Amer Sports Corporate Responsibility Review 2020
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1 Amer Sports Corporate Responsibility Review 2020
2 Contents 1. Introduction and background ...............................................................................................3 2. Amer Sports Policies..............................................................................................................4 3. Products and materials .........................................................................................................4 4. Human rights .........................................................................................................................9 5. Environment ....................................................................................................................... 12 6. Social and employee matters ............................................................................................. 18 7. Anti-bribery and corruption ............................................................................................... 19 8. Ethics .................................................................................................................................. 19 9. Risks and risk management ................................................................................................ 20 10. Important events in 2020 and 2021 ................................................................................. 21
3 1. Introduction and background Amer Sports is a sporting goods company and sports lifestyle retailer with internationally recognized brands including Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Arc’teryx, Peak Performance and Suunto. The company’s apparel and footwear products as well as technically advanced sports equipment improve performance and increase customers’ enjoyment of sports and outdoor activities. Group’s business is balanced by its broad portfolio of sports and products and a presence in all major markets. In recent years, the strategic priorities of Amer Sports are focused on growth in the areas of softgoods, owned retail brand stores, e-commerce, and China business. Amer Sports’ strategy emphasizes excellence in consumer-centric product creation and enhancement of the consumer experience. Through continuous research and development, Amer Sports seeks to develop new and better sporting goods, services and experiences that appeal to both consumers and trade customers. Amer Sports aims to ensure the quality and safety of its products, make products durable while improving efficiency, and, with actions related to these areas, meet the expectations of its stakeholders and strive for continuous improvement. Amer Sports’ global operations encompass business functions from product development to product sourcing, manufacturing and outbound logistics. Reliable, efficient and timely supply chain management and operations are important elements of the Group’s strategy. Amer Sports sells its products directly to consumers through brand stores, e-commerce, and factory outlets, as well as through trade customers in sporting goods chains, specialty retailers, and mass merchants. Amer Sports and its commitment to sustainability Amer Sports is committed to sustainability and seeks to conduct its business in a sustainable manner, targeting for continuous improvement. The company follows laws and regulations in a rigorous manner. According to the company values, Amer Sports plays fair, plays by the rules, and always seeks to do the right thing. Amer Sports drives innovation, and encourages its employees to contribute in the development of new ways of working and to share best practices to promote an innovation culture. This applies to all areas of the company, and especially to sustainability. The company focuses on continuous improvement through regularly identifying areas of improvement, setting targets, implementing specific measures and monitoring its progress. Sourcing Amer Sports sources its products from suppliers around the world, and a significant proportion of suppliers are located throughout Asia. Amer Sports manufactures one third of its products itself, approximately two thirds of the production value is outsourced, and a minor percentage is produced by partially outsourced vendors. The Amer Sports Sourcing is responsible for monitoring and improving social compliance of its global suppliers, vendor qualification, product industrialization, contract management, price negotiations, procurement process, optimization, and export administration for Amer Sports Group. Amer Sports publishes the list of its finished goods suppliers at the company’s website and updates the list regularly. The complete list can be read at https://www.amersports.com/responsibility/social/supply-chain/.
4 2. Amer Sports Policies Code of conduct The Amer Sports Code of Conduct (available in 14 languages) defines the major principles of the company’s business conduct. The Amer Sports Code of Conduct outlines and sets the key ethical principles of Amer Sports Group for how all its employees must act as individuals and as a company, wherever the company operates. www.amersports.com/responsibility/guidelines-and-policies/ The content of the Code of Conduct focuses on the promises to the consumers, employees, shareholders and business partners. The Code of Conduct aspects include product safety, responsible marketing, accurate and transparent information, safe, fair and healthy workplace for employees, environment, antitrust and competition law, conflicts of interest, anti-corruption and bribery, privacy, financial reporting, protection of confidential information, and compliance with all laws and regulations. In addition to the Amer Sports Code of Conduct which applies to all its employees, Amer Sports expects its sourcing partners to respect human rights in the spirit of internationally recognized social and ethical standards, including the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Standards and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Other policies Amer Sports has several other policies that focus on certain areas, such as Material Compliance Policy, which is introduced in more details in the Products and Materials section below, and Ethical Policy of which the content is outlined in the section of Human Rights in this review. 3. Products and materials Amer Sports is committed to international, regional and country-specific laws and regulations that limit the chemical contents of the materials used in the Amer Sports’ products. The company is also proactively protecting the environment and consumers’ health. Material Compliance Policy In 2019, Amer Sports created the Material Compliance Policy (MCP). Its key purpose is to manage the chemical composition and ethical sourcing of materials used in the products of its brands, and the chemical impacts in product manufacturing. The MCP explains the company’s expectations and requirements for materials, as well as acceptable verification methods that Amer Sports imposes to its suppliers. The MCP is valid for all Amer Sports brands and product categories. The content of the MCP includes Restricted Substance List (RSL), Testing and Certification Requirements and Ethical Sourcing Requirements in addition to Chemicals Management. The RSL contained in the MCP applies to all Amer Sports brands, products and product categories, except for Apparel & Gear, as it is a bluesign® system partner which relies on bluesign® system, including the bluesign® RSL. Bluesign® is a holistic system that provides solutions in sustainable processing and manufacturing to industries and brands. Amer Sports updates the MCP regularly, and the most recent update in 2021 includes a simplified RSL structure for product categories other than Apparel & Gear, added requirements regarding sandblasting and nano-
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technology to Ethical Sourcing Requirements for Apparel & Gear products, updated penalty provisions for non-
compliant materials, and clarified REACH certification.
