2Sustain

The Sportlifestyle company Puma wants to enhance transparency and improve social and working conditions in its supply chain, and so the company is going to provide training about sustainability reporting to its strategic suppliers.

Puma says 20 of its strategic suppliers  –which account for more than two thirds of all Puma products – will receive GRI-certified training on transparent measurement and reporting of their sustainability performance using the GRI G3 Guidelines. The training, part of  the Global Action Network for Transparency in the Supply Chain program (GANTSCh), will be conducted by GRI Certified Training Partners, and during the reporting process, the suppliers will be supported by regional sustainability consultants.

The training is scheduled to start in 2010, and the suppliers’ first sustainability reports are expected to be released in 2011/2012.

With this announcement, Puma is joining a groundswell of global corporations now taking action to address sustainability in their supply chains. Walmart made a big splash with news of their innovative supplier sustainability index last year, and just within the last month, Ford and P&G have announced similar initiatives with their suppliers.

“Supply chain sustainability reporting is a key part of Puma’s overall sustainability strategy,” says Dr. Reiner Hengstmann, Global Director of puma.safe supply chain, in a press release. “Without sustainable suppliers, we will not be able to produce sustainable products or credibly report about Puma’s own sustainability initiatives. The GANTSCh project helps to ensure that our suppliers fully embrace the concept of sustainability and introduce respective programs in their companies.”

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Puma’s innovative sustainable packaging solution called the “clever little bag.” You can also read more about the company’s sustainability initiatives here.