Anta Group and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) held a signing ceremony at the Group’s operational headquarter in Xiamen, China announcing that Anta Group became WWF’s first international partner in China’s sportswear and textile industry.

As stated in a press release: “With the support and resources provided by WWF’s global network and in fulfillment of goals on sustainable development and biodiversity conservation established by the United Nations, Anta Group will start from its daily practices of environmental, social and corporate governance and collaborate with its partners to promote the transformation and development of the textile industry in water stewardship and packaging, reduce pressure on natural resources and the environment in the manufacturing process, advocate the principle of “reduce, reuse and recycle,” develop and apply degradable raw materials, jointly design sports products in accordance with sustainable development, and engage millions of consumers with the global course of biodiversity conservation.”

This partnership, subsequent to the collaboration in March 2020 on promoting “Earth Hour”, represents a significant move for Anta Group to expand its connection with WWF. Based on a three-year collaboration timeframe, both parties agreed to commit to objectives and measures as follows:

Anta Group and WWF will jointly promote the Factory Assessment and Improvement System (FAIS), develop and promote innovative solutions towards a greener textile industry. More specifically:

  • Improve industrial water and energy use, industrial waste emissions and supply chain management of at least 3,000 textile suppliers;
  • Reduce energy consumption per unit of industrial value-added by 30 percent and water consumption per unit of industrial value-added by 22.5 percent;
  • Reduce total emissions of major water pollutants (i.e. COD, ammonia and nitrogen) cumulatively by 15 percent to lessen the impact of the textile industry on the environment and scale down freshwater, climate and its ecosystem footprint.

Ding Shizhong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Anta Group, said, “Anta Group partnering with WWF, the world’s most influential environmental protection organization, to promote sustainable environmental development and biodiversity protection, manifests the responsibility and mission of Anta Group as a global corporate citizen. In the face of high uncertainty and volatility in the global environment, we must hold fast to our core values and keep our faith in a community with a shared destiny for humanity, because the sustainability of our living environment and the protection of natural resources matter greatly to every individual and every enterprise. WWF will help us adopt a global perspective and lead sustainability transformations by connecting us to relevant experts and global resources. In days to come, we will involve upstream and downstream partners, and start from ‘green’ innovation of Anta Group’s ecosystem in order to realize goals of sustainability development steadily and thrive with nature sustainably. We should adhere to the long-term strategy and devise a holistic plan on sustainable development for the following three to five years.”

Jean-Paul Paddack, Executive Director of WWF International, in a video conference, said, “We are pleased to partner with Anta Group, a world’s leading sportswear corporation, to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. We are keen to see companies make a difference and achieve transformations through actions to tackle deforestation, resolve plastic pollution, and improve water management and sustainable procurement of key materials, for instance, paper and pulp. We also look forward to inspiring key stakeholders to reverse the trend of biodiversity loss. Anta Group, the Chief Partner of Public Benefits of WWF’s ‘Earth Hour2020’ in China, has now officially become our international partner. We share the same values and have had a very pleasant experience of collaboration. We feel pleased to collaborate with Anta Group to promote the sustainable development of the global textile industry and the conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, and ultimately drive harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.”

Photo courtesy WWF