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Chanel has launched its commitment to tackle climate change, labeled Chanel Mission 1.5°, in line with the ambitious targets of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, aimed at limiting mean global temperature increases to 1.5° Celsius. The initiative will see the company reduce its carbon footprint and that of its supply chain, while also taking action outside of its own business activities to help accelerate the transition to a lower carbon world.
To this end, Chanel has made four commitments for the decade ahead, joining other companies that are taking ambitious measures to tackle climate change. Here’s how Chanel will reduce its carbon footprint across its own operations and its entire supply chain to meet science-based targets:
- Reduce emissions across Chanel operations by 50% by 2030, equivalent to a 66% reduction per unit sold, and reduce supply chain emissions by 40% per unit sold by 2030, compared to 2018. To meet these reductions, the company will further strengthen its long-standing approach to the responsible sourcing and production of natural raw materials, while also continuously revisiting the way it designs, manufactures, transports and distributes its products. This journey will require close partnerships with Chanel’s suppliers.
- Chanel pledges to transition to 100% renewable electricity for its owned operations by 2025 and has joined the RE100 coalition, a group of influential businesses committed to the use of renewable electricity. Globally, as of 2019, Chanel already sourced 41% of its electricity from renewable sources and expects this to increase to 97% by 2021.
- While Chanel is focused on decarbonizing its operations and value chain, the company is also committed to taking action outside of its own business activities in order to balance its residual carbon emissions. The company is doing this by investing in nature-based solutions, such as projects to protect and restore forests, mangroves and peatlands. Chanel only supports projects that follow the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) principles, and those that are certified to the highest carbon, biodiversity and community standards (such as VCS and CCBA). Such initiatives already serve to avoid and remove carbon emissions at least equal to the company’s entire carbon footprint, with the company reaching carbon neutrality in 2019.
- The company aims to finance projects that enable vulnerable communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change with the objective of reducing smallholder farmers’ and entrepreneurs’ vulnerability, while also building resilient raw material supply chains, both outside and within the company’s value chain.
To implement these broad commitments in its own supply chain, Chanel is also investing in new technologies and start-ups, particularly in the field of raw materials and packaging, as well as in scientific climate research.