PUMA expands its project with The Global Reporting Initiative

31 May '10

5 min read

One of the participants in the pilot project, Impahla Clothing, a PUMA apparel manufacturer in Cape Town, received the ACCA Award (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) for its maiden sustainability report. Impahla also became the first carbon-neutral garment supplier on the African continent in 2009, after the factory management was introduced to the benefits of sustainability through the project. Recently, Impahla issued its third sustainability report.

The second phase of the project is currently in progress under the GANTSCh program with ten suppliers in six countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Portugal and Turkey) participating. Including Impahla, three suppliers have already released their new sustainability reports while the remaining factories will publish their reports later in the Football World Cup year 2010.

PUMA's mission is to become the most desirable and sustainable sportlifestyle company and it has implemented a long-term sustainability program throughout all its operations. Increasing sustainability in its supply chain through sustainability reporting is therefore an important element in PUMA's overall sustainability strategy.

Proactively responding to accusations of low labour standards in its supplier factories by non-governmental organizations in the past, PUMA endeavours to increase transparency in its supply chain. Especially in countries such as China, India or Bangladesh, where working and living conditions differ from standards in developed countries, transparent social and working conditions play an important role in PUMA's sustainability approach. PUMA continues to improve working and social standards through factory audits and capacity building projects over time and PUMA aims to work with the best suppliers in these countries. Sustainability reporting of the suppliers provides the opportunity to reveal what has already been achieved and where more work is necessary.

GRI's engagement with PUMA commenced in 2006 with the generous support of the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) in the joint GRI-GTZ Transparency in the Supply Chain Pilot Project. GTZ is a federally owned, international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations which supports the German Government in achieving its development policy objectives.

“Sound reporting is an important catalyst for change towards more sustainable business practices.” said Jörg Hartmann, Executive Director, Centre for Co-operation with the Private Sector/ PPP, GTZ. “I am very pleased that the pioneering “Transparency in the Supply Chain” project set up by the GRI and the German Government four years ago is now established as a Global Action Network. I am convinced that many SMEs in emerging markets can benefit from the GANTSCh program“.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a network-based organization that has pioneered the development of the world's most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

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