The PUMA Lacelet Lounge at THE LIFT made a special appearance at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Between January 22 and 26, celebrities got the opportunity to design and create their own PUMA Lacelets. PUMA Lacelets are collectable shoelaces featuring patterns from world-renowned artist Kehinde Wiley that can be used in the traditional sense or to create a variety of unique designs.  PUMA and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) announced the ‘Play for Life’ partnership earlier this month to support the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity by raising awareness about habitat and species conservation and specific initiatives in Africa for 2010.  The celebrity designed Lacelets will be auctioned off to support biodiversity programs worldwide, through the help of UNEP.   In addition, PUMA will be making a further donation to these programs in the names of those who attended the festival…

Attendees to date include Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Mark Ruffalo, Diego Luna, Lil Jon, Morgan Spurlock, Dax Shepard, Adrian Grenier, Kerry Washington, Juliette Lewis, Wilmer Valderrama, Embeth Davidtz, Jason Ritter, Paul Scheer, Shawn Ashmore, Michael Chiklis, Tyler Labine, Gregory Michael, Emma Bell, Noureen DeWulf, Shawn Doyle, Constantine Maroulis, Chris Ashworth, Sam Levine, and Johnathan Woodward among others.

Actress Juliette Lewis at the PUMA Lacelet Lounge

Actor Samuel L Jackson at the PUMA Lacelet Lounge

Actor Ryan Gosling at the PUMA Lacelet Lounge

Puma Unveils World’s First Continental Football Kit to Support this Global Cause

NAIROBI, KENYA / HERZOGENAURACH, GERMANY (6 January 2010) – PUMA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) were joined today by the Indomitable Lions –Cameroon’s national football team – with team captain Samuel Eto’o, to announce a strategic partnership to support biodiversity worldwide and specific initiatives in Africa.

The ‘Play for Life’ partnership will support the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity by raising awareness about habitat and species conservation among football fans and the general public during worldwide football events, including the Orange Cup of African Nations in Angola later this month and international friendly games leading up to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.  With 12 African football team sponsorships to its name and a history of innovation with Africa, PUMA is uniquely positioned to help drive this effort with UNEP.

The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) is a global initiative launched by the United Nations for 2010 to help raise awareness on the importance of biodiversity and to encourage worldwide action to conserve plants and animals and the environments in which they live. Read more

Nairobi/ Herzogenaurach, Germany, November 18th 2009 - Sportlifestyle brand PUMA will become the first major sportswear company to join the Climate Neutral Network of the United Nations Environment Programme, the company announced at its 7th annual stakeholder meeting “Talks at Banz” at the Banz monastery in Germany. The cooperation is in line with its sustainability concept PUMAVision and underpins PUMA’s efforts to contribute to a low carbon society.

PUMA will reduce its carbon footprint by converting to green energy such as solar power and other renewable sources, optimizing travel and logistics to reduce transport-related emissions and leasing more fuel-efficient cars for its company fleet, among other measures. The plan covers the breadth of PUMA’s worldwide operations, from direct emissions from PUMA’s offices, stores and warehouses to staff business travel and the shipping of goods.

  Read more

Photo credit: Lou Rouse

 PUMAVision has been a long-time supporter of a wide variety of causes in Africa, as part of our commitment to make the world a healthier, more peaceful and more creative world.

 
To support the preservation of biodiversity within the Maasai tribal lands of East Africa, puma.safe has been endorsing the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT), a non-profit organization based in Kenya that promotes conservation, education and health services within the Maasai community.

 
As part of this partnership, PUMA was one of the official sponsors of the Maasai Marathon, a group of thirty runners lead by the three Maasai warriors, Parashi Ntanin, Samson Parashina and Martin Sunte, as well as American actor and conservationist Edward Norton. The group - fitted out in PUMA running gear - ran in the ING New York City Marathon in November 2009 to raise money and awareness for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

 
The PUMA Maasai Marathon Commemorative T-shirt is available in PUMA Stores in New York City, online at shop.puma.com and at retail locations including Jack Rabbit, New York Running Company, Paragon and Foot Locker with 50% of the proceeds going to the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust.

