Building on its Materials Matter Standard, the Textile Exchange has introduced three new resources to help organizations better understand and implement the protocol’s human rights and livelihood requirements.

The new guidance tools include the Human Rights and Livelihoods Quick Guide, which provides an introduction to the standard’s requirements, explaining how companies can navigate implementation. The guide outlines six themes for the Material Matters Standard’s Human Rights and Livelihood requirement, including human rights due diligence, how workers are treated, worker safety, fair pay, protections against child and forced labor, and recommended practices for progress toward living wages and fair pricing for mechanisms for material suppliers.

Along with the quick guide, the Textile Exchange’s Human Rights Risk Assessment Tool helps organizations identify, prioritize and address human rights risks within their operations. The tool guides users through a three-step process, designed to support practical, people-focused decision making to help strengthen an organization’s human rights due diligence and risk management practices. The completed form will then be reviewed by certification bodies as part of the certification process.

The third tool, the Human Rights Policy and Code of Conduct Template allows organizations to formalize their commitment to human rights by establishing and implementing a code of conduct. The template offers two versions—one focused on human rights and the other a code of conduct—designed to work together to create organizational standards for protecting human rights.

“Stronger human rights and livelihoods practices are central to meaningful sustainability progress and resilient supply systems. The Materials Matter Standard sets a holistic set of requirements incorporating respect for human rights, with the new guidance and tools released today supporting organizations in putting those requirements into practice,” said Siobhan Cullen, human rights responsibility lead, Textile Exchange.

The Materials Matter Standard, which debuted in 2024, is a voluntary sustainability standard for the production and primary processing of raw materials for the fashion, textile and apparel industry. The standard establishes detailed requirements for production and processing raw materials, applying to land, water and energy use, working conditions, animal welfare, emissions, chemicals and waste management.

Textile Exchange will unify all of its current standards—Responsible Animal Fiber (RAF), Global Recycled Standard (GRS) and Recycled Claim Standard (RCS)—under the Materials Matter Standard, effective Dec. 31, with the standard becoming mandatory for those covered by the organization’s previous standards on Dec. 31, 2027.

From 2028 onward, the Materials Matter Standard is required for all eligible Tier 4 organizations (farms and recycling facilities certified to the RAF, GRS or RCS) to maintain certification.

“By transitioning to the Materials Matter Standard, organizations can play a key role in embedding greater social responsibility across the textile supply system and support a fairer and safer industry for the people and communities that depend on it,” Cullen said.