Our Sustainability Commitments
L'OCCITANE was born in 1976, when its founder, Olivier Baussan, began distilling essential oils and selling them in his much-loved land of Provence. Built on strong principles and true stories, the brand has grown (a lot!), but its philosophy has always remained the same. Nature matters. People matter.
Our Progress & Our Sustainable Development Goals
L'OCCITANE hopes to protect and regenerate biodiversity, both natural and cultivated, within and outside our value chain. We want to contribute to both a nature-positive and carbon net-zero world by delivering dramatic changes to mitigate climate change and anticipate its impact on our activities. Through our work, L’OCCITANE aims to create opportunities and empower all people in the communities in which we are invested, as well as promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in society. We have already made significant progress towards our goals; most recently in 2022 when all L’OCCITANE regions committed to our new parental policy.
Our Key Environmental Targets
2023
· Proudly Certified as a B Corp™ company
· Offset Carbon on all our UK & IE Online Orders & Returns with Ecologi and their Delta Blue Project
· We achieved Great Place to Work™ Certification
· We are an accredited Real Living Wage Employer
· Achieved 100% Fair-Trade on our Verbena, Rose & Cade Collections. We have achieved 100% Fair Trade on our Shea Collection since 2009.
· We moved our warehouse to improve its sustainability. It now has a BREEAM rating of Excellent >70% which is in the top 10% of warehouses in the UK for sustainability. The warehouse includes solar panels, smart LED lighting to increase energy efficiency by 75% and has an EPC A Rating.
2025
· By 2025, we want all our direct suppliers to earn an Ecovadis rating of 64 or above. EcoVadis provides the world’s most trusted business sustainability rating.
· By 2025, we want to have 90% of our raw materials with plants traced back to their country of origin
· By 2025, we aim to use 80% of plant-based ingredients (and 100% iconic ingredients) with a positive approach to biodiversity
· By 2025, we aim to have 100% RSPO Palm oil in our raw materials
· By 2025, we want 100% of the water used for our industrial processes recycled in our two French factories
· By 2025, we also want to be powered by 100% renewable energy. We are a member of RE100 - so are committed to use 100% renewable electricity as a group by 2025. Part of being a commited member is choosing low impact sources of renewable electricty which are less harmful to biodiversity and people. e.g. solar, as well as lobbying governments and policy makers to increase amount of low impact electricity available.
2030
By 2030 we are committed to reaching our short term carbon reduction targets agreed with the SBTI and our target to be net zero by 2050:
· By 2030, we want to have reduced absolute emissions in scope 1 by 46% (from the baseline found in the 2020 financial year)
· By 2030, we aim to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions in scope 3 by 55% per unit of value added (based on the 2020 financial year baseline)
· By 2030, we want to contribute to protecting ecosystems and creating carbon sinks for 100% of the Group’s emissions.
We Offset our Carbon on Online Orders & Returns
As a proudly certified B-Corp company and as we work to drive emissions to net zero by 2050, we believe that we need to reduce our environmental impact . Across LOCCITANE group, we are prioritising the drastic reduction of our carbon emissions in all areas of our business. In addition to this carbon reduction, for UK and Ireland, we are now investing in carbon offsets to fund projects that neutralize our footprint on our online orders & returns. So far, 60 tonnes of CO2e have been offset through our partnership with Ecologi by supporting the Delta Blue carbon removal project in Pakistan.
Why Carbon Removal? One of the leading drivers of climate change is the increasing concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere as a result of human activity. To prevent climate breakdown, the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere needs to stabilise at a level which would produce no more than 2°C of warming compared to pre-industrial levels.
Net Zero
At L’OCCITANE, we are currently transforming our business in response to the climate emergency and have developed an in depth Climate strategy to support the changes needed.
As part of our Climate Strategy, we have committed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across our business by 2050.
Proud to be B-Corp
While L'OCCITANE has championed causes such as supporting local communities, sustainable producers, biodiversity and fighting climate change for many years, we’re now proud to join in the B Corp™ movement. Seeking B Corp™ certification commits us to measuring the impact of our decisions on all stakeholders, including our employees, supply chain, consumers and the planet. It also shows us where and how we can continuously improve our ethical practices.
Respecting Biodiversity
Since 1976, L’OCCITANE has been protecting the richness of our lands and we are committed to defending biodiversity for the generations to come. We celebrate nature and our mission is to give back to it.
Sustainable Sourcing
L'OCCITANE sees nature as its model and draws inspiration from the natural properties of plants to drive innovation. We are dedicated to developing long-term partnerships with our producers and prioritise short and local integrated channels when sourcing our key ingredients.