EU Taxonomy
Reporting scope for fiscal year 2025
In 2020, the EU introduced the EU Taxonomy Framework (‘Taxonomy’), a classification system to determine the environmental sustainability of economic activities. The Taxonomy was amended in 2023 and subsequently revised and simplified in 2025. The updated Delegated Act was adopted by the European Commission in July 2025, and by the Council and the European Parliament in January 2026. adidas has been applying the updated Delegated Act. In line with the Taxonomy requirements, we are obligated to disclose the share of our Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy-aligned turnover (net sales), capital expenditure (‘CapEx’) and operating expenses (‘OpEx’) for the following six environmental objectives:
Climate change mitigation
Climate change adaptation
Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources
Transition to a circular economy
Pollution prevention and control
Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
Determination of Taxonomy-eligible activities
Due to the adidas core business activities, i.e., the manufacturing of textiles and footwear as well as the wholesale and retail sale thereof, remaining out of the scope of the Taxonomy, we have no turnover-generating Taxonomy-eligible activities to report on for 2025. Unchanged to prior years, Taxonomy-eligible activities at adidas were identified only in connection with the environmental objective of climate change mitigation (‘CCM’). These activities are related to our climate strategy actions and form part of our own operations decarbonization lever. SEE ESRS E1 – Climate Change
With the adoption of the revised Delegated Act in January 2026, non-financial undertakings may report cumulated activities that fall below a 10% materiality threshold of the respective denominator KPI as non-material, using the simplified reporting approach. This reduces the scope of mandatory disclosure for adidas to a single activity:
CCM 7.7 Acquisition and ownership of buildings (including building leases)
Assessment of Taxonomy alignment of Taxonomy-eligible activities
Since the identified Taxonomy-eligible activities all relate to the purchase of output from potentially Taxonomy-aligned activities, the Taxonomy alignment assessment needs to be performed at the output, i.e., production level and is dependent on acquiring the relevant information from the respective third-party suppliers. Due to the expected time and resource investment necessary for assessing all individual projects and items contributing to the eligible activities, we prioritized the assessment of those individual activities that were most material in terms of value and/or were more likely to be Taxonomy-aligned due to the availability of the necessary information.
CCM 7.7: Eligible activities include the leasing of warehouses/distribution centers, own retail stores, and corporate offices. The applicable substantial contribution and ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) criteria are in connection with the primary energy demand of the analyzed building and the performance of a robust climate risk and vulnerability assessment for the building location, respectively. The substantial contribution criterion evidence that is most relevant for adidas in this regard is the existence of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) class A. Many of the eligible building leases are located outside of the EU, where this EU-centric certification is not common practice and other standards and frameworks, which are not mentioned in the Regulation, are typically used (e.g., LEED certification). In line with the generally low share of available non-residential buildings meeting these energy performance standards across our markets, only a few eligible leases in 2025 fulfill this criterion. This is particularly the case for our eligible retail leases as many retail stores are mall-based, where adidas has only very limited influence on the building design and/or (re)development. In addition, certain eligible retail lease locations are heritage sites for which it is not possible to obtain EPC class A certification. The climate risk analysis was performed on a case-by-case basis using different information sources, such as input from landlords and/or our insurance provider. In addition, the insights related to our climate resilience analysis were taken into account to perform the DNSH assessment for several eligible buildings. For the majority of the assessed building leases not all information was available for a complete and conclusive assessment exactly as per the methodology and scope prescribed by the regulation. However, several eligible lease contracts – covering a smaller warehouse in Dubai as well as multiple retail and corporate office locations across Europe – meet the substantial contribution criterion. SEE ESRS E1 – Climate change
Minimum safeguards
The minimum safeguards form part of the Taxonomy alignment criteria. Their purpose is to clarify that eligible economic activities can only be environmentally sustainable when performed in circumstances that are compliant with social norms and certain minimum governance standards. In this context, companies must implement appropriate processes and procedures to avoid negative influences on or violations of the following four specific topics: human rights (including labor rights), taxation, corruption/bribery, and fair competition.
adidas has taken a company-wide approach to meeting the minimum safeguards covering human rights, taxation, corruption/bribery, and fair competition. Our subject matter experts in the areas of social and environmental affairs, tax, and legal determined the extent to which the mentioned governance standards and policy frameworks are already embedded in existing adidas policies (e.g., adidas Human Rights Policy) and standard operating procedures (e.g., adidas Fair Play Code of Conduct), as well as in its compliance management system.
As in 2024, our assessment for the fiscal year 2025 confirmed that Taxonomy-eligible activities were performed in a manner that is fully compliant with minimum safeguards. We maintain rigorous internal policies and oversight mechanisms to ensure ongoing compliance with these standards.