In 2020, Peak Performance has been integrated in the Amer Sports MCP.
The complete Material Compliance Policy document is available at
https://www.amersports.com/responsibility/products-and-customers/.
Practical examples on sustainable development
Amer Sports and its brand companies are actively searching for new and more sustainable solutions for
materials and substances used in products. For instance, Amer Sports and its brands have voluntarily restricted
or phased out the use of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and are continuously seeking more sustainable
options.
Example: Arc’teryx
Arc’teryx cooperates with the University of British Columbia to research alternatives to PFCs, which are used in
outdoor fabrics to repel oil and water. This research aims to create more sustainable and non-toxic
replacement for traditional water-repellent chemistry and great progress has been made towards creating one
of the world’s first non-toxic oil and water-repellent performance textile finishes.
In August 2020, Arc’teryx co-published a research in the journal of Nature Sustainability, detailing a
breakthrough with regards to oil- and water-repellant textiles:
https://newsroom.arcteryx.com/ubc-okanagan-helps-arcteryx-stay-green-and-dry-with-next-generation-water-
repellent-fabrics.htm
In addition to research progress, Arc’teryx Materials Team has also developed a Preferred Materials and Trims
Roadmap to guide in material developments. This Roadmap will be adopted in the production of high-volume
products creating maximum impact to the environment.
Example: Peak Performance
Peak Performance has set the goal to achieve 100% of sustainable materials by 2026, and it has the following
targets in the use for selected materials:
100% sustainable cotton
100% Responsible Standard Down (RSD)
85% share of PFC free in Durable Water Repellent (DWR) treatments
By the end of 2020, Peak Performance reached 99.7% use of sustainable cotton, 100% use of Responsible
Standard Down, and 91% share of PFC free Durable Water Repellent treatments. Peak Performance will update
the full strategy for materials by 2025, and the strategy will include new KPI’s and a roadmap with a year-by-
year plan for fibers, processes, circularity and innovation.
Example: Salomon
Salomon announced its goal to have all its footwear range PFC-free or PFC-ec-free. Starting Spring/Summer 21,
all the Salomon bags are also 100% PFC-free.
Salomon snowboards are 100% PVC-free, 100% polybag-free range starting from Fall/Winter 2020 range, and
cardboard boxes in packaging are made of 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified materials. Salomon
footwear uses LWG-certified (gold or silver) leather for its shoes. All Salomon cardboard shoe boxes are 100%6 FSC-certified materials. In Fall/Winter 2020 collection, 70% of the fabrics used by Salomon apparel range were either OEKO-TEX certified or bluesign® fabrics. Circular economy principles Amer Sports has defined its Circular Economy Principles, and these principles have been created to encourage all the brand companies to adopt circular economy practices. The Circular Economy is about closing the loop in business, for instance, by using resources in a way that ensures they are kept in circulation. This will reduce waste, increase resource productivity and help reduce environmental impacts, inline with Amer Sports environmental guidelines. As part of the Amer Sports Group’s circular economy principles, the brands are actively seeking new alternatives on how to reduce the environmental impacts of products and how they could be re-used or kept in circulation in other way. With the following concrete examples, Amer Sports' brands illustrate how these principles are put into practice. Example: Arc’teryx Arc’teryx is known for its durable and high quality products and has created a used-gear marketplace to extend the lifespan of these products. Customers can mail in or bring their used gear into any Arc’teryx brand stores across the U.S. The products are then cleaned and repaired and put back into circulation. As the Used Gear program matures, Arc’teryx anticipates extending the model to other countries. A used-gear marketplace reduces the company’s impact on the planet by keeping good products out of the landfill and in use while accelerating the company’s transition towards a circular economy. In 2020, Arc’teryx expanded its Used Gear program to include take-back online in Canada. In 2020, Arc’teryx piloted its first products built from leftover, end-of-roll materials. The success of this program has led to further products being developed and they will be launched in 2021. The products will be made from both pre-consumer waste (end-of-roll materials) as well as post-consumer waste of the jackets that are no longer usable. Example: Salomon In the end of 2019, Salomon presented Crossamphibian Swift 2, its first sustainable shoe. All the upper parts of the shoe, i.e. fabric, laces and sock liners, are made of recycled and bio-based material. Salomon has unveiled a new concept for a performance road running shoe made of just one material, allowing it to be recycled into a ski boot shell. Using the grinded small recycled shoe pieces in the creation of the ski boot extends the life of the original materials by up to 10 times. Crossamphibian Swift 2 and the concept will be cascaded into a range of products. In September 2020, Salomon announced that in Spring/Summer 2021, it will launch Salomon Index.01 running shoe, which is a fully recyclable model. Salomon will organize the take-back of the products directly from its consumers. The entire shoe could be separated in two at its end of life, the bottom unit could be grounded into tiny pieces and then used in the creation of a Salomon alpine ski boot. The upper part, made out of polyester, could be recycled into other products.
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With the new concept Salomon is able to create athletic shoes that drastically reduce the impact on the planet,
at the same time expanding the lifespan of the materials used. Most traditional footwear constructions rely on
multiple materials making it difficult to fully recycle.
Both the Amer Sports Winter Sports Equipment brands, Atomic and Salomon, continuously investigate on how
they could increase the use of recycled materials in their boot manufacturing processes. Recently, they have
developed processes to increase the use of recycled plastic in ski boot constructions. The amount of recycled
materials used in production is expected to increase.
