During strategic meetings with its partners, decarbonising transport and monitoring the implementation of the previously defined action plans are routinely discussed. Specific in-depth discussions are organised if necessary.
This diagram indicates a drop of 9.7% from 2016 to 2023 as well as a drop of 15.4% from 2022 to 2023 in tonnes of CO2 equivalent per sales unit.
The intensity (gCO2/unit sold) of the Group’s carbon footprint linked to the transport of finished products fell by 9.7% between 2016 and 2023.
Between 2022(1)2022 is adjusted for a like-for-like comparison between 2023 and 2022 and 2023, global consolidation of the CO2 emissions related to the transport of finished products shows a reduction in CO2 emissions (-11.1%). This is a 15.4% decrease in intensity of the Group’s carbon footprint (gCO2/unit sold) over the same period. In 2023, CO2 emissions linked to air transport fell by 44% compared to 2022(1) 2022 is adjusted for a like-for-like comparison between 2023 and 2022In return, the use and carbon footprint of lower-carbon (maritime and rail) transport modes increased by 4.25%.
4.3.1.3. Sustainability: from use to consumption
The Group is pursuing its commitments to strike the best possible balance between fulfilling its own needs and preserving a planet with limited resources. The objectives set out in L’Oréal for the Future were defined with this in mind.
For the Group, preserving resources is a long standing commitment. It applies to the entire life cycle of our products, from their creation to their use by consumers. Whenever a product is designed, created or updated, its environmental profile must be improved.
L’Oréal activates a range of drivers to promote sustainable innovation: reducing the environmental footprint of its formulas and packaging; respecting biodiversity through a sustainable and responsible raw materials sourcing policy; and a “Zero Deforestation” commitment.
Together with the Management Committees of the international brands, the packaging and development teams, the CSR team and the laboratories analyse their portfolios of formulas and their packaging. Sustainable innovation plans are defined along with their drivers for each product category.
The Group has decided to adopt an approach based on recent developments in life and environmental sciences. L’Oréal launched its Green Sciences programme to drive sustainable innovation by developing raw materials based on crops and practices that are better for the soil, water and biodiversity, as well as on Green Extraction, Green Extraction and physical processes, and Green Chemistry.
L’Oréal’s Research & Innovation strategy in the field of Green Sciences aims to establish numerous strategic partnerships with innovative startups in the biotech industry, both in France and worldwide. As such, L’Oréal is accelerating its transition to Green Sciences and launching its first dedicated incubator, co built with the Genopole biocluster, which will accommodate it at its Evry campus (in Essonne, France). In this context, Interstellar Lab, the French-American biotech start-up known for its revolutionary organic cultivation platform, is committed to an innovative partnership with L’Oréal’s “Green Sciences Incubator”. The aim of this ambitious collaboration is to explore the opportunities offered by a self-sufficient integrated agricultural system controlled by artificial intelligence to source various molecules and active ingredients for use in the cosmetics industry.
L’Oréal has also partnered with Bakar Labs, the University of California (UC) Berkeley’s pioneer biotechnology incubator. This collaboration offers new perspectives to startups in the Bakar Labs incubator, by giving them cost-free access to L’Oréal’s 3D reconstructed skin models. This partnership means the next generation of beauty products can be developed based on both the combined expertise of L’Oréal and Bakar Labs, and innovative biological technologies. This cooperation follows numerous strategic scientific partnerships that L’Oréal has formed in recent months to strengthen its pioneering Green Sciences for Beauty ecosystem.
An exclusive, industry first partnership with Cosmo International Fragrances has been launched. The aim is to develop a Green Sciences-based extraction process to revolutionise the art of fine fragrance creation. Developed by Cosmo International Fragrances and made exclusively available to L’Oréal, the patent-pending technology is a waterless, low-energy, slow extraction process that reveals the exact smell of an ingredient while preserving its integrity. This breakthrough Green Sciences process opens the door to new fragrance frontiers, enlarging the fragrance-maker’s olfactory palette to include 100% natural and pure extracts.
L’Oréal also invests in a venture led by biotech company Genomatica to create sustainable alternatives to petrochemical based surfactants. L’Oréal will be a founding member of the venture alongside Unilever and Kao. The investment was made through L’Oréal’s corporate venture fund Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development (BOLD).
This proactive policy is central to achieving L’Oréal’s objectives for 2030 under its sustainability programme, in particular, ensuring that 95% of its ingredients are bio‑based or derived from abundant minerals or circular processes.
(1)2022 is adjusted for a like-for-like comparison between 2023 and 2022.