Seoul (Republic
of Korea), 23 April 2010 - PUMA, the first
major sportswear company to join the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s Climate
Neutral Network, announced plans on Thursday
to offset the CO2 footprint of PUMA-sponsored
national football teams taking part in the
Football World Cup this summer in South
Africa - a total of 336 players and officials.
The announcement was
made in front of hundreds of top business
and environment leaders attending the Business
for the Environment (B4E) Summit in Seoul,
Republic of Korea.
This offsetting initiative
marks an important step towards meeting
the company's commitment to becoming the
first carbon neutral sports-lifestyle company.
"We took UNEP's
challenge to offset our football teams'
international travels to South Africa very
seriously. Our commitment to the environment
partnered with our long-standing collaboration
with African football made it a foregone
conclusion to support their initiative,
and we hope in doing so that we inspire
other stakeholders in the FIFA World Cup
2010 to follow suit," said Jochen Zeitz,
Chairman and CEO of PUMA.
PUMA will compensate
the company's direct and indirect CO2 emissions
through offsetting projects in Africa that
also take the needs of local communities
and the conservation of biodiversity and
CSR programs into account.
The portfolio of offsetting
projects in Africa is being verified by
an internationally recognized auditing company
according to internationally accepted standards
such as the Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), the Gold Standard and Voluntary Emission
Reduction standards. PUMA's total carbon
footprint is externally verified utilizing
similar methodology applied to the company's
carbon-neutral headquarters.
This bold initiative
was in response to UNEP's proposal that
all Football Federations participating in
the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa
offset their teams' international travels.
PUMA-sponsored teams
that have qualified for the World Cup include:
Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Italy,
Switzerland and Uruguay. To further illustrate
the importance of UNEP's 'call to action',
PUMA has decided to go one step further
and offset all local travel and accommodation
as well.
Notes to Editors:
Many of the carbon emissions
outlined above are not part of the Kyoto
Protocol - as such, PUMA's actions are entirely
voluntary. PUMA's carbon offsetting does
not include carbon emissions through transport
and manufacturing of PUMA products.
For further information
please go to:
Further information on PUMA's sustainability
program and current initiatives can be found
in PUMA's sustainability report. http://ir2.flife.de/data/puma_csr/igb_html/index.php?bericht_id=1000001