Example: Peak Performance
In 2020, Peak Performance implemented its circular economy work in its Design, Sourcing and Production
department to align with Amer Sports’ principles. The work included workshops and meetings to raise
awareness, and an on-site workshop with Peak Performance’s tailor in Åre.
Peak Performance has mapped all its product collections for the whole season 2020, and set guidance to focus
areas of each category reflecting their status related to circular economy. The products have been classified
into three different levels according to their maturity.
Level 1: Started to explore the principles
Level 2: On the half way through
Level 3: Practicing all principles, and have a full life time plan for the product
At the end of 2020, Peak Performance started to explore on how to set up a sales forum for used products. The
launch is estimated to happen in 2021.
In 2020, Peak Performance initiated a plan to reduce the amount of product samples used for selling in,
considering this initiative from a cost and sustainability perspective. For Fall/Winter 2021 collection, Peak
Performance started a cooperation with a company that provides 3D sampling solutions.
Example: Atomic
Winter Sports Equipment (WSE) category, has started an ambitious life-cycle assessment (LCA) project of skis,
led by Atomic brand in Altenmarkt. Winter Sports Equipment category includes both the Atomic and Salomon
brands. The target is to identify the factors that cause the most significant environmental impacts in skis, and
based on the findings of the LCA, to eventually adopt them while redesigning products. The assessment
includes material flow analysis, energy demand, logistics, as well as transportation of goods, materials and
personnel. Looking forward, all product development departments will be introduced to a deeper
understanding and adopting of sustainable development aspects in the product design.
Atomic is also exploring the ski recycling project, and how to re-use or utilize the materials and different
components used in products. The project was initiated in 2020 and it will continue through 2021. Atomic has
also launched a research on how to use alternative materials for different ski parts.
Example: Wilson
In 2019, Wilson created the first performance tennis ball designed with fully recyclable packaging, Triniti.
Featuring a unique octagonal paper container, the Triniti sleeve is fully recyclable after use. The ball core
integrates a unique plastomer material that extends fresh ball feel, while STR Felt provides enhanced durability
and is 50% more flexible than the standard ball for better feel at contact. This blend of new core material and8 flexible felt allows the ball to maintain enough liveliness to exist outside of a pressurized can. In 2020, Wilson continued to sell Triniti tennis balls, and as of last month, the Triniti Club box was one of the top sellers on Wilson.com. Since 2019, Wilson and RecycleBalls have been partnering to collect, recycle and repurpose tennis balls across the United States. The Wilson/RecycleBalls partnership aims to recycle 20 million tennis balls in the U.S. over the next three years. This program will look to expand into global markets. In addition, Wilson Team Sports is also looking at ways it can integrate recycled plastics into its basketball products. In 2020, the partnership continued with RecycleBalls. The balls that were specifically collected at the Cincinnati tournament, which was held last year in New York City and the US Open, were separated, ground up and will be used to resurface courts in Cincinnati and Queens, New York, during 2021. Wilson has developed an “Eco Overcap” which uses 50% less plastic on the cap of a traditional tennis ball can and rolled it out across multiple models. Eco Overcap leaves a smaller footprint on the environment after it has been used. Wilson Tennis launched in 2021 limited-edition Naked Series Rackets, which are paint and dye Free with zero waste of packaging. Biodegradable algae-based "plastic" is used on each racket's bumpers, grommets and buttcaps. Example: Suunto Suunto has explored alternatives to prolong the lifespan of its products, and to provide a new way to maximize utilization of its products. In October 2019, Suunto started an initiative in which refurbished products have been made available at Suunto.com. In 2020, Suunto expanded its refurbishment initiative to a broader range of products, as well as scaled it up significantly in volume. Additionally, Suunto successfully mapped and utilized alternatives for recirculating various kinds of trade channel returns both internally and externally. These activities had positive impact by noticeably decreasing the amount of unnecessary scrapping. Suunto also successfully continued its tradition in prolonging product lifespan for customers’ products in the field by prioritizing repairs over replacements in warranty and out-of-warranty repair services – in 2020 a significant majority of consumer returns were repaired.
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4. Human rights
The Amer Sports Ethical Policy sets out the core values of the sourcing operations. The company expects its
suppliers to operate according to the principles in its Ethical Policy, which is embedded into the supplier
agreement and signed by suppliers confirming their compliance with the Policy.
Ethical Policy
The Amer Sports Ethical Policy sets out the social and environmental fundamentals for the Amer Sports supply
chain. The Ethical Policy, being an integral part of Amer Sports’ responsible operations strategy, is based on the
company’s commitment to human rights in the spirit of internationally recognized social and ethical standards
including ILO Standards and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This holds true
especially for women, children and migrant employees. Amer Sports shares this commitment within its entire
supply chain to treat employees with respect and dignity.
The Amer Sports Ethical Policy is aligned with the Fair Labor Association’s Code of Conduct which includes but
is not limited to the following issues: legal compliance and monitoring, child labor, forced labor, harassment
and abuse, discrimination, working hours and compensation, health and safety, environmental and chemical
safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, communication to employees. The Ethical Policy also
requires that employers do not engage in the giving or receiving, directly or indirectly, of bribes, kickbacks,
other illicit payments or improper benefits intended to achieve business advantage or financial gain. The
Ethical Policy is available in 29 languages.
In addition to the Ethical Policy, Amer Sports has established an Ethical Policy Implementation Guide, which
provides suppliers with detailed guidance on how Amer Sports implements its supplier monitoring program.