More information on our compliance with the respective criteria is included in this Annual Report:
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Human rights and labor rights SEE ESRS S1 – Own Workforce See ESRS S4 – Consumers and end-users
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Taxation SEE RISK AND OPPORTUNITY REPORT
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Corruption/bribery SEE RISK AND OPPORTUNITY REPORT See ESRS G1 – Business Conduct
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Fair Competition SEE RISK AND OPPORTUNITY REPORT
Determination and reporting of Taxonomy KPIs
Turnover KPI: Turnover as per the Taxonomy (denominator of the turnover KPI) is equivalent to our net sales disclosed in the consolidated financial statements in this report. In 2025, the turnover amounts to € 24,811 million (2024: € 23,683 million). The identified eligible activities at adidas were not turnover generating, resulting in a numerator value of ’0’ and, accordingly, a turnover KPI of 0% eligible turnover. SEE INCOME STATEMENT
CapEx KPI: In comparison to the disclosed CapEx value of € 477 million in this report, the Taxonomy definition of CapEx results in a total value of € 1,158 million (denominator of the CapEx KPI) at adidas (2024: € 1,767 million). The denominator contains, in accordance with the definition of the Taxonomy and as disclosed in this report, additions to buildings, technical equipment and machinery, other equipment, furniture and fixtures, right-of-use assets, and other intangible assets, before depreciation, amortization, and remeasurements. To calculate the numerator of the CapEx KPI, we analyzed the additions in relation to the identified eligible activities as described above. In this process, we conducted several control measures, such as plausibility checks and reconciliations, to avoid double-counting of additions. In total, the corresponding numerator of the eligible CapEx KPI amounts to € 659 million (2024: € 1,243 million), resulting in a CapEx KPI of 57% eligible and 43% non-eligible CapEx. The eligible CapEx in 2025 solely relates to building leases (CCM section 7.7), which amount to € 659 million. While a total of € 79 million of eligible CapEx complies with the substantial contribution criteria, € 0 million of eligible CapEx are Taxonomy-aligned, yielding a CapEx KPI of 0% aligned CapEx (2024: 33% aligned CapEx). Other activities, like company car leases (CCM section 6.5) and energy efficiency measures (CCM section 7.3), both assessed in prior years, fall within the scope of the EU Taxonomy but are non-material for adidas due to their low CapEx contribution (8%) and are excluded from the numerator, but remain part of the denominator. SEE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AND STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
€ in millions |
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Total |
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Taxonomy-eligible |
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in % |
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Substantial contribution |
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in % |
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Taxonomy-aligned |
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in % |
|
Taxonomy-non-eligible |
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in % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CapEx |
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1,158 |
|
659 |
|
57% |
|
79 |
|
7% |
|
— |
|
—% |
|
499 |
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43% |
CCM 7.7 Acquisition and ownership of buildings (including building leases) |
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659 |
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659 |
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57% |
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79 |
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7% |
|
— |
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—% |
|
— |
|
—% |
OpEx KPI: The Taxonomy definition of ‘OpEx’ refers to expenditure for research and development, short-term leases, maintenance and repair, as well as certain other expenditure. In 2025, this amounts to € 1,062 million (denominator of the OpEx KPI) at adidas (2024: € 954 million), which compares to € 24,811 million of net sales and € 10,871 million of OpEx as per the consolidated financial statements for adidas disclosed in this report. In the context of our business model, which is the design, development, production, and marketing of a broad range of performance and sports lifestyle products, we consider the Taxonomy OpEx KPI denominator value to be insignificant. Consequently, and in line with the provisions of the regulation, we report the numerator value of our Taxonomy-eligible OpEx KPI as € 0 (2024: € 0). No further information on the alignment of eligible OpEx can be provided in this Annual Report, accordingly.
We consider the EU Taxonomy to be a potentially valuable instrument that might help us validate and adjust our sustainability ambitions over time, assuming our core business activities become eligible to contribute to the Taxonomy’s environmental objectives and a common interpretation of all aspects relevant to adidas is established. At the time of the publication of this report, it remains unclear if this will happen in the foreseeable future.
Business year 2025 |
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Breakdown by environmental objectives of taxonomy-aligned activities |
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KPI |
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Total |
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Proportion of taxonomy-eligible activities |
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Taxonomy-aligned activities |
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Proportion of taxonomy-aligned activities |
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Climate change mitigation |
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Climate change adaptation |
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Water |
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Circular economy |
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Pollution |
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Biodiversity |
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Proportion of enabling activities |
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Proportion of transitional activities |
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Not assessed activities considered non-material |
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Taxonomy-aligned activities |
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Proportion of taxonomy-aligned activities |
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€ in millions |
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in % |
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€ in millions |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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€ in millions |
|
in % |
Turnover |
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24,811 |
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—% |
|
— |
|
—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
— |
|
—% |
CapEx |
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1,158 |
|
57% |
|
— |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
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—% |
|
100% |
|
—% |
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8% |
|
576 |
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33% |
OpEx |
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1,062 |
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—% |
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— |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
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—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
|
— |
|
—% |
Reported KPI CapEx, |
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Environmental objective of taxonomy-aligned activities |
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Economic activities |
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Code |
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Taxonomy-eligible KPI |
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Taxonomy-aligned KPI |
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Taxonomy-aligned KPI |
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Climate change mitigation |
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Climate change adaptation |
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Water |
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Circular economy |
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Pollution |
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Biodiversity |
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Enabling activity |
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Transitional activity |
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Proportion of taxonomy-aligned activities |
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in % |
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€ in millions |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
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in % |
|
in % |
|
(E where applicable) |
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(T where applicable) |
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in % |
Acquisition and ownership |
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CCM 7.7 |
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57% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
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—% |
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E |
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—% |
Sum of alignment per objective |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
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|
|
|
|
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Total KPI (CapEx) |
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|
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57% |
|
— |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
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—% |
|
—% |
|
—% |
|
100% |
|
—% |
|
—% |