Watch this video showcasing the Maasai story and PUMA’s relationship.

For more information and to donate visit www.maasaimarathon.com

We at PUMA believe that public reporting is not only a venue to demonstrate accountability, but also a means for us to celebrate success, openly address challenges, and elicit feedback on what we do and how we do it.

To learn more about how PUMA is making a difference, as well as our roadmap to sustainability, see our latest Sustainability Reports:

Insights Environmental and Social Report 2001

Perspective  Sustainability Report 2003

Momemtum  Sustainability Report 2004

Sustainability Report 2005/2006

PUMAVision Sustainability Report 2007/2008

Download PDF (43.3 MB) | View Online

Herzogenaurach Friday, July 10, 2009. Sportlifestyle company PUMA supports the “Meat Free Monday” campaign launched by Sir Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary. By cutting out meat consumption on Mondays, this campaign works towards minimizing global greenhouse gas emissions through reducing methane that is released by cattle. PUMAVision, PUMA’s concept of ethical conduct and corporate social responsibility, endorses this campaign through the PUMAVision category puma.safe by guiding all its 10,000 employees to refrain from eating meat on Monday or at least one day per week. The company canteen at PUMA’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach will no longer provide meat on Mondays, but offer meat-free options, and all other PUMA canteens globally will follow. PUMA is pleased to be one of the first corporations to support “Meat Free Mondays.”

“We at PUMA have already done a lot to mitigate PUMA’s negative impact on our planet,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA. “Through our PUMAVision category puma.safe, we started to more accurately measure the carbon footprint of our offices worldwide, which will help us to identify areas where we can further reduce our carbon footprint. As methane released by cows is responsible for 18% of gas emissions, PUMA is supporting the “Meat Free Monday” campaign and encourages its employees to do the same by avoiding meat consumption at least once a week on Mondays.” Read more

The PUMA.Safe team has established hotlines for PUMA factory workers which provide an anonymous reporting mechanism, allowing workers to call in and report any issues or problems they face at their workplaces. The hotline number is given to employees after all factory audits and visits by members of the puma.safe team. The workers are free to contact our team and ask for advice on labor issues or enquire about their rights at the workplace. We are happy to report that workers have been using the hotline to report complaints about a number of misbehaviors and violations of our code of conduct.

If you know of any violations or would like to give us feedback or suggestions, please email us at sustain@puma.com.

Sportlifestyle company PUMA has extended its range of sustainable products and launched three African-themed fashion collections, featuring apparel made of sustainable cotton from sub-Saharan countries. By using this high-quality raw material, PUMA supports the Aid by Trade Foundation’s “Cotton Made in Africa” initiative which helps improving living conditions of African cotton farmers and their families and makes a solid contribution to the protection of the environment.

In the light of PUMA’s ongoing and long-term commitment for the African football as the official supplier to a dozen national teams across the continent, PUMA has launched the African-themed fashion collections “From the PUMA Archives”, “Africa United” and African Football Fan Wear in the run-up to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa which is a great starting position for the tournament. From July 2009 onwards, the collections will be available in PUMA stores worldwide. The products such as T-shirts and sweatshirts will carry the ‘Cotton Made in Africa” label.

“We are proud that our African-themed collections have been created with African involvement which makes them much more authentic,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA. “PUMA’s commitment to Africa now goes beyond our position as the leading supplier for African Football Teams. Following our vision of creating a better world, we do our part to improve quality of life and environmental standards in Africa by supporting Cotton Made in Africa.”

 “I am very pleased that such a strong partner like PUMA got engaged in the project Cotton Made in Africa,” said Dr. Johannes Merck, Executive Director of the Aid By Trade Foundation. “This cooperation underpins and reinforces the work of both partners and contributes considerably to the commitment of giving sustainable cotton a fair chance on the world market. It will help African cotton farmers to escape poverty by themselves in the medium term.” Read more

Herzogenaurach, 17 November 2008 – The Sportlifestyle company PUMA for the first time produced footballs under fair trade conditions in order to endorse a campaign focusing on the prevention of juvenile delinquency in South Africa. In cooperation with the Bavarian government and the Internationales Katholisches Missionswerk missio, PUMA will provide 5,000 footballs—bearing the fair trade certification mark - for the initiative “Club der guten Hoffnung” (Club of Good Hope) to be used in football games at Bavarian and South African schools. For this purpose, PUMA’s long-term football supplier Ali Trading in Pakistan was checked for compliance with Fairtrade standards and was certified by the independent certification organization FLO-CERT.

