The loss of biodiversity undermines food security, health, quality of life and many services provided to our economies (pollination, the purity of air and water, soil fertility), as well as our resilience to climate change. The conversion of natural ecosystems due to the expansion of agriculture and urban development is recognised by science as the primary factor for the loss of biodiversity, followed by pollution, climate change and the introduction of invasive species.
Although the Group has, for many years, been committed to the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the L’Oréal for the Future programme reaffirms this commitment by positioning biodiversity right at the heart of the Group’s goals.
To this end, with the support of The Biodiversity Consultancy, the Group has developed an innovative way of measuring the impact that its industrial activities and sourcing have on natural ecosystems.
This new indicator is based on three parameters (the ground surface required, the loss of biodiversity related to Group practices and the importance of biodiversity in the ecosystem concerned) and it enabled us to estimate that the sourcing of ingredients of plant origin accounted for more than 80% of our biodiversity footprint.
L’Oréal is therefore committed to ensuring that, between now and 2030, its footprint on the ecosystems required to produce ingredients of plant origin remains unchanged from 2019 levels.
The following drivers have been identified as key to achieving this goal:
At the same time, L’Oréal is still working on different approaches and methodologies for assessing the impact of its activities on developing biodiversity in France and internationally, by taking part in the work of the Science-Based Targets on Nature network’s Corporate Engagement Programme, CDC Biodiversité’s B4B+ club (Business for Positive Biodiversity), and the One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) collective.
As part of its “Zero Deforestation” policy published in 2014, the Group pledged that by 2020 none of the ingredients and raw materials used in its products would be linked to deforestation. Since 2007, L’Oréal has been deploying action plans in order to guarantee a sustainable supply of agricultural raw materials that could be the cause of deforestation, including palm oil, soy bean extract, and fibre wood-based products.
In 2021, aware of the increasingly critical threat that continues to threaten forests worldwide and the social and environmental consequences associated with deforestation, following a consultation process with its stakeholders, L’Oréal renewed its goals as part of its new Forestry Policy 2030.
Capitalising on its previous achievements with palm, soy and wood fibre, the new Forestry Policy 2030 covers a wider range of raw materials, prioritised according to their strategic importance and the social and environmental risks identified in the zones in which they are produced. Based both on sustainable and responsible management throughout the supply chains, and on the preservation and rehabilitation of natural ecosystems adjacent to production areas, this policy has been incorporated into the Group’s strategy for the sustainable sourcing of ingredients, and sets new goals that are specific to these raw materials. In addition to the environmental dimension, the Forest 2030 policy focuses on respect for Human Rights and improving the living conditions of the communities affected.
In 2021, L’Oréal consumed less than 310 tonnes of palm oil and 90,003 tonnes of palm oil derivatives (which come from palm fruit pulp) and of palm kernel oil (extracted from palm fruit kernels). These two oils are used to produce glycerine, fatty acids and fatty alcohols which form part of the composition of the Group’s products.
As part of its “zero deforestation” commitment, L’Oréal is rolling out a specific strategy for palm oil derivatives, in partnership with all stakeholders (producers, NGOs and suppliers):
In terms of certification, 100% of the volumes of palm oil used by L’Oréal meet the standards and procedures of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), via one of its most demanding traceability models, the SG (Segregated) model.100% of the derivatives are also certified. L’Oréal had increased the proportion of its physically certified purchases to 98.4% of RSPO Mass Balance at the end of 2021, compared with 95% in 2020 and 70% in 2019. The remainder continues to be covered by the RSPO Book & Claim model. To complete its certification objectives, L’Oréal made a commitment for at least 30% of its volumes to be connected to field projects that support small, independent planters. In 2021, 27% of these volumes were physically connected to sustainable sourcing projects in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Within the framework of its “Zero Deforestation” commitment made in 2014, the Group had pledged to trace the main palm and palm kernel derivatives that it uses as far as the mills by the end of 2015. This was a difficult task as the process for transforming derivatives involved a large number of players and many branches of the supply chains.
An initial phase involving a survey was conducted in 2014, with the support of a firm of independent experts, of L’Oréal’s strategic suppliers, who supply more than half its palm and palm kernel derivatives. Since 2015, L’Oréal has progressively updated and enriched its data collection by extending the scope to cover all suppliers in order to be able to trace and identify the origin of 100% of its main palm and palm kernel derivatives. The results of this work show that Malaysia and Indonesia are the main countries from which supplies are obtained and that, for 2020, 98% of these volumes of palm and palm kernel derivatives could be traced to the refineries, 94% to the mills and 50% as far as the plantations.
