The first 50 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 operations, and organisational 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 organisation to promote inclusive development. This initiative was proposed by Action for Sustainable Businesses in China, which invited representatives from Chinese businesses to sign the initiative in support of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and showcased the Chinese business community's commitment to international responsibility.

Meanwhile, Anta Group’s executive director and co-CEO Wu Yonghua attended the official thematic side event Innovation for Industrial Sustainability 2023, sharing Anta Group's strategy, achievements, and insights for ESG. In the panel discussion of the themed forum ‘Businesses Respond to Triple Planetary Crisis’, Wu Yonghua noted that sustainable development strategy is one of Anta Group'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 organisation. Anta Group's sustainable development practice is carried out around ‘3 core’ and ‘1 high’: ‘3 core’ 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 organisations such as the United Nations Global Compact and supporting their sustainable development initiatives, the company said in a press release.

Anta Group has established a complete ESG strategic implementation system. The board of directors has created a sustainable development committee, which 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 Group achieved a revenue growth of nearly 400 per cent while reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity by over 40 per cent per RMB100 million of revenue and reducing water use by 22 per cent. 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 per cent of 160 global companies in textiles, clothing, and luxury businesses.

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

He revealed that since 2022, Anta Group has organised over 60 ESG-related training sessions and workshops, empowering over 90 per cent of its suppliers to improve their social responsibility and environmental data management capabilities. In addition, 50 per cent of the group's strategic suppliers have adopted clean energy from photovoltaic panels.

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

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)