INTERNATIONAL/FRANCE. LVMH Group has underlined its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) credentials by pledging to exceed its sustainability targets, including doubling its internal carbon funds as of next year.
The company established its Environment Department back in 1992, which since then has supported the Group and its 70 Maisons with a range of pioneering CSR initiatives.
The luxury goods group said it places great emphasis on its responsibility for “exemplary performance in pursuing sustainability”. In 2012, LVMH strengthened its priority on environmental issues with the creation of LIFE – LVMH Initiatives For the Environment – a comprehensive programme covering all 70 Maisons, including their production, procurement and retail operations beginning right from product design.
“By embedding ecological imperatives as a source of innovation, we have long made environmental responsibility a pillar of our growth strategy for 25 years. The LVMH Group is proud of its pioneering role and we aim to remain trailblazers,” said LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.
“We aim to go even further in achieving the environmental excellence. For this reason, we plan to double our internal carbon funds as of next year and thus reduce even more rapidly our greenhouse gas emissions,” LVMH Group Environment Director Sylvie Bénard added.
LIFE 2020
Required in all strategic plans of the Maisons, the LIFE programme has set out new objectives with the “LIFE 2020” roadmap, centred around four pillars “Products, supply chain, CO2 and sites”.
The objectives were defined with input from staff from 30 LVMH Maisons, with the intention to not just meet, but exceed the targets. For example, the Group’s initial target of using 10% renewable energy has already been achieved and now increased to 30% by 2020.
Similarly, the Group will double its internal carbon funds as of next year: the calculation will henceforth be based on €30 per ton of CO2.
Launched in 2012, LIFE (LVMH initiatives for the environment) is a global programme intended to strengthen the environmental performance of the group and of each individual maison
Future LIFE
LVMH organised two “Future LIFE” evenings in celebration of its 25 years of commitment to environmental excellence, giving the Maison chief executives the opportunity to share the initiatives for their respective house.
The two-day programme included a fashion show organised with the Central Saint Martins design school, highlighting the sustainable development partnership launched with the school earlier this year. Guests invited to speak at the event included Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 Bid co-Chairman – of which LVMH is a partner – and Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard, Initiator & Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation.
The Four Pillars of the LVMH LIFE 2020 initiative
- Objective Products
+10% improvement in Environmental Performance Index (EPI) of LVMH Group products.
- Objective Supply Chain
70% of leather used sourced from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG).
- Objective CO2
30% renewable energy use and a –25% reduction in CO2 emissions compared with 2013.
6.7 million euros invested since 2016 in the LVMH internal carbon funds.
- Objective Sites
+10% improvement in environmental performance at all sites and stores (water, energy, waste).
LVMH LIFE 2020 Objective: Products
For the last 25 years, LVMH’s environmental department has made reducing the environmental impact of products one of its major objectives. For 2020 this ambition is being extended to all the products of its Maisons throughout their whole life cycle.
Looking ahead to 2020, the Maisons of both the Perfumes & Cosmetics and Wines & Spirits sectors have committed to reducing the Environmental Performance Indicator(EPI) of their products by -10%.
For example, the Veuve Clicquot Maison created the “Naturally Clicquot” packaging, made from a combination of grape skin, a byproduct of the wine production process, and recycled paper. The biodegradable box is isothermal and can keep a refrigerated bottle of Champagne Brut Carte Jaune cool for two hours.
In fashion, the Louis Vuitton Maison developed a new range of packaging for in-store customers, made from thicker, stronger, FSC-certified paper, including 40% of recycled fibres. Polyester ribbons were replaced by cotton for the handles. Gift-boxes have been redesigned to fold flat, considerably reducing the CO2 impact of transport to the store – and enabling customers to easily slip them into their baggage.
LVMH LIFE 2020 OBJECTIVE: SUPPLY CHAIN
LVMH uses raw materials that are exceptional and rare, and underlines its duty to ensure sustainability of raw material supplies.
As a signatory of international conventions and having subscribed to the National Strategy for Biodiversity 2011-2020, LVMH liaises closely with suppliers to develop responsible practices to associate them in its environmental policy. It has produced specific guidelines for suppliers and developed grids for compliance audits that can be carried out by the Maisons at any time. The Group’s Maisons ensure that the best environmental standards are applied to their supplies of raw materials. In 2020, LVMH says that 70% of supply chains will meet these criteria, rising to 100% by 2025.
As member of the Leather Working Group (LWG) LVMH has committed to monitoring breeding practices and animal welfare, both intrinsic to the quality of the leather and fur enhanced by the Maisons. By 2020, 70% of leather used by the Maisons will be sourced from LWG certified tanneries. The acquisition of several tanneries has also enabled the Maisons to apply their know-how upstream, piloted by the LVMH Métiers d’Art structure which invests in and provides longterm support to its best suppliers.
Also an advocate for sustainable wine, LVMH aims to ensure the long-term existence of vineyards combined with respect for the soil and the environment, and promoting biodiversity. The Hennessy Maison is a member of the DEPHY network which promotes cultivation systems aimed at limiting the use of treatment products. In 2016 it was awarded High Environmental Value certification, Option A at Level 3. In 2015, its Champagne Maisons obtained double certification for Sustainable Viticulture and High Environmental Value. Ninety winegrowers benefitted from training in sustainable viticulture in 2016.
LVMH LIFE 2020 OBJECTIVE: CO2
For the past 25 years, LVMH has worked to reduce the impact of its activities, thereby protecting natural resources exposed to climate disruption. The launch of its Carbon Fund in 2015 was a groundbreaking initiative in the luxury goods sector.
LVMH group spearheaded a movement in 2002 when it introduced the practice of Carbon Reporting in its Maisons. LVMH pursued this policy in 2015 with the launch of its Carbon Fund: a groundbreaking initiative in the luxury goods sector.
For the Carbon Fund, a price of €15 was assigned for each tonne of CO2 emitted by the Group and its Maisons – a total of 298,366 tonnes in 2016. These contributions went towards funding innovative projects to help achieve its 2020 objective: a reduction of -25% in CO2 emissions.
LVMH LIFE 2020 OBJECTIVE: SITES
By 2020, LVMH has asked its Maisons to reduce by -10% at least one of the following indicators in each of its sites: water consumption, energy usage and waste production. The Maisons must also improve the energy efficiency, expressed as energy consumption per square meter, of each existing store, which involves taking into account lighting, heating, air conditioning, and so on. New stores must comply with a minimum performance of 50/100 on the LVMH Store Guidelines grid.
In order to recognise efforts and spur progress by disseminating good practice, since 2016 the “LIFE in Stores Awards” have recompensed the most exemplary stores. For the first edition, eight prizes were awarded to six stores: Loewe at Madrid Goya, Louis Vuitton in Santa Monica, Bulgari in London, Sephora at Huntington Beach, Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche in Paris, and T Galleria Beauty by DFS in Hong Kong, which holds the record for the lowest lighting power per square metre.
