UN Global Compact

Responsible corporate governance

Lidl is committed to its corporate duty of care and the continuous improvement of social and ecological standards in its value chain. To this end, we do our best every day and have already stated this in our position paper on corporate due diligence for human rights and environmental protection when purchasing merchandise.

Lidl has been committed to a wide range of measures for many years and addresses issues in the areas of environmental and social standards as well as human rights and corruption. For example, we are involved in various initiatives to ensure living wages and environmental protection in our global supply chains and offer our employees fair and equal working conditions.

Our entry into the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) - the world's largest and most important initiative for responsible corporate governance - is intended as a supplement and orientation framework for the many and varied activities and standards of our sustainability commitment that have already been developed and implemented. For us, responsibility and sustainability are not just promises, but the binding basis of our practical actions and the key to Lidl's future success and growth.

The United Nations Global Compact

The UNGC consists of ten principles for responsible corporate governance in the areas of human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption. We see the ten principles of the UN initiative as supplementary guidelines for our extensive commitment to people and the environment that has grown over the years.

The ten principles of the UNGC

Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.
Businesses should make sure that they are not complicit in human right abuses.
Business should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
Business should uphold the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour.
Business should uphold the effective abolition of child labour.
Business should uphold the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Business should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
Business should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
Business should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Business should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

More measures

More Information

Code of Conduct

Lidl pays attention to the implementation of minimum social standards in its own company and in its relations with its business partners. On this basis, Lidl has developed its own Code of Conduct, with the aim of improving minimum social standards for its business partners in different countries. More information here.

Purchasing policies

Aware of our responsibility as a retailer, we are continuously working on improving the sustainability of our key commodities and ingredients, by approaching the environmental and social issues that are related to their production. To achieve this we have defined purchasing policies, publicly made available in this section; these guide our work. Through these policies we make purchasing choices aimed at mitigating the social and environmental impacts that occur in the supply chain of our own private labels.

Corporate principles

As an international business we are fully aware of our size and presence in the public eye. We respect cultural variety and recognise differences in values and traditions.