LVMH Climate Week: preserving biodiversity to mitigate climate change
LVMH
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© Loro Piana
Watch the replay of the LVMH Climate Week opening ceremony!
The LVMH Group is holding an exceptional online event for all its employees worldwide from December 8-11: LVMH Climate Week. The agenda includes a series of 12 focus sessions, three of which are dedicated to the climate emergency. Discussions around the first hot topic, “Can preserving biodiversity help us mitigate climate change?”, took place this Wednesday, December 9. LVMH Environmental Development Director Hélène Valade moderated a round table during which participants underlined the critical role of biodiversity in meeting climate change challenges.
LVMH Maisons all share a quest to elevate nature thanks to unique savoir-faire that enables them to craft products of unparalleled excellence. An exceptional product is one that lasts, and a product designed to last must be exceptional.
Because its activities depend directly on nature, LVMH is deeply concerned with climate risks and embraces its responsibility for being exemplary in mitigating and preventing the environmental impact of these activities. If temperatures continue to rise, irreversible damage will be caused to the world’s already fragile ecosystems with devastating consequences for both humans and other animal or plant species.
This is why preserving biodiversity is absolutely critical, because thriving biodiversity plays a powerful role in regulating the climate. During LVMH Climate Week, a prominent panel shared expertise and insights into this connection between biodiversity and climate change:
- Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Photographer, Filmmaker, Ecologist, President of the GoodPlanet Foundation and Member of the LVMH Board of Directors.
- Gilles Bœuf, Biologist, President of CEEBIOS, former President of the French Museum of Natural History and professor at La Sorbonne.
- Maud Fontenoy, Seafarer and French Ministry of Education and Youth ambassador.
- Philippe Madec, Architect, urban planner and pioneer in eco-responsibility.
- Philippe Schaus, President and CEO of Moët Hennessy.
There is growing awareness around the world of the destruction of biodiversity that scientific experts have warned about for many years. This makes every contribution by prominent speakers an opportunity to underscore the urgent need to change things by following up the message with concrete actions.
After the recent publication of her book Bleu, un Ocean de Solutions (Blue, an Ocean of Solutions), written with Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Maud Fontenoy emphasized the potential of the marine environment to contribute to climate regulation in terms of energy or as a source of oxygen.
Philippe Schaus, President and CEO of Moët Hennessy, presented the “Living Soils” program unveiled at the Vinexpo wine trade show at the beginning of the year, detailing initiatives by LVMH Wines & Spirits houses to protect soils. They include eliminating the use of herbicides in vineyards and developing regenerative agriculture practices in the near future. Hennessy, for example, is pursuing agroforestry, while Château du Galoupet has put beehives in its vineyards, “a perfect example of the alliance between vineyards and natural ecosystems,” Philippe Schaus notes.
Moët Hennessy is deploying a three-pronged action plan to help mitigate natural disasters linked directly to global warming, focusing on energy consumption, packaging and transportation. The objective is to use 100% renewable energies by 2025, to reduce the carbon footprint of packaging thanks to recyclable materials (such as the Ruinart Champagne Second Skin case, and place priority on maritime cargo – “the world’s least polluting means of transportation”, noted Maud Fontenoy.
As the world leader in luxury, LVMH is totally committed to protecting biodiversity, taking exemplary, bold, creative and demanding actions to drive changes that can build a more sustainable future.
Don’t miss the next Hot Topic at LVMH Climate Week on December 10!