The program ensures suppliers to comply with the social labor standards in the Ethical Policy throughout the
supplier management cycle. This program applies to Amer Sports internal manufacturing facilities alike.
Under the program, the existing and new suppliers of Amer Sports brands, as well as Amer Sports’ own
manufacturing facilities, are audited by a third-party audit company. More details as below:
The Amer Sports Vendor Sustainability team provides training to suppliers on social labor standards
defined in the Amer Sports Ethical Policy and the audit procedures. This is part of the vendor
onboarding process.
New suppliers are audited to ensure that minimum requirements are met before orders can be placed.
Existing suppliers are subject to regular third-party audits to ensure the suppliers’ compliance with
labor regulations, industry standards, and health and safety practices in workplaces.
If improvement opportunities/needs are identified in an audit, suppliers conduct a root cause analysis
and develop a corrective action plan to address the findings. The audit findings are categorized into
different risk levels indicating the priorities of the corrective actions to be taken. Re-audits are required
to verify the improvements depending on the severity of improvement opportunities.
In case of systemic issues, Amer Sports also collaborates with stakeholders including industry peers in
developing joint capacity building programs to support vendors for systematic remediation and
continuous improvement. For example, Amer Sports has commissioned independent workers’ surveys10
on selected labor issues at factories, and worked together with the factories for improvements.
Amer Sports implements a social labor scoring system to track the performance of the suppliers. The
scores are part of both strategic vendor development plans and the regular monthly performance
review cycles.
Product compliance and environmental sustainability have been added to the responsibilities of the Vendor
Sustainability department within Amer Sports Operations in order to provide holistic support to sustainability.
Cooperation with organizations
To strengthen its commitment and further improve its monitoring programs as well as its suppliers’
performance, Amer Sports is an active member in several non-governmental organizations.
Fair Labor Association – FLA
Amer Sports has been a member of the internationally recognized Fair Labor Association (FLA) as a
Participating Company since June 2020. Through the FLA membership, Amer Sports has access to supports
from FLA to improve its social labor program. Amer Sports’ finished goods suppliers are subject to External
Independent Assessments by FLA’s Sustainable Compliance Methodology (SCI) every year. Amer Sports pursues
the accreditation by FLA by implementing FLA’s Principles of Fair Labor and Responsible Sourcing including
reinforcing its social compliance and monitoring program according to FLA’s Code of Conduct and benchmarks.
Amer Sports is also assessed regularly against these principles. Membership with FLA demonstrates the
company’s commitment to uphold human rights in its global supply chain, as it is one of the most rigorous
social and labor programs in the industry to protect workers' rights globally driving long-term improvements
through training and education, worker engagement, and integration into sourcing practices.
Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Amer Sports has been a full member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) since 2018 and a signatory of
Social Labor Convergence Project (SLCP), which is a multi-stakeholder project aiming to improve labor
conditions in the apparel and footwear industry.
Better Work – Better Factory Cambodia
Amer Sports collaborates with Better Work, an ILO program, in different capacity building activities for our
vendors. The collaboration includes the Better Factory Cambodia initiative. Additionally, it provides access to
Better Work’s working conditions assessment reports and coaching and training plans, and facilitates
monitoring of the improvement progress done by Better Work at facilities.
Fair Trade
In 2020, Arc’teryx committed to transition 80% of products to be Fair Trade CertifiedTM by 2025, in an effort to
improve working conditions everywhere it manufactures products. Products that are Fair Trade Certified
provide customers with the assurance that worker rights, their health and safety, are being protected.
Additionally, Fair Trade premiums are used to form a worker-controlled fund which the workers can collectively
apply to secure tangible benefits in their own lives. Arc’teryx has begun its fair trade journey by converting
three manufacturing facilities in Vietnam to be Fair Trade certified in 2021.11 Call to Action – ILO Through Amer Sports, Arc’teryx signed ILO Call to Action, and contributed 50,000 USD to directly support garment workers’ short-term needs in Bangladesh via the AWAJ Foundation, a grassroots labor rights non- governmental organization with over 600,000 worker members across Bangladesh. Amer Sports has several KPIs to track how social and labor compliance audits have improved its suppliers’ performance related to human rights, working conditions, and prohibition of corruption and bribery over years. Progress in the selected KPIs is tracked on a continuous basis. Key Performance Indicators Suppliers' employees in audited factories 2020 2019 2018* Suppliers' employees in audited factories 162,128 168,854 161,458 Number of countries where suppliers' employees in audited factories are located 19 21 22 Suppliers covered by Supplier Code of Conduct (%)* 2020 2019 2018* Purchase value from suppliers who signed the supplier Code of Conduct 96 96 96 Audits 2020 2019 2018* Factories audited 132** 156 153 Audit visits by external third-party 146 133 127 Remediation visits by Amer Sports' Corporate Responsibility team 51*** 50 52 Breakdown of audit findings (%) 2020 2019 2018* Monitoring & documentation 5 5 5 Human rights 1 2 3 Compensation & benefits 7 9 11 Working hours 14 13 14 Fire safety 22 21 17 Operation & machine safety 37 37 38 Environmental & chemical safety 14 13 12 Audited purchasing volume (%) 2020 2019 2018* Audited purchasing volume of purchase turnover forecast 96 96 96 Breakdown of supplier turnover by country risk (%) 2020 2019 2018* High risk countries (of total supplier turnover) 98 96 96 Low risk countries (of total supplier turnover) 2 4 4 * Peak Performance suppliers included from July 1, 2018 onwards. ** Number of audited factories decreased because of Precor divestment.
