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.

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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.

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

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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.

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.

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