“We are pleased that we can support this initiative with PUMA footballs sporting the Fair Trade mark,“ said Horst Widmann, Vice President of PUMA. “The football games will bring young people together in a peaceful way and will help curtail youth violence. At the same time, we helped further improve the working conditions in our supplier’s factory in Pakistan.”

Horst Widmann handed over the Fair Trade ball to the President of Missio in Munich,  Pater Eric Englert (OSA), who said: “I am sure the young football players will be very  delighted about the ball. The passion for football truly connects people. Pastoral care, educational programmes and sports all contribute to social integration of unprivileged young people in South Africa.”

PUMA has undertaken audits at its suppliers’ factories for more than ten years, monitoring for strict adherence to its Code of Conduct. This guarantees that the manufacturers comply with standards such as respecting human rights, freedom of association, prohibition of child labour as well as the payment of minimum wages. The PUMA auditors monitor various indicators such as the employees’ working hours, the rates of pay, employment contracts, health and safety standards in the workplace as well as the appropriate disposal of waste.

The independent Fair Trade certification mark guarantees in addition that the PUMA manufacturer in Pakistan receives a premium of 10 percent of the ball’s purchasing price, which the firm has to invest—after a democratic vote among the factory’s management, workers and employees—into social, economic or ecological development projects on the premises.

The PUMA football was publicly launched on November 17, 2008 at the Bavarian Ministry of Education in Munich during the presentation of the initiative “Club der guten Hoffnung”. The event was attended by representatives of the different charity organisations, Secretary of State for Education Dr. Marcel Huber, PUMA Vice President Horst Widmann and other corporate representatives, politicians and sportsmen.

The PUMA Fair Trade Ball is available for sale at the PUMA Online Store.

In 2008, the Swiss Ratings Agency SAM (Sustainable Asset Management) confirmed PUMA’s place in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) once again. PUMA has been a member of the DSJI since 2006. Only those companies which have successfully passed a stringent test assessing their sustainable activities by the independent ratings agency are accepted. SAM also ranked PUMA as the “market leader” in 2007 and 2008 and was awarded a Silver Medal for our sustainability-related accomplishments meaning that PUMA ranked second place in the industry ranking by SAM.

At the end of 2008, PUMA trained female workers at its supplier Milteks in Istanbul on the rights they have as women at work and in general. The four-week training course covered issues such as how to use the rights and guarantees granted by the New Turkish Civil Code, female health issues, child education, combating violence against women in the family, combating sexual harassment at the workplace, methods for better communication within the family, workplace and public life and managing the double burden of work and family lives.

PUMA implemented this training in one of their key Turkish factories in order to empower these female employees with knowledge about their rights and entitlement to education. The local puma.safe auditor, who organized the training, was initially concerned with whether the women would be willing to participate in the training at all. However, the training turned out to be a success, increasing the self-esteem, self-confidence and, most importantly, the knowledge of the participants. The training evaluation report can be downloaded here.

Here is what some of the women had to say:

“The training was successful. I learned lots of things that I did not know before. For some issues, lawyers came here to give seminars. That was great. I learned a lot of things especially with regard to women’s health and rights of workers. Before I did not know those things, I did not know what to do, where to go. Most important is that I did not know how to act in the factory. I learned all those issues. My mother also works here and she participated in the training, too. When we went home after the training we kept on talking and discussing. We started to share lots of things that we did not speak about before. For example during the training, one day I told about discrimination. After the training I discussed it for a long time with my mother. In addition, we told other women around us about these issues, our friends or relatives. We tried to share the positive energy we got from the training with other women.”
- Elvan Demircioğlu, Assistant of Pattern Maker

