Puma takes leading role in industry’s pledge to fight climate change

In preparation for the fashion industry’s charter presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice today, PUMA played an active role in developing the Charter by leading working groups and encouraging industry peers and partner vendors to join the initiative.

The latest reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have highlighted the need for urgent action, as global warming is happening at a faster pace than previously expected. This is why the fashion industry agreed a sector-wide plan of action, which goes well beyond the commitments made by any other industry, targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

“We are aware that more than 90% of PUMA’s Carbon Footprint is being generated in shared supply chains. If we want to reduce our supply chains’ carbon emissions, we need to work together with our industry peers. The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action provides a joint industry effort to support the goals of the Paris agreement. We appreciate that UN Climate has set up a global platform to call upon our industry peers to join the initiative,” said PUMA Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Gulden.

Battling climate change is an essential part of PUMA’s 10FOR20 sustainability strategy, which has already led to several concrete steps. As part of its commitments, PUMA will move to 90% renewable electricity for all of our owned and operated facilities by 2020, either by directly purchasing renewable electricity, or by purchasing renewable energy certificates.

To address the need to also reduce carbon emissions within the supply chain, PUMA will expand its current energy efficiency program, which it established together with the IFC in Vietnam and Bangladesh, to suppliers in other countries. PUMA’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is supplemented by a sharp increase from 50% to 90% in the company’s targets for sourcing cotton and polyester from sustainable or
certified sources.

To more accurately assess the impact of such measures, PUMA has rolled out the Higg Index, a standardized tool to measure sustainability performance developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, to all of its core suppliers globally.