BOSTON, May 22 /CSRwire/ - Ceres announced today that it is has approved Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ:DECK), a footwear and accessories company headquartered in Goleta, California, as a Ceres Network Company. Deckers manufactures footwear and accessories under the brands UGG® Australia, Teva®, Sanuk®, Ahnu®, Tsubo® and MOZO®. Companies that join Ceres commit to improve their sustainability disclosure and performance by engaging with investors, environmental and social groups and other stakeholders.
“Ceres is proud to welcome Deckers into our growing network of companies dedicated to improving their sustainability performance,” said Mindy Lubber, Ceres President. “While the company is still early on in its sustainability journey, Deckers has already made real progress on key sustainability issues including measuring the impact of its water and energy use and identifying opportunities to reduce the footprint of the products they sell. Ceres looks forward to working with Deckers to further embed sustainability across its business.”
Deckers began measuring the environmental impact of its energy use for the first time in 2010. This year the company plans to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of its first tier factories with a goal to collect energy data from over 50% of factories and key suppliers by the end of 2012. Deckers also committed to minimizing the environmental footprint of water and waste in its operations—and will complete its water footprint assessment in 2012. Moving forward, Deckers will work closely with Ceres to strategically identify priorities for reducing the footprint of its direct operations, as well as its supply chain.
To reduce the impact of its products, Deckers is now considering sustainability at the design stage. Working with other companies in the outdoor and apparel industries, the company is helping to test and further develop the Sustainable Apparel Index—an environmental assessment tool used to measure and reduce the social and environmental impacts of products. Once the tool is finalized, Deckers will use it to identify areas for improved efficiency, cost savings and reduced impact through the use of more sustainable materials.
“It’s an honor to be approved as a Ceres Network Member,” said Deckers Outdoor Corporation’s Zohar Ziv, Chief Operating Officer. “We are moving in the right direction under our commitment to our Corporate Responsibility goals, but know we can do bigger and better things toward sustainability with the support of Ceres and its member companies.”
Working with Ceres, Deckers will publish its first sustainability report using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. The company will also work with Ceres to formalize a robust stakeholder engagement program. Drawing on members of the Ceres Coalition, Ceres will work with Deckers to engage and learn from a diversity of stakeholders including investors, social and environmental groups and other key stakeholders.
About Ceres
Ceres is an advocate for sustainability leadership. Ceres mobilizes a powerful coalition of investors, companies and public interest groups to accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable business practices and solutions to build a healthy global economy. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $10 trillion.
For more information, visit http://www.ceres.org and http://www.incr.com.
About Deckers Outdoor Corporation
Deckers Outdoor Corporation is a premier lifestyle marketer that builds niche brands into global market leaders by designing and marketing innovative, functional and fashion-oriented footwear developed for both high performance outdoor activities and everyday casual lifestyle use. Teva®, Sanuk®, UGG® Australia, TSUBO®, Ahnu® and MOZO® are registered trademarks of Deckers Outdoor Corporation.