7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment - International ...

Report
4.7.4. Supply chain management: Social & environmental trends
William Anderson, Vice President and Head of Social & Environmental Affairs,
Asia Pacific, Adidas group
As some of you may know, adidas has a long
and distinguished involvement with the Olympic
Movement, beginning in 1928 when Adi Dassler
– the founder of the company – created his first
products for athletes to compete in Amsterdam
Games.
Ever since, the history of adidas and the Olympic
Games has been closely linked.
Sustainability
As indicated by the title of my presentation, I
will focus on the global supply chain. Perhaps,
more accurately, I should speak of the global
value chain, as environmental factors feature at
every step in a product’s life cycle: from product
creation to the end point sale of the sports shoe,
or garment, through to its final disposal. And of
course the environment does not stand alone in
our considerations. As we strive for sustainable
practices we need to consider the social and
economic factors at play.
As a sporting goods company adidas is proud to
be the Official Sportswear Partner of the Beijing
2008 Olympic Games and the 2008 Paralympics.
We are also the official supplier to 8 National
Olympic Committees who will participate in the
2008 summer games, as well as supplying athletic
product to a large number of individual sportsmen
and women who are expected to compete here in
Beijing.
Our success in doing so is reflected in the fact
that for the past 5 consecutive years we have
been rated by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
as the most sustainable company in the apparel
and footwear sector. Added to this, in July 2007
the adidas Group was again included in the
FTSE4Good Index, which selects companies on
the basis of ongoing commitment to environmental
sustainability, strong financial performance,
a positive relationship with stakeholders and
dedication to upholding and supporting human
rights.
The FTSE4Good Index recognizes the important
role that stakeholders play in the actions and
decisions of a well-governed business. It is our
stakeholders that are the strongest driver for
change as a global business. Let me elaborate.
We are also honoured at being chosen as the
Official Sportswear sponsor for the 2012 Summer
Olympics, which is to be hosted in London.
Initially, as a German manufacturer and now as a
global brand, adidas has had a history of closely
managing the environmental footprint of our
products. In the next 10 minutes or so I want to
highlight some of our recent successes, and some
of the challenges that lie ahead for us.
Stakeholders
First, we have our consumers and their growing
environmental awareness, health consciousness
and well-being. What we are seeing worldwide,
including here in Asia, is a resurgence of what in
the 1980s was labelled “green consumerism”. But
it is more than this. As a long-time environmental
practitioner, I am astounded by how quickly global
warming has captured the popular imagination.
This has been fuelled of course by the media.
But it is also being translated into everyday
experiences. How often are you hearing people
attributing the frequency or severity of a storm, a
drought, or a flood, to “global warming”?
<strong>7th</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Sport and the Environment
International Cooperation and Development Dept.
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