L’Oréal Australia hosted an expert panel webinar to discuss and highlight the critical need for action around climate change.
The Respecting our Planetary Boundaries panel included the Honourable Julie Bishop, former Foreign Minister and chancellor of ANU, Laura Wells, science communicator and presenter, Dylan Garft and Luke Zocchi, co-founders of Sipp Instant and Louise Watson, managing director, Natixis Investment Managers.
The event was hosted by writer, broadcaster and War on Waste presenter Craig Reucassel and explored topics such as what the private and public sectors were doing to create positive change and new approaches for the economy, such as impact investment funds to generate environmental and societal returns.
The panel highlighted global warming, a loss of biodiversity, water scarcity and a depletion in air quality as just some of the effects already being felt around the globe.
“It would be great to see more businesses trying to assess and reduce their footprint. We are approaching a tipping point and need action from all parts of society,” Reucassel said.
Christine Burke, communications director, L’Oréal Australia, said sustainability remained a key priority for L’Oréal.
“Even in the midst of a global pandemic with much uncertainty around the economic and social consequences going forward, our commitment to sustainability will not change,” she said.
“We are committed to the environment, to social inclusion and to adapting our business as necessary to be the most ethical business we can.”
L’Oréal has committed to the following initiatives:
• By 2025, all of L’Oréal’s sites will have achieved carbon neutrality by improving energy efficiency and using 100 per cent renewable energy.
• By 2030, 100 per cent of the plastics used in L’Oréal’s products’ packaging will be either from recycled or bio-based sources.
• By 2030, L’Oréal will reduce by 50 per cent per finished product, compared to 2016, its entire greenhouse gas emissions.
The group will also contribute to solving the world’s challenges by supporting urgent social and environmental needs, by allocating €150m (AUD $245m) to address urgent social and environmental issues.
The live-streamed event was watched by more than 2,500 viewers, for an average watch time of 22 minutes.
A replay of the panel event can be viewed online at lorealforthefuture.com.