L'Oréal has given an initial €50m to the fund, which is known as ‘Solstice’, and is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises gain easier access to financing to make the transition to becoming more sustainable.
Via the Solstice fund, industrial suppliers, including L’Oréal partners, can access financial solutions to help them implement decarbonisation initiatives. Qualifying projects include industrial processes and supply chain, clean energy and clean transportation.
The company said that the fund is also open to further investment by institutional investors, including other corporates who aim to "support the decarbonisation of their ecosystems."
Working towards a more business sustainable model
L'Oréal Group’s CCO Antoine Vanlaeys said that the business relies on over 35,000 partner companies that are all actively working towards the fight against climate change.
“We are engaging our suppliers to move forward together,” he said, adding that he was “convinced that the creation of this fund will allow us to collectively accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable and responsible model.”
L'Oréal’s CFO Christophe Babule highlighted that the financing needs of L'Oréal’s suppliers, especially SMEs with limited funding, is “a major lever to accelerate the decarbonisation” of its value chain.”
Meanwhile, the CEO and founder of Chenavari, Loïc Fery, highlighted that decarbonising industrial processes is a complex challenge that needs significant capital deployment "to finance the transition to low-carbon processes and achieve reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at scale.”
