SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE

At adidas, sustainability oversight starts at the top. The Executive Board and Supervisory Board receive regular updates from expert teams who manage the company’s material impacts, risks, and opportunities related to sustainability matters. Our central Sustainability and ESG function, reporting directly to the CEO, drives our overall sustainability strategy and target setting in collaboration with key business functions. Our Sustainability and ESG Steering Board (SSB), composed of senior leaders, ensures cross-functional coordination and the integration of sustainability across the company. Our Social & Environmental Affairs (SEA) team monitors the social and environmental compliance of our suppliers, reporting to the CEO through the General Counsel, who also serves as our Chief Human Rights Officer. This governance structure is supported by strong systems, including risk and opportunity management, internal controls, compliance management, and internal audit, ensuring responsible operations and transparent reporting.

POLICY INFLUENCE 

Our engagement with governments and parliaments around the world is guided by our principles of impartiality, transparency, and compliance. Based on principles laid out in our Compliance Policy and Charitable Giving Guidelines, adidas does not support any local, regional, or national political parties, campaigns, or candidates. We are also transparent about our political engagement. In Germany and the EU, we disclose our lobbying activities regularly in the German Lobby Register and the European Union Transparency Register, including public grants we receive from the German government and the EU. In the United States, we register our lobbying activities with the U.S. Congress on a quarterly basis, according to the U.S. Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. These disclosures are published on the official website of the U.S. House of Representatives. Our Fair Play Code of Conduct and Compliance Policy define strict guidelines for engaging 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.   

ADVOCACY

adidas actively supports human rights and environmental protection. Therefore, our concerns over violations of human rights and negative environmental impacts, and the potential risks that these would pose to adidas require our close engagement with governments in a host of different countries. adidas is also impacted by several policy areas including trade, intellectual property, and sustainability. We engage in lobbying efforts only after careful evaluation, ensuring alignment with our values. 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 engage with a selected number of organizations across the globe including 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 for 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 further disclose all relevant memberships in this table, including a brief description of the organization. In 2025, our contributions to all industry associations amounted to around € 1.7 million. Mandatory memberships as well as fees and payments that are subject to confidentiality were not included. Please see here for a list of these associations.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT IN ACTION  

The following examples illustrate how we engage with stakeholders, the challenges we address, and the impact achieved.