L’Oréal announces latest sustainability plan

The French firm’s chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon, announced the ‘Sharing Beauty With All’ campaign which aims to help the company achieve growth sustainably.

"L'Oreal has a strong legacy in sustainability and a thorough ambition for the future. We are proud to announce ‘Sharing Beauty With All’,​ our sustainability commitment for 2020,"​ says Agon.

“We believe consumers are at the heart of our sustainability drive and we want to reach the next billion consumers while making a positive impact on the world.”​

The announcement comes, after a number of industry experts, including L’Oréal representation, spoke about the need to better inform consumers about sustainability issues, at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit earlier this week.

“By accelerating sustainable innovation within our business, and harnessing the power of our brands to inform consumers, we will raise awareness about sustainability and encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices,"​ continues the L’Oréal chief.

Ambition​

The cosmetics giant’s business ambition is to win one billion new consumers by 2020 by means of its universalization strategy announced a few years ago, which aims to answer all the diverse beauty needs of men and women around the world.

With the latest announcement, Agon says that part of the Group's growth strategy is its commitment to produce more but with less impact and to engage consumers to make sustainable choices by offering them products that are both sustainable and desirable.

In order to achieve this, L'Oreal claims to commit itself to improving every part of its value chain, from research to operations, while sharing its growth with the communities it touches through the campaign.

Commitment​

The commitments are the result of two years of exchange with various stakeholders throughout the world, and will see L'Oreal report regularly on its progress against each goal with the help of a panel of independent assessors, chaired by Jose Maria Figueres, an authority in the world of sustainability.

The ‘Sharing Beauty With All’ takes a four pronged approach:

Innovating sustainably​ - By 2020, L’Oréal is looking to innovate so that 100% of products have an environmental or social benefit.

Producing sustainably​ - By 2020, the company wants to reduce its environmental footprint by 60% whilst bringing beauty to one billion new consumers.

Living sustainably​ - By 2020, L’Oréal promises to empower every consumer to make sustainable consumption choices while enhancing the beauty of the planet.

Developing sustainably​

a. Employees: By 2020, employees will have access to health care, social protection and training, wherever they are in the world.

b. Suppliers: By 2020, 100% of its strategic suppliers will be participating in its supplier sustainability program.