A new report ranks popular companies based on their promotion of cotton sustainability -- and the results are pretty dismal.

Developing countries have been long calling for rich countries to practice what they preach, and remove subsidies or allow them to support their own farmers. Over a decade ago, the US agreed to resolve the issue of cotton subsidies "ambitiously, expeditiously and particularly."

On International Human Rights Day, Walk Free and International Labor Rights Forum, both members of the Cotton Campaign coalition, projected striking images of Uzbekistan forced labour onto the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington D.C.

About 20 million tons of cotton are produced each and every year, making it far and away the world's most profitable non-food crop. But it's resource intensive in a big way.

Uzbekistan is the world's fifth-largest cotton exporter, yet sales benefit the government elite on the backs of the Uzbek people.