By Rachel Witte

Sustainability certifications have become the default mechanism for demonstrating environmental progress in the fashion and fiber industries. Labels like organic, regenerative, and climate-smart emerged in response to growing consumer pressure for transparency as globalized supply chains made it harder to trace sourcing and hold brands accountable. They were designed to standardize environmental and social criteria at scale, especially for industries where production often spans multiple countries and regulatory frameworks.

Many of these programs have set important baselines, like reducing synthetic inputs, encouraging rotational cropping practices, and protecting some aspects of overall ecological health within the farming system.

But these systems also reflect the limitations of industrial-scale supply chains. Many are focused on compliance checklists or input restrictions rather than adaptive strategies that respond to regional conditions or evolving climate realities. USDA Organic, for example, requires producers to enhance soil and biodiversity, but routine soil testing is typically limited to spot checks or compliance investigations, not continuous outcome tracking. Regenerative programs vary widely in rigor and oversight; some rely on self-assessment and require little meaningful verification. And few certifications offer any direct technical or financial support as foundational aspects of their programs, leaving the cost of change to fall largely on the producers themselves.

What’s often missing is a model built for complexity: one that centers place-based practices, measures environmental outcomes over time, and supports long-term improvement rather than one-time compliance.

What Grounded, Regenerative Fiber Can Look Like

So what makes a fiber truly regenerative? In a world where low-cost, high-volume garments dominate the market, the true cost of fiber production—ecologically and socially—is often hidden from view. Brands and consumers alike are bombarded with labels, logos, and claims, making it hard to tell what actually improves land health and supports people.

Climate Beneficial™ Verification (CBV) addresses these gaps by grounding fiber sourcing in ecological and economic realities. Rather than offering a single badge of approval, CBV is a flexible system rooted in outcomes and long-term relationships. It helps rethink how fiber is grown, valued, and brought to market. It’s a framework designed to restore ecosystems, support farmers, and create meaningful transparency across the supply chain, specifically within U.S.-grown cotton and wool systems.

Consumers are faced with a growing list of sustainability labels, many of which focus more on marketing than on measurable environmental outcomes. Meanwhile, fiber systems are often treated as an extension of food systems, even though they follow different production and processing pathways and have their own unique challenges.

CBV isn’t applied at the end of a supply chain—it begins at the soil level. It measures ecological change where it’s happening: in the ground, on the land, and across growing seasons. Rather than promising perfection, CBV documents progress.

CBV also reframes how we understand fiber pricing. In today’s market, producers who follow regenerative practices often take on more cost and risk than they’re compensated for. CBV works to correct this by ensuring that growers are paid a premium that reflects the true value of their work.

From Practice to Impact: The B5 Framework and How CBV Compares to Other Standards

CBV measures progress using the B5 Framework, which tracks environmental outcomes across five areas: biodiversity, water, carbon balance, soil health, and community resilience. This helps producers prioritize practices based on what their land actually needs, rather than adhering to one-size-fits-all requirements.

“We have a matrix looking at those factors that help us work with technical advisors and the growers to pick practices,” explains Fibershed’s CBV Director Siena “Shep” Shepard. “But then we’re actually working to collect primary data on these fields… specifically soil data in cotton, but also biodiversity, water, soil chemistry metrics.”

Noah Link, who supports growers through the Carbon Cycle Institute, emphasizes that CBV adapts to each region and farm. “We’re focused less on the label and more on what’s driving positive environmental impacts,” he says. “CBV doesn’t just ask whether a farm meets a universal standard—it asks what is happening on this land, in this region, and how that change can be supported over time.”

This shift from simply documenting practices to tracking their real-world effects is one of the clearest ways CBV stands apart from other labels. Rather than focusing only on what farmers are doing, CBV emphasizes what’s changing: Is the soil improving? Are water cycles stabilizing? Are biodiversity levels rebounding? These are the markers of regenerative progress: not simply removing harmful inputs, but actively improving land function.

It also offers a way for brands to talk about impact in terms that go beyond the generic. CBV provides a mechanism for place-based reporting and site-specific data tied to verified ecological outcomes. Brands that work within the CBV system can communicate about their fiber choices with greater confidence; not just saying a fiber is "better," but actually being able to talk about how it was grown, how it improved land health, and how it connects to broader climate goals. In an industry where sustainability language is often vague or symbolic, CBV offers documentation that is precise, regional, and rooted in environmental science.

In contrast to organic certification, which sets a standardized threshold for input restrictions and prohibits synthetic substances, CBV focuses on measuring landscape-level improvement over time. As Shep notes, "Organic has so much value that it can drive," but the CBV model was created to answer different questions: "what ecosystems are actually doing, not just what inputs are used.”