12 ***The figure includes both on-site and virtual reviews/coaching, conducted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and worldwide travel restrictions. 5. Environment Amer Sports is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its products and operations through the use of methods which are responsible and economically sound. Amer Sports strives to continuously improve its performance and assess the environmental impacts of its decisions. To guide its Group-wide actions, Amer Sports has created its Environmental Guidelines to outline the commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its operations. Amer Sports brands and categories have made many commitments and achieved certificates to manage and reduce their environmental impact. Some examples as follows: Example: Salomon Salomon has ISO 14001 environmental certification and ISO 50001 certification for the energy management system in the Design Center in Annecy, France. The ISO 50001 standard supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently. In September 2020, Salomon successfully renewed its ISO 14001 environmental management certification and ISO 50001 energy management certification for its headquarters, the Annecy Design Center. Ensuring employment for Annecy area, a local production has been a longtime goal for Salomon. The company has recently established a partnership with a local textile production company. The two companies will cooperate on the construction of an advanced shoe factory, a new footwear manufacturing facility in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France with the goal of designing, building and operating a smart factory. Example: Peak Performance Peak Performance is also a founding member of Swedish Textile Initiative for Climate Action (STICA), which measures its greenhouse gas impacts in scope 1, 2, 3 and communicates them for a total of 45 Nordic brands. STICA is working to reduce environmental impacts and achieve Science Based Targets and the Paris Agreement. Peak Performance is a member of STICA and its Steering Committee, and two working groups, dedicating to Materials and User Phase. To reduce waste, Peak Performance has launched a project to explore in its supply chain on how to reduce its packaging used in transportation. The actions include doing a research on introducing recycled polybags, changing methods of folding clothes to reduce the amount of polybags, and conducting a survey for all Peak Performance stores to have more insight into the practices, in order to improve the waste handling. Packaging Material – in store and e-com: During fall 2020, Peak Performance started a project to change its point of sales (POS) packaging to serve renewed brand image better, and to have a focus also on sustainability with the key words of circularity, sustainable and long lasting material, which allows repeated use and provides efficiency. The project will be finalized during spring 2021. Peak Performance publishes its sustainability report, available at www.peakperformance.com. Example: Suunto Suunto has ISO 14001 environmental certification for its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Finland, Vantaa. The ISO 14001 standard provides a practical tool to manage environmental performance and it is based
13 on the principle of continuous improvement of environmental performance by monitoring and controlling the impacts linked to the company’s activities. Example: Winter Sports Equipment Amer Sports Winter Sports Equipment manufacturing facility in Altenmarkt has several ongoing projects to increase energy efficiency in its processes, such as efficient vacuum pumps, environmentally friendly compressors, and waste water treatment. The facility has received several environmental awards for its advanced ways to manage its operations. It applies innovative measures on reducing its carbon footprint by increasing the recycling of waste. For instance, the heating energy for the ski factory comes solely from biomass, and the electrical power consumption of the plant has been 100% renewable for many years. Every year, the Altenmarkt factory actively works towards finding new ways to reduce waste or the use of energy. Winter Sports Equipment category includes both the Atomic and Salomon brands. In 2020, Altenmarkt started implementation of LED lighting in its production areas, and the implementation will be finished in 2021. Climate actions Amer Sports conducts its corporate-wide carbon footprint assessment annually. The company participates in the Carbon Disclosure Program (CDP) in order to manage the company’s carbon emission sources, to reduce emissions and improve efficiency across building energy use, travel emissions, waste production, and other environmental metrics. United Nation’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action Amer Sports’ largest apparel brands, Arc’teryx, Salomon and Peak Performance, are signatories of the United Nation’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action (FICCA), and are committed to the science-based targets to reduce emissions as defined in the Charter. As part of the Charter, the fashion industry stakeholders have a role to play in reducing climate emissions resulting from their operations, with an awareness that the majority of climate impact within the industry lies in manufacturing of products and materials. As members of the Charter, Amer Sports’ Apparel brands have started tracking the data and finding ways to improve how they measure and reduce scope 3 emissions. Amer Sports’ Apparel brands are active members in the UN Fashion Industry Charter’s working groups, e.g. Raw Material, Logistics, Manufacturing/Energy and Promoting Broader Climate action. In 2020, the FICCA selected CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) for its partner to reporting externally about the progress in the GHG reductions. Example: Arc’teryx Arc’teryx is committed to Science-Based Targets since Earth Day 2020. The commitment means that Arc’teryx will reduce its absolute scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions 65% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. This refers to reducing emissions at in Arc’teryx’ headquarters, Canadian production facility, and its global retail stores. Arc’teryx’s commitment to Science-Based targets also includes reduction of scope 3 GHG emissions by 65%. This means reducing the carbon emissions per unit of value added to its business value chain, including all the carbon emissions related to all of the company’s materials, products, factories, mills, shipping, and distribution centers. In 2019, Arc’teryx began to use 100% renewable energy for all of its owned operations, including all retail stores. For 2020, this was done via the Renewable Energy Credit mechanism.
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In a statement jointly issued by the Science Based Targets Initiative, the UN Global Compact and the We Mean
Business coalition, Arc’teryx joined in with 155 major multinational companies to call for policy that pairs
recovery with ambitious climate action.
