Future LIFE Paris: LVMH ahead of roadmap objectives and announces new commitments to the environment and biodiversity
LVMH
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© Gabriel de La Chapelle
Bernard Arnault welcomed executives from LVMH and its Maisons on September 25th to an event at the Group’s headquarters in Paris centered on the LVMH Initiatives For the Environment program, or LIFE. The meeting spotlighted LVMH’s pioneering initiatives to protect biodiversity, along with concrete elements confirming its positive environmental performance, as well as ambitious goals for eco-design, engagement with the circular economy and reduced energy consumption. LVMH also presented new commitments, notably an Animal-based Raw Materials Sourcing Charter.
Initiated more than 27 years ago, LVMH’s environmental policy has always constituted a strategic pillar to drive growth. This policy was formalized in 2012 with the launch of the comprehensive LIFE program, which the Group’s 75 Maisons have since 2015 integrated in their strategic planning. In 2016 LVMH further strengthened this policy, defining four objectives for 2020: improve the environmental performance of all its products, apply the highest standards for sourcing, improve key environmental performance indicators for all sites, and reduce CO2 emissions.
With 2020 just a few months away, the Future LIFE Paris event presented the Group’s achievements in these four areas, along with concrete goals moving forward. “Our results speak for themselves. We are making a commitment to accelerate our efforts in this area and continually go even further,” said Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive of LVMH.
The executives from several Maisons shared a look at how their companies are continually striving to meet and exceed environmental challenges in a variety of areas such as eco-design, procurement, waste reduction, the energy consumption of stores and production sites, and protection of biodiversity.
Guest of honor Stella McCartney spoke for the first time at an LVMH event since the announcement in July of a partnership between her fashion house and the Group. A pioneer in environmental responsibility in the fashion industry in terms of both design and procurement, she explained her motivations for adopting this approach and discussed her role as special advisor on sustainability issues to Bernard Arnault and members of the LVMH Executive Committee. Maria Grazia Chiuri, Artistic Director of Dior, also addressed the event, sharing the ways that nature inspired her runway show at the Longchamp racecourse the previous day.
Given strong demand for furs and leathers, LVMH has reaffirmed its leadership in sustainable development, proposing solutions to the environmental issues often associated with sourcing of these raw materials. The Group presented a new Animal-based Raw Materials Sourcing Charter, the fruit of extensive scientific research and collaboration between its Environment Department, Maisons and suppliers.
With an exhaustive approach, concrete resources and long-term commitments to progress, the charter addresses the complex issues involved in sourcing of furs, leathers, exotic leathers, wool and feathers, detailing commitments in three areas: traceability, animal husbandry and trapping, and respect for people, the environment and biodiversity.
Within the scope of this charter, LVMH will conduct pilot projects and scientific research, the results of which will be assessed by a multi-disciplinary scientific committee comprising both independent experts external to the Group and experts from within LVMH.
Beyond these commitments, LVMH also announced new strategic partnerships to support its initiatives in sustainable development and protecting biodiversity: emergency aid to preserve the Amazon, a partnership with the Solar Impulse foundation, and funding of the AgroParisTech Foundation Ecological Compatibility Chair.