“When I first heard about the training, I thought that it was ridiculous. But after the training started, day by day, I learned that I have lots of rights. I learned things about my own health. In fact, I learned that I am a human, an individual who has rights. Of course everything around me is not changing so quickly, but I realized that it is changing step by step.”
- Gülsen Keskin, Quality Controller

“Lots of things have been changed here after the training. At the beginning you made a survey and you asked some questions like: ‘Can a woman come home late at night?’ or ‘Should a woman get her husband’s permission to work?’ Lots of women answered that women cannot go home late and need her husband’s permission to work. Now they say: ‘No, women can do it.’ ”
- Ayfer Kurnaz, Quality Controller

The project is currently continued SLN Tekstil, another strategic PUMA partner in Turkey.

PUMA was the first sporting goods company to ban PVC from its entire product range.

Despite PVC’s strong material characteristics, PUMA recognized that the negative aspects of the production and disposal of PVC, which can cause damage to both humans and the environment, was not compatible with our business, with our customers, nor with our relationship to the environment. Alternatively, through the puma.safe program, we focus our energies on finding alternative solutions that compromise neither our consumers nor our planet. We are proud to report that for many years now, all of our products carry a “PVC-free“ label.

In addition to banning PVC, PUMA works hard to ensure that suppliers and manufactures strictly adhere to our Restricted Substances List (RSL) as part of our policy to eliminate harmful substances from our products. In cooperation with industry peers and other stakeholders, we continuously update our RSL to reflect the most up-to-date standards and scientific findings.

For more information, please take a look at our Handbook on Environmental Standards.

Charity Cat, PUMA’s in-house charity organization, was founded by 20 PUMA employees in early 2004. The purpose of the organization is to activate PUMA’s products and the company’s worldwide infrastructure in order to raise money internally in support of people in need. Charity Cat donations are largely a combination of private and commercial donations of money and goods. The members of Charity Cat are volunteers and donate their free time in support of realizing a diversity of charitable goals. Charity Cat is supported by the PUMA management and other PUMA employees worldwide on a voluntary basis.

Charity Cat projects are based on the following principles:

• Donations are only made to institutions which have a well founded need, after Charity Cat members have determined the individual requirements on site.
• Charity Cat does not want to restrict its aid to money donations. Support also includes donations of clothes, shoes, toys and other goods.
• Local PUMA employees ensure that donations for projects in the corresponding countries reach the people in need.
• Charity Cat is informed about the progress of the projects in order to verify and experience the activities and the success.
• Charity Cat’s efforts are deliberately not being used for advertising purposes.

Charity Cat projects are spread across the world. To see where and what PUMA employees have done to improve other people’s lives, please visit the Charity Cat feature in our latest Sustainability Report here

Since 2006, PUMA has been participating in the Multi-brand Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS) Project, which aims at improving HR structures and processes at an operational level in the suppliers’ factories to enhance manpower participation and productivity—which will ultimately lead to an increased capability of the suppliers to comply with the brands’ Codes of Conduct.

Deciding to implement HRMS projects in a number of their factories came from PUMA’s and other multi-national companies’ realization that a lack of proper management systems at the production facilities of many contracted manufacturers has traditionally been the reason for many issues of non-compliance and inefficiency. Ineffective management of human resources, inconsistent compliance with the companies’ labor, health and safety, as well as their environmental standards, and limited implementation of high performance work systems and production processes were all traced back to an absence of efficient management systems.

Through classroom-based consultant and peer learning, project assignments and inter-department committees within the factories, these various learning methodologies help participating factories improve their HR practices through instituting systemic improvements in internal management systems. Participating factories undergo one year of training on various HR topics such as recruitment, HR planning, compensation design, etc. Currently being conducted in China and Vietnam, PUMA is committed to systematically introducing HRMS requirements with all key suppliers, partnering with other brands and organizing country projects together.

PUMA’s new company headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, reflect our serious commitment to building a better tomorrow. Strictly adhering to our own environmental policy, our new headquarters integrate a number of innovative energy-saving concepts with the intention of reducing our company carbon footprint and contributing positively to mitigating climate change.