Example: Peak Performance
Peak Performance has calculated its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and the related impacts of Purchased
Goods by mapping all used materials for 2020. Peak Performance uses the Higg MSI tool to calculate the CO2
emissions and water consumption of its suppliers. This work supports Peak Performance’s target to reduce its
scope 3 emissions in its supply chain.
Example: Salomon
In August 2020, Salomon committed to the Science Based Targets, and has plans to validate and set its carbon
targets during 2021.
Salomon has taken several actions to reduce its emissions in own operations, and mitigate climate impacts. For
example, the company organized the Salomon Sustainability Week, and announced its de-carbonization plan
for its headquarters, the Annecy Design Center (ADC). The target of the de-carbonization plan is that the ADC
GHG will become carbon neutral by the end of 2021. The plan includes the following actions:
Use 100% renewable electricity from 2022 onwards
Install solar panels (92MW/year) on the parking lots by 2022
New boiler and heat exchanger installed in ADC 2020
Switch to a low-carbon emission vehicle fleet and reduction of our carbon-intensive business travels by
2025.
Higg Index and the Facility Environmental Module
As a full member of the SAC, Amer Sports tracks the reduction of the environmental impact of its supplier
factories using the Higg Facility and Environmental Module (FEM). The tracking already started in the softgoods
area, and is planned to be extended gradually to hardgoods wherever possible. Additionally, Arc’teryx, Peak
Performance and Salomon also employ the Higg Brand Module to measure their environmental impact and the
Higg Product Module to assess the environmental footprint of materials.
The Higg FEM is a tool to measure the environmental performance of vendors including Environmental
Management System, energy, water use, wastewater, air emissions, waste, and chemical management. For
instance, Amer Sports Apparel and Footwear category uses the Higg FEM as a tool to engage and build capacity
with suppliers in order to enable environmental improvements.
As another example, Salomon Footwear is actively collaborating with the SAC on Higg Product Module (PM)
tool to assess sustainability impacts of a product throughout its lifecycle. In 2020, the focus was on the
Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) tool, which defines the environmental impact of each material in order to
have a common standard of material quotation method for Tier 2 suppliers.
Almost all the Amer Sports Apparel and Footwear category finished goods vendors and more than half of Amer
Sports Apparel and Footwear material suppliers have completed the Higg FEM 2019 cadence in 2020.15 Clean by Design and Clean Energy Investment Accelerator Amer Sports Apparel and Footwear category has provided training workshops for both finished goods vendors and material suppliers since 2016. The Supplier Environmental Management program was initiated in 2019 with Amer Sports Apparel and Footwear category’s material suppliers, and a pilot energy efficiency projects in partnership with Clean By Design started in 2019. In 2020, Arc’teryx completed Clean by Design energy & water efficiency project with a fabric supplier. It was a pilot to explore learnings about energy and water efficiency, and the results will be used to scale for 2021 into a broader programming for the Arc’teryx’ mill partners. Clean By Design is an innovative program with a target to reduce the environmental impacts. In order to reduce GHG emissions in the supply chain, Arc’teryx and Peak Performance have worked together with Lululemon and invited five suppliers to a joint project to implement solar panels in their manufacturing facilities. The project is managed using the Clean Energy Investment Accelerator’s (CEIA) model, which brings together large commercial and industrial users to scale clean energy solutions to transform key emerging markets. CEIA is an innovative public-private partnership focusing on improving opportunities for corporate clean energy purchasing. The goal of the initiative is to achieve a cost-effective, operationally-safe rooftop solar solution for at least one supplier factory each in Vietnam, with the support of CEIA and the participating companies’. Each participating supplier will leverage the aggregated approach to secure better pricing and contractual terms. Amer Sports measures its performance in environmental impacts with key performance indicators, and aims to continuously reduce the environmental impacts of its operations. Progress in the selected KPIs is tracked by providing examples annually.
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Key Performance Indicators
Energy consumption (kWh) 2020 2019* 2018*
Direct energy consumption
Fuels 46,080 208,427 785,413
Natural gas 33,861,489 52,399,749 41,067,497
Indirect energy consumption
Electricity 64,416,769 77,030,312 60,655,863
District heating and cooling*** 10,725,545 8,492,042 8,276,116
Total energy consumption (kWh) 109,049,884 138,130,530 110,784,889
Total non-renewable energy 84,331,580 122,786,695 94,563,896
Total renewable energy 24,718,304 15,343,835 16,220,993
% of renewable energy 22.7% 11.1% 14.6%
Change in total consumption (%) -21.1% 24.7% 4.1%
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
Scope 1 8,715 12,286 14,991
Scope 2 21,923 27,390 18,651
Scope 3 6,174 16,443** 12,497
Total GHG emissions (tCO2e) 36,812 56,120 46,139
Net sales (mEUR) 2,206.4 2,508.6 2,791.2
Intensity (tCO2e/mEUR) 16.7 22.4 16.5
Waste (t) 2020 2019 2018
Recycling and reuse 3,209 4,583 5,942
Composting (incl. anaerobic digestion) 27 57 64
Incineration 1,983 2,732 1,093
Landfill* 1,877 4,165 3,761
Total amount of waste 7,092 11,538 10,860
Waste recycled or reused (%) 45% 40% 55%
Water (l) 2020^ 2019 2018
Total volume of water used 95,074 117,629 97,694
* Minor corrections were made as more accurate data became available.
** Figures include 2,777 tCO2e from logistics.
*** District heating includes heating from biomass.
^ Water supply was estimated for all sites across the Group; figures for prior
reporting years' water use figures were derived from actual activity data only.
