Borussia Dortmund are new signatories to the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest initiative for sustainable and responsible business management. By joining, BVB commits to the UN Global Compact's ten principles on human rights, labour standards, environmental protection and the prevention of corruption as well as the United Nations Global Compact's global sustainability goals. 

The UN Global Compact uses learning and dialogue formats to help businesses run their operations in a responsible manner and drive forward solutions to global challenges. Over 18,500 businesses and organisations across the globe have already signed up to the Global Compact. 

The German Global Compact Network (DGCN) currently comprises more than 760 member organisations - of which approximately 700 are companies, ranging from DAX to medium-sized businesses to SMEs, as well as 60 members representing civil society, academia and the public sector. "We are delighted that the diversity of our existing members has now been complemented by the addition of a football club, meaning an industry with a high public profile will be represented in the DGCN. This will certainly benefit our broad-based promotion of sustainable business management," says Marcel Engel, head of the DGCN office.

"For Borussia Dortmund, signing the ten principles of the UN Global Compact is a significant step towards focusing on the impact of our daily operations in an even more concentrated manner. There is only one planet which we can play football on," says Borussia Dortmund chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke.

The club is well-aware of its large public appeal and already uses this to bolster its social commitment, for example in anti-discrimination work and through the diverse projects undertaken by the BVB foundation "leuchte auf". Nonetheless, BVB is conscious of the fact that there are still many challenges to be met. By signing up to the UN Global Compact, BVB is joining a strong network and hopes that this will enable it to develop new approaches and benefit from a productive exchange of ideas.

The progress made in BVB's sustainable development and the reporting as part of the UN Global Compact will be published in the club's annual sustainability report.

More information on the Global Compact Network Germany and the ten principles can be accessed here.