Scheduled for completion at the end of 2009 and implementing innovating sustainable technologies, PUMA’s new main building—with a total investment of around € 50 million—will significantly reduce PUMA’s electricity and water usage (and costs), as well as our local carbon “pawprint.”

Called the “PUMA Plaza”, the new headquarters covers an area of 50,000 square metres and includes an administration center, a Brand Center, and Concept and Factory Outlet Store. Environmentally-friendly methods heat and cool each of the buildings, maintaining steady and correct temperatures via concrete core temperature control – a low-energy and ecologically efficient application. A photovoltaic power system, 1,000 square metres in size and installed on the roof of the Outlet building, will produce 70,000 kwh per year of electricity, meeting the annual energy needs equivalent to 20 3-4 person households. Combined with 140 square metres of solar modules built into the buildings’ window facades, PUMA will produce 35 tonnes less of CO2 per year. It is estimated that over the course of the photovoltaic power system lifespan (approximately 25 years), PUMA will save a total of 875 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The main building’s solar panels provide the added benefit of heating all of the water at PUMA Plaza.

As testament to PUMA’s commitment to reduce water consumption, all toilets will be eventually converted to flush with “greywater”—or, rainwater collected in a central cistern. The extensive turfing of the 1500 square metres of roof atop the Brand Centre and the visitors restaurant will provide an aesthetic complement to the Plaza while acting as insulation against heat and UV-rays in order to maintain more comfortable indoor temperatures. Censors which turn lights off automatically when motion is not detected (such as when employees are not at their desks) will further reduce electricity consumption.

In order to achieve high environmental standards in the design and construction of our new headquarters, PUMA worked closely with the renowned Institut für Energie und Gebäude (ieg) in Nuremburg, which honored the newheadquarters with an energy saving certificate (Energiepass).

We are confident that our investment in creating a more sustainable work environment is not only good for the environment, but for our employees and our business as well. PUMA is deeply committed to investing in sustainable development and will expand our sustainability initiatives at the international, retail, and product levels.

PUMA’s commitment to improving conditions in the workplace goes beyond auditing and brand collaboration. We realize that finding solutions and making improvements requires identifying and addressing the problem, rather than merely treating the symptoms. We go to the heart of production to address factory issues and problems, making capacity-building a top priority. Our puma.safe capacity building initiatives and programs alert management to operational weak points, then offering training programs that will enable them to independently implement the necessary improvements.

In 2005, PUMA initiated its first capacity building program. Vietnam, China, Thailand, Romania and Bulgaria were the first countries where suppliers participated in our capacity building projects. These initiatives involve raising awareness of general social standards, compliance to fair labor practices such as reasonable work hours, open dialogue about freedom of association, implementing and improving human resource management systems, and employee training on the PUMA Code of Conduct and local labor laws. Other capacity building projects were implemented the following year in Turkey and El Salvador addressing similar topics while also introducing trainings on wage compensation and gender equality. Another capacity-building program—the suppliers’ training on Restricted Substances List testing—was started in 2006 and ongoing in all countries.

The latest programs are run in China, Vietnam, Turkey and South Africa.

At PUMA, we take responsibility for everybody involved in the production process, whether they are a PUMA employee or not, and work towards ensuring a community of inclusivity, fairness, and openness. We have been improving the social and working standards in the factories of our suppliers and manufacturers for ten years now and are proud to report that in during this time, since we carried out our first factory audit in 2000, PUMA has achieved significant milestones.

PUMA has been supporting the United Nations Global Compact since 2006—a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. The idea is that by adhering to these principles, businesses will serve as a catalyst to develop markets, commerce, technology and finance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.

PUMA has implemented and incorporated the UN Global Compact Principles in many of its business and corporate processes.

As a member of the UN Global Compact PUMA declares to follow the 10 Global Compact Principles:

Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges
Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

For more about the 10 principles and PUMA’s relationship with the UN Global compact, please visit our most recent Sustainability Report.

For more on the UN Global Compact, check out the video here.

Sportlifestyle company PUMA and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) today announced that PUMA has become the first member of its Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain (“The Network”).

