Chinese Sportswear Company Among First to Sign Sustainable Business Initiative at Second UN SDG Summit

Photo taken on September 17th showcases the 2023 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit Side Event

[September 17, 2023, New York] - The Second United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit，the highest-level UN event in the field of sustainable development，is being held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. As one of the largest companies in the Chinese sports apparel industry, ANTA Group signed the Business in Action—Sustainable Industrial Development Commitments. Simultaneously, ANTA Group's sustainable development case was selected for the SDG Good Practice Database. ANTA Group Executive Director and Co-CEO Wu Yonghua attended the official thematic side event “Innovation for Industrial Sustainability 2023”, sharing ANTA's strategy, achievements, and insights for ESG.

Wu Yonghua delivers a speech at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit.

Businesses play a crucial role in de-carbonization efforts, from revolutionizing sustainability in supply chains to influencing consumer mindset and behavior. The event offered industry leaders a platform to cultivate public-private partnerships, exchange best practices, and discuss innovative and emerging opportunities to contribute to industrial sustainability amid a broader accelerated push to achieve the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs.

Chinese companies that signed the initiative are committed to high-quality development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and 10 sustainability principles. These include integrating SDGs into business strategies, daily operation, and organizational culture; encouraging the development, promotion, and dissemination of environmentally friendly technology and innovation; reducing greenhouse gas emissions and significantly increasing the share of renewable energy consumption; strengthening life-cycle management of chemicals and wastes; and eliminating inequality within the organization to promote inclusive development. This initiative was proposed by Action for Sustainable Businesses in China, which invited domestic businesses to support the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and showcased the Chinese business community's commitment to international responsibility.

Three Core Objectives and One High Standard

In the panel discussion of the forum “Businesses Respond to Triple Planetary Crisis”, Wu Yonghua noted that sustainable development strategy is one of ANTA's core strategies. The Group has a clear strategic goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and is promoting the implementation of the "1+3+5" sustainable development roadmap within the organization. ANTA's sustainable development practice is carried out around "3 cores" and "1 high": "3 cores" refers to the objectives of developing low-carbon products, building a green supply chain and conserving biodiversity, as well as social responsibility; "1 high" refers to promoting sustainable development through joining international organizations such as the United Nations Global Compact and supporting their sustainable development initiatives.

Wu Yonghua participates in a panel discussion at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit.

 ANTA has established a complete ESG strategic implementation system. The board of directors has created a Sustainable Development Committee, who formulates ESG strategies, goals, and bodies， mobilizes resources， monitors performance, and fosters culture, forming a closed loop for ESG management. From 2015 to 2022, ANTA achieved a revenue growth of nearly 400% while reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by over 40% per 100 million yuan of revenue and reducing water use by 22%. Additionally, the group's self-operated factories have completely phased out coal use and are transitioning towards clean energy at full speed. According to Standard & Poor's Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), ANTA Group's score is higher than 87% of 160 global companies in textiles, clothing, and luxury businesses.

Three Measures to Build a Green Supply Chain

While reducing its environmental footprints, ANTA is also comprehensively upgrading its green supply chain management system, working with core suppliers to manage carbon emissions and promote clean and renewable energy. Wu said, "Driving our suppliers to practice sustainable development is the top priority in our work. We will build an environment-friendly, healthy, safe, and efficient supply chain through three measures: improving admission standards, carrying out ESG audits and empowering suppliers."

He revealed that since 2022, ANTA has organized over 60 ESG-related training sessions and workshops, helping over 90% of its suppliers to improve their social responsibility and environmental data management capabilities. In addition, 50% of the group's strategic suppliers have adopted clean energy from photovoltaic panels. "Our goal is to achieve global leadership in sustainability management for ANTA Group's supply chain by 2030, with a 2.5% annual water reduction and a 5.5% annual carbon reduction for core suppliers."

 Wu said, "Sustainable development is crucial for human survival and development. We need to look at the present from the future perspective. All global companies can not only become leaders in the market but also make greater contribution to humanity in sustainable development. ANTA Group has a consumer base of over 200 million people globally. We believe that as long as we persist, we will definitely achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, making our planet greener, more beautiful, and better."

Group photo of panelists taken at the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit Side Event