In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and to address its consequences, L’Oréal announces L’Oréal for the future, a social and environmental “solidarity programme”.
The programmes sets out to support organisations that support highly vulnerable women, the first victims of the social and economic crisis generated by the pandemic, with the creation of a €50 million charitable endowment fund.
€100 million will be dedicated to environmental impact investing, setting out to contribute to the regeneration of “damaged natural ecosystems” and help efforts to prevent climate change.
These two causes reflect the values and the historic commitment of L’Oréal
Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and CEO of L’Oréal, says: “Over the coming months, our societies will face social crises giving rise to situations of great human suffering, particularly for the most vulnerable.
“At the same time, we are fully aware that environmental challenges are increasingly pressing. It is essential not to step back from the sustainable transformation that the world needs.
“We therefore wish to reaffirm our commitment to the environment and to the preservation of biodiversity, and to help mitigate the social crisis for women. These two causes reflect the values and the historic commitment of L’Oréal.”
Environmental impact investing
The L’Oréal Group €100 million investment will act upon two key environmental challenges:
- regenerating damaged natural ecosystems: €50 million will be used to finance marine and forest ecosystem restoration projects that also create new social and economic development opportunities for the populations that depend on these ecosystems (developing sustainable agriculture and fishing, eco-tourism, sale of carbon credits). The fund, the L’Oréal Fund for Nature Regeneration, aims to restore one million hectares of degraded ecosystems, capture 15 to 20 million tonnes of CO2 and create hundreds of job opportunities by 2030.
- preventing climate change: €50 million will be directed to financing for projects linked to the circular economy. With this fund, the L’Oréal Group aims to contribute to the quest for solutions and the creation of business models that support the development of a circular economy, particularly in terms of recycling and management of plastic waste.
The L’Oréal Group plans to present its new sustainability programme for 2030 in late June.
Supporting highly vulnerable women
To directly help struggling women, L’Oréal is creating a €50 million charitable endowment fund to support field organisations and local charities in their efforts to fight poverty, help women achieve social and professional integration, provide emergency assistance to refugee and disabled women, prevent violence against women, and support victims.
This social crisis has not eclipsed the need for a strong commitment to the environment. If we are to find a sustainable and inclusive way to move past this crisis, we must also focus on preventing climate change and the erosion of biodiversity
Alexandra Palt, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer of the L’Oréal Group, says: “The Covid-19 crisis spares no one, but it also exacerbates existing inequalities, with particularly devastating effects on people who were already struggling socially or economically or are victims of abuse, especially women.
“It is essential that we take action to support the most vulnerable women. This social crisis has not eclipsed the need for a strong commitment to the environment. If we are to find a sustainable and inclusive way to move past this crisis, we must also focus on preventing climate change and the erosion of biodiversity, which now threaten to even more profoundly and violently shake our lives, our societies, and our economies, once again with women as the first victims.”