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DECATHLON signs the European union's Sustainable Consumption Pledge

This"pledge" is a new initiative aimed at encouraging "greener" buying habits.

Since Decathlon's foundation, our mission has always been to make sport accessible to everyone, enabling people to enjoy all the benefits that sport and exercise bring. As the world's largest sporting goods company, with over 100.000 teammates present in 70 countries, we take our responsibility to both People and the Planet very seriously.

As a global designer, manufacturer, and retailer of diverse products including textiles, footwear, and equipment (e.g. treadmills, kayaks, bikes) we have a significant role to play in ensuring the products we place on the market have minimal impact on the environment. To do this we have introduced the concept of shaping and supporting the development of a regenerative economy within our business strategy and corporate vision. We share the objectives and ambitions of the EU Green Deal and fully support the European Commission in demanding that products sold on the European market adhere to increasingly rigorous sustainability criteria. Because of this belief and actions, we wanted to participate in the Green Consumption Pledge (now known as the 'Sustainable Consumption Pledge') .

Pledge #1 - Decarbonise our business in line with the Paris Climate Agreement

We have built a climate strategy and decarbonisation trajectory compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement and aligned with the Net Zero Standard recommended by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi). 

DECATHLON's sustainable development objectives
Overall Net-Zero Target: DECATHLON is committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050.
(This means that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to as close to zero as possible, with the remaining emissions in the atmosphere being reabsorbed, for example by the oceans and forests. Precisely, for DECATHLON, when we use the term Net Zero according to SBTi, we mean that we aim for -90% absolute emissions with neutralization of residual emissions to contribute to global carbon neutrality).

Near-Term Targets: DECATHLON commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 42% by 2030 from a 2021 base year. Decathlon also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 42% within the same timeframe.

Long-Term Targets: DECATHLON commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2021 base year. DECATHLON also commits to reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 90% within the same timeframe.

To achieve this goal, DECATHLON is: - decarbonising the company's activities across the end-to-end business
- optimising our product offer and designing products that last - scaling up circular business models, including Second Life, Repair, Rental, etc.

Pledge #2 - Promote circular initiatives

Becoming a circular business is a key element of our business strategy and a topic we have worked on for years. We believe in a world without waste, where a backpack or a bike's journey should continue once you no longer need it or if it becomes damaged. DECATHLON currently offers several solutions to extend the lifespan of our products.

Repair

For over 40 years, DECATHLON's Workshops have been available at a regional level and in stores, supporting the repair and maintenance of sports equipment. As part of our circularity strategy, we have increased the number of workshops across the European Union. We've also got a whole website dedicated to workshop services.
ln addition to our repair service, we want to ensure our customers have access to the right tools and training needed to undertake simple DIY repairs at home or wherever they play sports.

This is why we plan to increase tutorials, the availability of compatible spare parts, the availability of user manuals, and additional technical information.

ln 2021, we developed a repairability score method, inspired by the French model (based on the AGEC law) which can now be replicated for all product categories. Decathlon established four criteria to define a product's repair potential:
1. Documentation is accessible;
2. Replacement parts are available;
3. The product can be disassembled;
4. The repair cost is at least 30% lower than the price of a brand-new product.

Our ambition is to increase the number of products evaluated by this repairability index from 0% in 2021 to:
3% of turnover in 2021 to 25% in 2030
- Our 2026 best-effort target will represent 10% of our EU turnover.

This pledge represents an opportunity to make our repairability index methodology public. Hopefully, more players will get involved in the circular journey.

Buyback

ln addition, we want to give old sports equipment a new life when it is no longer needed. Our customers are encouraged to bring back their old bikes, fitness machines, or old skiing equipment and we'II buy them back. We offer a 2-year guarantee when selling these second-hand products.

We have committed to increasing the number of "buyback" products from 0 products in 2021 to:
- 2 million across Europe by 2030
- Our 2026 best-effort target is 800,000 products.

Rental

Finally, over the last year, we have been testing the application and implementation of different rentai solutions in several European Union countries (France, Belgium, Spain, ltaly, and the Netherlands) for a variety of different product types: camping equipment, trekking equipment, long term cycling bike rentai (especially adequate for children and e-bikes riders).

We are committed to expanding these tests in 3 more European countries (Poland, Portugal, and Germany), and disclosing the results in 2026 or sooner.

Decathlon will annually report the progress on the commitments made in this Sustainable Consumption Pledge, through publication on the European Commission website.

Find out more about our commitments

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Our commitment to limiting plastic pollution

With single-use plastic accounting for 60% of marine pollution, Decathlon is committed to achieving zero single-use plastic by 2026.

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Our commitments to meet the challenge of climate change

We are taking into account the reality of climate change. We work every day at reducing our impact on the environment in all our companies activities. We invite you, on this page, to understand the challenge that climate change represents, and why we are taking action to limit it.

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Biodiversity and DECATHLON

What is the link between our company and biodiversity? A lot more than you would imagine at first sight! We explain in full transparency.

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The environmental assessment of our products

You may have already noticed it on our website: our products' carbon footprint is now available. We explain what it means!