcome the environmental burdens associated with industrial processing, energy use and logistics. Therefore, alongside improvements in production systems, reducing overall textile consumption remains essential.