Green Week: Investing to increase sustainable innovation
LVMH
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For Day 3, Green Week 2016 comes to Brussels, home to the European Commission, organizer of the event. The focus for the day is sourcing the funds needed to protect the environment and investing in sustainable innovation. Find out more about investment initiatives by LVMH and its Houses.
Protecting the environment has a cost, and impactful innovation requires better access to financing. In November 2015, LVMH announced the creation of its first internal carbon fund, underscoring the commitment of the Group’s 70 Houses to combating climate change. The fund is financed by contributions from each House, based on the CO2 emissions generated by their activities. The carbon price has been set at €15 per metric ton. The carbon fund, estimated to reach a total of €6.1 million in 2016, will be reinvested in innovative projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Prior to this turning point in the Group’s environmental policy, many Houses had already invested in pioneering sustainable solutions. In France, Moët & Chandon spent several million euros on building a wine-making center and a fermenting room to High Environmental Quality (HQE) standards. However, this groundbreaking construction will not be awarded HQE certification…because the standard has not yet been adapted to industrial buildings.
Bulgari chose Valenza, Italy as the site for its largest jewelry-making facility, which is being built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, a U.S. green building certification scheme. Measures have been introduced to reduce air and water pollution on the construction site and thereby lower the project’s environmental impact.