The central purpose of The Network is for large companies to provide support to their Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) suppliers in measuring and reporting on their economic, environmental and social performance – known as sustainability reporting.

Through PUMA’s membership of the Network, its suppliers will benefit from capacity building through GRI certified training to prepare a GRI sustainability report. PUMA has nominated five suppliers in Portugal, Turkey and Pakistan to receive training on the transparent measurement and reporting on their sustainability performance using the GRI G3 Guidelines – the world’s most widely-used framework for sustainability reporting.

“We are pleased that GRI provides another opportunity for PUMA to increase capacity building in our global supply chain through its Global Action Network,” said Reiner Hengstmann, Global Head Environmental and Social Affairs at PUMA. “Through our participation in a previous GRI sustainability reporting project, we enhanced the understanding of and commitment to sustainability at PUMA suppliers in South Africa significantly with one supplier even winning an award for their first sustainability report.”

The Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain is based upon the success of a recent project in which GRI partnered with the German Development Agency (GTZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project brought four multinational companies – including PUMA – together with twelve of their suppliers across five countries to teach the suppliers to understand, monitor and report on their sustainability impacts.

Gregory Elders, SME and Supply Chain Program Manager at GRI said: “We are delighted that PUMA has become the first member of The Network and has taken this bold step in embedding the practice of sustainability reporting within companies in its supply chain. The process of sustainability reporting is an essential step in enabling companies – large or small – to take ownership of their economic, environmental and social performance. Since small and medium enterprises – often within the supply chain of larger firms – provide the majority of employment globally: it is crucial that they measure and manage their sustainability impacts”

GRI has a strong track record in working with both multinational enterprises and smaller firms in driving the sustainability agenda forward through transparent public reporting.

“We are pleased to welcome PUMA back to build upon the success of the previous project, through which the company supported apparel suppliers from South Africa through the sustainability reporting journey,” added Elders.

Three PUMA suppliers in South Africa participated in an earlier pilot of the project. Impahla, one of the suppliers that participated in the pilot, has made sustainability reporting an annual activity.  Our suppliers’ GRI / GTZ reports can be downloaded here:

Impahla Clothing 2007
Impahla Clothing 2008
Vimal Clothing Enterprise C. C.  2007
Suzi Products 2007

Herzogenaurach, Germany Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sportlifestyle company PUMA supports the environmental movie “HOME,” directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, photographer and author of “Earth From Above”, and produced by Luc Besson. The movie will be released worldwide on 5 June 2009 - the World Environment Day - in cinemas, on DVD, and for free on television and the Internet. Through the PUMAVision category puma.creative PUMA will endorse screenings of the movie in cultural institutions in Africa and beyond.

The documentary about environmental issues, which was filmed across fifty countries and shot entirely from the sky in high definition, offers a powerful commentary on the major environmental and social issues challenging our world and calls for a new awareness that protecting the earth is indispensable. It is the result of a collaboration between the photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the producer and director Luc Besson and Francois-Henri Pinault, the Chief Executive of the French luxury group PPR - the majority shareholder of PUMA and the world exclusive partner of HOME.

“Creating awareness of our environment’s emergency state is crucial and the first step for an improved handling of our natural resources,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and CEO of PUMA. “In line with our PUMAVision concept, PUMA has implemented numerous environmental initiatives through various programs that aim at reducing our “paw print” - the effects that PUMA’s operations and actions have on the environment. The HOME film inspires us to work towards making a positive contribution to our planet. We hope that it will inspire audiences everywhere,” he added. Read more

For a long time now, PUMA has been engaged in various environmental and social initiatives that manifest our corporate social responsibility. We are proud of our successes over the years, but realize with humility that when it comes to corporate responsibility, there is and will always be room for improvement. Our commitment to sustainability and the highest ethical standards means that now, more than ever, we must deepen our dedication by employing a strategy that sees the “whole” as greater than the sum of its parts. As we work towards a safer, more peaceful, and more creative world, we will continue to expand our outreach as corporate global citizens beyond the boundaries of business, not only for the benefit of our stakeholders, but for all.