Net Sales 2020 refers to the continuing operations (excluding Fitness and Cycling).
Net sales 2019 refers to the continuing operations (excl. Fitness and Cycling) and is pro forma covering the
period of January-December 2019.
Environmental figures are also revised to exclude Precor (2020: 9'765 tCO2e).17
Net sales 2018 refers to the continuing operations (excl. Cycling) and is pro forma covering the period of
January-December 2018.
A similar methodology to previous years was used to extrapolate figures where data was relevant but
missing. Data from the previous year was scaled according to new 2020 KPIs (floor area and full-time
employees), or group-level averages for similar sites and countries.
Energy figures included the renewable energy purchases for Arc’teryx, which were not reported under
the FY2019 assessment. This contributed to the 11.6% increase in group-wide renewable energy
consumption. Furthermore, district cooling was added to Amer Sports Headquarters for 2020 and
retroactively for 2019.
Travel data was not extrapolated for the year 2020 assessment. The FY2020 was largely different from
other reporting years due to the travel restrictions from the Covid-19 global pandemic. Unreported
travel data was not extrapolated from the previous year on this basis. Emissions from flights in 2020
(3,427 tCO2e) were reduced by 69.4% from FY2019 levels (11,184 tCO2e).
Waste emissions factors for 2020 have increased in intensity compared to the 2019 assessment. This
resulted in an increase of 221% in waste emissions, despite the actual reduction of 2,890 metric tons
(25%) of waste between the years 2019 - 2020.
About the boundaries and GHG methodology
For the GHG emissions assessment Amer Sports’ has consolidated all the sites using operational control
principle. This means that all the entities and facilities under operational control of Amer Sports or its brand
companies were included in the assessment.
Emissions calculation methodology is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and
Reporting Standard (Revised edition, 2004) and ISO 14064-1 (2006).
In the assessment the materiality threshold of 5% was used for Scope 1 and 2. All emissions >1% were included.
The Scope 3 assessment was expanded in 2020 to include other emissions from the supply chain. Due to
ongoing collection of data for the new categories and for strategic benchmarking against 2019, the expanded
emissions are not included in this report. However, reported Scope 3 emissions are assumed to contain 2% of
total emissions when including the expansion. The environmental data in the assessment has not been
externally assured.
In the assessment the used emissions factor data sources are:
International Energy Agency (IEA), OECD/IEA (2020), European Energy Agency 2020, BEIS UK Government
conversion factors for Company Reporting (2020), and the region-specific emissions factors.18 6. Social and employee matters Amer Sports’ People Strategy aims to ensure sustainable business success, and it is aligned with the Group strategy, business initiatives, and selected focus areas. People Vision defines passion and professionalism as sources for great performance and productive engagement. Amer Sports is committed to providing opportunities for continuous development and learning for all its employees since passionate and capable people perform and excel. The company evaluates and develops the company’s strategic capability areas systematically in order to drive organizational and personal growth and effectiveness. Amer Sports has a Strategy, Structure and Capability Review practice in place in all its entities to ensure alignment between company strategy and their structure, people and culture. The long-standing aim is to enable resource fluidity through agile resource management actions as well as to increase transparency for future capability and resourcing needs. High-performance culture is enforced through coaching dialogue and motivational pay and performance management processes. Amer Sports cascades its vision and strategy to organizational levels through our performance management process called Coaching for Success. This process provides employees with the opportunity to have a one-to-one performance and development discussion with the manager / team lead and encourages an ongoing feedback dialogue. In 2020, the Coaching for Success completion rate was 82% of total workforce. Amer Sports continuously aims to improve its Coaching for Success quality and completion and to have all Amer Sports employees covered in the global Human Resources performance process. Talent engagement and retention is enabled through systematic talent management and succession planning practices. 2020 brought unprecedented challenges due to the global pandemic. The safety and well-being of the company’s employees were a top priority and adjustments were made to our working arrangements. This resulted in enhanced ‘Work-from-Home-Guidance’, comprehensive workplace safety interventions and appropriate Travel restrictions. As of December 31, 2020, the total number of employees was 8,887 of which 59 % were men, and 41% women. The global Covid-19 pandemic has created health challenges to all companies during 2020. Amer Sports has addressed contingency and resilience plans as well as granting protection of employees and workplace safety since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company has closely monitored the global and local public health situation. Amer Sports has set global policies and all locations have defined clear accountabilities and with flexibility to adjust to local authorities’ guidance. Swift measures were taken in early 2020, including company-wide work-from-home instructions, providing face masks and disinfectant for employees, extra cleaning services in company premises, and instructing both employees and customers on their safety. Amer Sports personnel adapted to extensive use of remote ways, with good flexibility on working from home when suitable.
19
Example: Salomon
In 2020, Salomon launched its awareness campaign around women in sports and the outdoors, called WMN
campaign (WMN = women) for the 4th time. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness and break
stereotypes around women and outdoor practices.
Key Performance Indicators
By gender 2020 % 2019 % 2018 %
Male 5,243 58.9 5,849 59.1 5,778 59.5
Female 3,644 41.1 4,049 40.9 3,930 40.5
Personnel at year end 8,887 9,898 9,708
Turnover of
employees 2020 2019 2018
Terminations total* 1,364 1,344 1,201
% 15 14 12
* Excluding operative employee types and excluding end of fixed term contract terminations
7. Anti-bribery and corruption
As defined in the Amer Sports Code of Conduct, the company has zero tolerance for fraud, bribery, and
corruption in any form. Amer Sports and its employees do not engage in the giving or receiving, directly or
indirectly, of bribes, kickbacks, other illicit payments or improper benefits intended to achieve business
advantage or financial gain. The zero tolerance approach applies to transactions made directly or through a
third parties, such as agents.
