Puma has joined the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather, launched by global non-profit organizations Textile Exchange and Leather Working Group (LWG), to create equitable, transparent and deforestation-free leather supply chains. The cross-industry initiative asks brands to commit to sourcing their bovine leather from deforestation/conversion-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. This will protect wildlife habitat and biodiversity, conserve carbon stocks and mitigate climate change, and protect human rights.
Apparel supply chains are associated with soil degradation, conversion of natural ecosystems and water pollution. Most negative impacts on biodiversity occur at three stages of the value chain: raw material extraction, material preparation & processing and end-of-life.
100 percent of the leather Puma currently sources comes from tanneries certified by LWG. This means that the leather used in Puma products originates from manufacturers that strive to implement good practice standards for environmental management and traceability. Puma currently monitors the traceability of tanneries certified by LWG. However, half of the leather used by Puma is suede, a byproduct of full-grain leather production. The challenge Puma and others in the industry currently face is that most suede tanners work not only with direct tanneries but also with agents and middlemen to ensure a stable supply, making full traceability at the cattle ranch level challenging. By working with the industry, its leather supply chain, Textile Exchange and the Leather Working Group, Puma aims to remove existing barriers and find solutions together.
“To mitigate the risk of biodiversity loss due to our production processes, Puma addresses environmental pollution risk through our targets to increase the use of more sustainable materials and through our suppliers’ program on climate, chemicals, water, and air,” commented Veronique Rochet, Senior Head of Sustainability at Puma. “This deforestation-free commitment also directly supports one of Puma’s 10FOR25 sustainability targets dedicated to reducing our impact on biodiversity. To help the protection of endangered forests and species, Puma also commits to not using any wood or wood-derived fabrics made from ancient and endangered forests.”
You can read all about Puma’s 10FOR25 targets here.