We at PUMA aspire to a community defined by the shared principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative, fueled by the momentum of our individual and collective passions, and dedicated to making positive and lasting contributions to the world via our programs and products. We do not want our legacy to rely solely on the material goods we manufacture. Instead, we at PUMA want ours to be an imprint of sustainability and fairness, ensuring every step of the way that the products we are known for are produced using environmentally friendly processes and in environments which reflect our passion for human rights and fair employment.

When we compare the working conditions that we witnessed in factories ten years ago with the standards that we employ today, we are happy to say that our efforts have not been in vain. Through our continued diligence and commitment to fair labor compliance year after year through factory trainings and audits, along with our puma.safe environmental and social education initiatives, PUMA has played a significant role in enhancing the livelihoods of many people in regions across the globe.

The path that PUMA has paved over the past ten years is testament to the fact that we do not simply talk about sustainable development, we take action. We have met challenges head on, innovating solutions and continuously evolving our practices. Nevertheless, we have not yet reached our final destination and our journey continues.

We are confident, though, that through our PUMAVision programs, such as puma.safe, we will continue to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

Nairobi – PUMA, the Sportlifestyle Company, is one of the latest partners to join the “Seal The Deal!” campaign. The company is calling for negotiations in Copenhagen to protect the planet and create a sustainable economy.
In its PUMA World Report, a CEO newsletter sent out to all staff worldwide, it says “failure to reach a comprehensive agreement now would put our planet’s future at risk as most scientists agree that the continued unlimited emission of greenhouse gases will lead to irreversible damages to our climate and ecosystems.”
PUMA also says that they have started to track their environmental performance on a per employee basis for the offices, stores and warehouses worldwide. PUMA has set the target of reducing energy and water consumption as well as waste creation by 25% for their offices by 2010 compared to a 2005 benchmark. Further targets for stores and logistics are in preparation. PUMA also states it is actively working on reducing its direct and indirect carbon emissions. A first step in this direction was the recent switch to green electricity from renewable resources for all major German operations. Furthermore, with the new Head Office PUMA Plaza just weeks short of the opening, a solar power plant and other state of the art environmental technology realized at the Plaza set a strong example for other PUMA buildings to follow.

Sustainability for PUMA does not end at PUMA owned operations but is also a major topic in the supply chain. A pilot project with the Global Reporting Initiative has lead to the publication of three supplier sustainability reports in South Africa. Further supplier reports in seven countries covering three continents are currently in preparation.
Jochen Zeitz, CEO and Chairman of the Board of PUMA said, “Our 2007/ 2008 PUMAVision Sustainability Report is a testament to the fact that we at PUMA do not simply talk about sustainable development, we take action.” “We are proud of our successes over the years and of our commitment to sustainability and the highest ethical standards, but realize that when it comes to corporate responsibility, there is and will always be room for improvement” Zeitz added.

The year 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of PUMA and 10 years of PUMA.Safe. Since 2007, PUMA’s supply chain has grown to accommodate expected market demand and special projects, particularly those that were related to the Beijing Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, across all product classifications. Discounting all dropped factories, PUMA’s global tier 1 supply base grew by an average of 11%. Supply base growth was significant in Asia for both licensees (15%) and our own sourcing organization World Cat (17%). The supply base for World Cat in EMEA/Americas and licensees contracted by 5%. The global supply base, including all audited Tier 2-3 suppliers encompasses approximately 300.000 employees.

In 2007, PUMA.Safe launched a new modified Rating System that introduced the B+ and B- grades, and more frequent monitoring, and removed the original grade of B. Splitting the B grade to a low and high B was a tool to indicate suppliers that were only interested in short-term corrective actions vs. those that were implementing substantial and sustainable corrective actions to issues found. Suppliers rated with a B- were re-audited within a shorter period of time, which resulted in more frequent re-audits within the calendar year and the quicker identification of critical issues.

In addition, PUMA made a long-term commitment in 2008 to map out the lower tiers of its supply chain and strengthen monitoring at these levels. Until 2010, PUMA has committed to undertake direct auditing of a percentage of facilities in lower tiers of the supply chain. Read more