The Amer Sports Ethical Policy also requires that employers do not engage in the giving or receiving, directly or
indirectly, of bribes, kickbacks, or any other illicit payments or improper benefits intended to achieve business
advantage or financial gain. Situations that involve a conflict or the appearance of a conflict between duty to
Employers and personal interest must be avoided.
8. Ethics
The Amer Sports Code of Conduct defines the major principles of the company’s business conduct. Success in
competition requires determination to win, team spirit, fair play and innovation, and these values guide the
company’s operations around the world. Every Amer Sports employee is responsible for his or her own
behavior, acting with integrity, and observing the highest standards of business ethics.
To familiarize and understand the content of the Code of Conduct and also to ensure awareness of anti-
corruption and bribery, Amer Sports has established an e-learning test, which is part of the onboarding20 process, and all new employees are asked to take the Code of Conduct e-learning test. The Code of Conduct e- learning test covers product safety, responsible marketing, accurate and transparent information, safe, fair and healthy workplace for employees, environment, antitrust and competition law, conflicts of interest, anti- corruption, as well as bribery, privacy, financial reporting, protection of confidential information, and compliance with all laws and regulations. In 2020, Amer Sports established a working group to renew the e- learning test and to prepare to confirm a process to track the annual % of the Code of Conduct completion coverage and ongoing communications of the key areas of the Code of Conduct and ethical questions. The Code of Conduct is available in 14 languages. Amer Sports is committed to maintaining a speak-up culture by promoting an open and trusting discussion with employees at all levels. Employees can ask any questions related to the Code of Conduct and raise concerns to their line manager, their Human Resources Business Partner, legal or internal audit functions or through the Amer Sports’ confidential and anonymous reporting line. Amer Sports has an external feedback channel for supplier employees and an internal ethics and compliance reporting system to own employees, called WhistleB. This allows anonymous reports through an external ethics and compliance channel. 9. Risks and risk management The Board of Directors approves and endorses the company’s Risk Management Policy that defines the objectives, principles, processes and responsibilities concerning risk management at Amer Sports. The Board of Directors and the Audit Committee review the Policy annually and ensure that risk management activities are aligned with the Policy. The Risk Assessment is performed by Business Units and Group Functions, and includes Financial, Operational, Compliance, and Strategic risks. Specific risk categories cover Governance, the Code of Conduct, and Regulatory type of risks, such as corporate social responsibility risks, health, safety and environmental risks. The risk management process includes risk identification, assessment, control, communication, and monitoring. Risks are reviewed and assessed annually by the Executive Board, which also conducts an annual risk management mapping and assessment at Group level. Risk reporting is integrated into the annual meeting cycle of the Board of Directors and the review is reported annually to the Audit Committee. Risk reporting is also integrated into the monthly operational, strategic and functional reviews. When assessing relevant risks, both the financial impact and the probability for the risk to occur are assessed to give guidance in the final risk ranking. When deciding on the final prioritization, also possible mitigating actions are considered.
21 10. Important events in 2020 and 2021 In 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns caused unexpected and severe shocks in the global economy which Amer Sports was not immune to. With several decisive measures, the Group ensured the safety of its employees and safeguarded the company’s liquidity and satisfactory results. On a positive note, the Group succeeded to accelerate its online business significantly during the year, and own retail returned to growth in the second half of the year. During the pandemic, the Amer Sports Group was able to ensure the safety of its employees and partners, and with several decisive measures also safeguarded the company’s liquidity with satisfactory results. The circular economy principles that Amer Sports has embedded in the company are also relevant in the COVID-19 pandemic period. Arc’teryx responded to local needs by producing surgical gowns together with local health authorities, as the call for medical gowns came directly from the local community. After 10 days of collaborating with local health authorities and a few key neighboring manufacturing and design partners, the collaborating group introduced a prototype and developed a reusable medical gown to address the shortage of medical gowns due to Covid-19 pandemic. Salomon supported local communities in the Covid-19 pandemic crisis by manufacturing masks in its own workshop in the Annecy design center. Salomon also donated Reelax shoes for the healthcare professionals in local hospitals. Salomon launched a limited Golden Trail Series Edition, whose revenues were partially donated to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Wilson engineers helped the true frontline fighters: medical professionals. Wilson team created several aerosol boxes for doctors and nurses to use when intubating people with severe cases of COVID-19. The team has delivered dozens of aerosol boxes to hospitals in Chicago, across Illinois and some in Indiana. These aerosol boxes act as an extra protective barrier and can help save healthcare workers' lives. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Arc’teryx remain committed to responsible sourcing practices by paying full price for goods in transit or in production, took responsibility for excess raw materials, and worked closely with its manufacturing partners. At the end of 2020 Amer Sports announced the sale of the shares and related Fitness business of Precor to Peloton, a US-based leading interactive fitness platform. The sale of shares and the related Fitness business of Precor was agreed on December 21, 2020 and the transaction was completed during spring 2021.
22 Statement of non-financial information and Modern Slavery Act statement signatures Helsinki, Finland, July 27, 2021 Amer Sports Corporation Huang Andrew Chih-Chun Tao Tak Yan Dennis Jussi Siitonen
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