Partnership Approach

When you have a well-developed approach to sustainability, as we has, engagement is rarely a one-off event: stakeholder relationships develop over time and, along the way, the nature of the dialogue changes and matures. Where there is a positive and open approach to engagement, perspectives can be shared, differences respected and, at times, new partnerships forged.

▼ Forms of engagements
Our policy towards our stakeholders is clear: we actively engage, we listen, we seek to understand their ideas and concerns and, where it is within our ability, we act. Relationship management ranges from passive to more active engagement, i.e. from informing to involving them.

▼ Policy Influence
In our Fair Play Code of Conduct and Compliance Policy, we set clear standards and requirements for interactions with governments, authorities, and public officials. In addition, we have an internal Government Affairs Policy in place that sets clear guardrails for engaging with governments, authorities, and public officials.

▼ Policy Development
As a company we support human rights and protect the environment. Therefore, our concerns over violation of human rights and negative environmental impacts, and the potential risks that these would pose to us require our close engagement with governments in Vietnam, Campodia, Taiwan. Where changes in the relevant policy areas concern us, we engage in the formal decision-making process, such as consultations, primarily through our industry associations and according to our Fair Play Code of Conduct.

▼ INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
We are also engaged in selected organizations worldwide such as national and international chambers of commerce, industry and business associations, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. These associations serve as a platform to collaborate with peers and stakeholders, monitor regulatory and economic developments, and voice policy interests. These organizations focus, amongst others, on advocating free trade, ensuring intellectual property protection, monitoring national legislation, setting sustainability-related industry standards and providing for exchange and networking.

Our membership in these associations is guided by our Association Membership Policy, Government Affairs Policy, and Compliance Policy. In addition, memberships are coordinated globally and reviewed on an annual basis.
As we are committed to transparency, we disclose all relevant memberships in the following table, including a brief description of the organization and adidas’ financial contributions to each association. In 2020, our contributions amounted to €1.2 million to all industry association. Mandatory memberships as well as fees and payments that are subject to confidentiality were not included.