Inside the campaign to end forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton fields

In this episode of ESG Insider, S&P Global Market Intelligence reporter Gautam Naik takes listeners inside the campaign to end forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton fields. He visited Uzbek cotton fields during the 2019 harvest, sat down with human rights activists and interviewed government ministers trying to change the system.

A decade ago, Uzbekistan forced more than one million doctors, teachers, nurses and even schoolchildren to head out into the fields each autumn and bring in the cotton crop. Back then, a good chunk of Uzbek cotton – produced under harsh conditions of forced labor -- ended up in thousands of shirts, jeans and shoes sold by western fashion brands. But as more and more companies stopped using Uzbek cotton, something unexpected happened: the government backed down and decided to aggressively roll back its state-sponsored forced-labor regime.

For investors and asset managers who worry about the risks of labor exploitation in consumer supply chains, the Uzbekistan cotton story is a rare thing -- a vivid example of how corporate pressure can lead to enduring change in the global fight against forced labor.

Listen to the episode to learn more, and read the story on spglobal.com: https://bit.ly/2sCX1Wq

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(Photo: AP)