Regenerative certifications, meanwhile, often rely on self-assessed practice checklists and may or may not include verification of actual soil or ecosystem improvement. CBV builds on the goals of regenerative agriculture, but emphasizes third-party testing, long-term tracking, and support for continuous progress. “Other programs are verifying the use of certain practices,” says Noah. “We’re engaging to make sure those practices are effective and driving outcomes on the ground.”

Technical Assistance as Infrastructure

Unlike certification schemes that rely primarily on third-party audits, CBV is structured around long-term technical support. That means each grower gets help developing a carbon farm plan, identifying climate-beneficial practices suited to their landscape, and finding funding to implement those changes.

This is a working relationship, not a one-time transaction. “There needs to be a local network of people to support them,” says Navit Reid, Fibershed’s Grants and Project Manager. “We’re trying to overlay this fixed structure on a natural landscape… and then you bring in the human component."

Noah adds that this support often includes connecting growers with cost-share programs, helping them source seeds and amendments, designing plantings, interpreting soil tests, and navigating verification documentation. “It’s just being that interface between the producers and CBV program and the grant programs that are supporting this… and then interpreting all of the soil test data that we get back and translating that into climate impact,” he explains.

This model also prioritizes accessibility. Many small- and medium-scale producers lack full-time sustainability staff or in-house resources. CBV’s trained regional advisors help fill that gap by offering tailored guidance, interpreting data, and providing continuity over time. The result isn’t just implementation support; it’s a more equitable and collaborative approach to land stewardship.

Building Value into the System

One of the most overlooked aspects of sustainable sourcing is how little recognition there is for the work it takes to produce high-quality, climate-beneficial fiber. CBV is designed to change that by creating a system where growers are paid a premium for fiber produced using verified practices that improve ecosystem health over time. It recognizes the time, labor, and financial investment required to shift away from extractive systems and supports those who do it.

Lisa McAnulty, VP of Product, Sustainability, and Innovation at Ecologyst, emphasizes the role of education in reframing the conversation. “It's important that we do the work to help our community understand the real cost of making clothing that fits within our planetary boundaries,” she says. “From fiber through to finished garment, we produce natural clothing responsibly to ensure everyone along the supply chain is honored and valued. Reflected in the end cost, many people come to us because they trust us to provide an honest, values-aligned option in a sea full of conflicting information.”

Lauren Bright, who works with brands and growers through CBV initiatives, points to the disconnect in the current system. “There’s a big gap between what’s happening on the land and what’s understood in a brand’s boardroom,” she says. CBV, she adds, helps close that gap by providing verified data and human stories that bring sourcing decisions into clearer focus. “What’s great about CBV is that it gives you a fiber with a story—but also the soil data, the practice records, and the people behind it. It’s not just optics—it’s anchored in real impact.”

Barclay Saul, CEO of the wool slipper, clothing, and home goods brand Kyrgies, describes CBV as a natural fit for brands that want to make deeper commitments. “We’re in a place where customers want a story. They want a connection to something real. And this gave us that—it’s not just wool, it’s this whole system,” he says. “This story was perfect for our brand and our ethos. We needed something that differentiated us from everybody else. And talk about a differentiator—it’s just better.”

In a system where price is often divorced from ecological impact, CBV reintroduces value that reflects reality. When a garment can be traced to on-farm outcomes and direct investment in people and landscapes, it becomes more than a product. It reflects a shift in sourcing logic, one that values systems over symbols, and future resilience over short-term cost savings.

Shared Knowledge, Shared Responsibility

Beyond its verification model, Fibershed also plays a connective role. Several partners emphasized that a key strength of CBV lies in fostering farmer-to-farmer learning: from experimenting with cover crops to refining grazing strategies. “We often think of sustainability programs as technical tools,” says Navit. “But what growers need just as much is the confidence that they’re not alone in trying something new.”

This isn’t just a side benefit. Peer-to-peer learning is central to CBV’s model. Through field days, anonymized reports, and feedback loops, producers share practical insights, turning on-the-ground experimentation into collective progress.

And for consumers and brands alike, this deeper understanding of the supply chain builds trust. When brands and consumers understand that producers are part of a larger, supported community—and that regenerative practices are being tracked and improved over time—it becomes easier to justify the long-term investment in premium fiber. Transparency and shared learning help demonstrate that these products aren’t just ethically sound; they’re part of a functioning system with real, measurable outcomes.

More Than a Label, It’s a Commitment

Climate Beneficial™ Verification doesn’t claim to be the final answer. But it does offer something that’s too often missing from fiber systems: accountability, adaptability, and a fairer share of value for those doing the hardest work. It’s part of a broader shift in the regenerative fiber movement—away from symbolic claims and toward systems that track real outcomes, support farmers directly, and create shared accountability across the supply chain.

In a marketplace full of symbols and stamps, CBV is showing what real sustainability looks like when you measure it in soil, in people, and in the possibility of progress.