LVMH releases first comprehensive social and environmental report

French luxury group LVMH on Monday released its “first comprehensive social and environmental report,” in which it highlights its initiatives to support sustainable growth. It is the first time the Group published a consolidated report of its social and environmental commitments and initiatives.

An independent audit shows the Group’s carbon footprint across various sectors as well as its measurable contributions to curb hazardous waste, packaging, transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy consumption. It further charts its initiatives and ongoing social responsibilities to achieve greater gender equality, respecting individuality of its employees and promoting diversity across all levels of its businesses.

LVMH Initiatives For the Environment

The foundation for LVMH’s environmental responsibilities is its LIFE programme (LVMH Initiatives For the Environment), which was designed to better integrate environmental considerations into brand strategy, encourage the development of new steering tools and take account of changes and progress brought about through innovation within the maisons.

The group, which is parent to 75 luxury goods houses and brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and Celine, as well DFS, Bulgari, Sephora and the recently acquired Tiffany & Co., says it aims to “avoid producing waste with sustainable inventory management,” and “making them very far removed from mass production.”

“Right from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020 and continues to affect our lives today, my main priority was to protect the safety of employees throughout the LVMH Group, as well as our customers, partners and all other stakeholders. The emergency brought about by the pandemic did not sway us from the challenges we have been tackling for many years, including climate change and the need to protect biodiversity. We have always recognized the extent to which nature’s treasures are essential to the beauty of our creations.”

Bernard Arnault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, LVMH

Highlights of its environmental efforts include a decline in Group waste production, which fell from 95,620 metric tons in 2019 to 80,690 metric tons in 2020. LVMH’s Fashion and Leather Goods division is the second highest contributor after Wines & Spirits. Incidentally, its fashion division is responsible for the highest hazardous waste production figures, despite a decline from 2,420 to 1,620 metric tons.

On recycling waste

The various channels for recycling waste include reuse, whereby waste is reintroduced into the production cycle from which it came, in order to partially or completely replace a virgin raw material; organic recovery: composting and controlled spreading of organic waste in order to fertilise soil and energy recovery; incinerating the waste and recovering the energy generated by burning waste in the form of electricity or heat.

The full report can be found on the [LVMH corporate website(https://lvmh.com).