Challenge

At the 2015 UN Climate Conference, PUMA committed to setting science-based CO2 reduction targets. In 2018, PUMA co-founded the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, an industry coalition aiming to align the fashion industry’s emissions with the Paris Agreement’s goals. By 2023, the company surpassed its goals seven years ahead of the target year (2030) through an 85% reduction of its own emissions – market-based, including the purchase of reduced emissions certificates (RECs) – and a 65% reduction of supply chain emissions. Recognizing the growing demand for sustainability within the consumer industry, PUMA set more ambitious goals in 2022: a 90% reduction in its own operations and a 33% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030 from a 2017 baseline.

Solution

In 2019, PUMA partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, to launch a supplier financing programme under IFC’s Global Trade Supplier Finance (GTSF). It provides shortterm working capital to suppliers with tiered pricing based on their sustainability ratings. The first phase, under the Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) initiative, focused on energy and water efficiency, and renewable energy in Bangladesh. In 2024, PUMA launched the Decarbonization Programme (CaDP) in Cambodia, targeting four tier 1 and tier 2 factories. PUMA also participated in a 2023 policy dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh, alongside key stakeholders in the fashion sector, to discuss how to jointly implement necessary changes, identify near-term actions to accelerate renewable energy use, support the scaling of renewable energy solutions and connect existing field efforts with best practices. The Government of Bangladesh has committed to accelerating the renewable energy transition, exploring direct power purchase agreements (PPAs) as a solution, going along with further fiscal and tax incentives and tariff upgrades seen as key policy interventions to drive progress.

Impact

Through the PaCT programme in Bangladesh and other initiatives led by tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers, PUMA reduced its absolute Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services by 30% between 2017 and 2023.