L’Oréal has launched a new programme promoting sustainability and action on climate change, called “L’Oréal for the future.”

At a virtual press conference on Friday, Jean-Paul Agon, the chairman and CEO of L'Oréal, said the multinational is accelerating its transformation towards a model respecting planetary boundaries and reinforcing its commitments to both sustainability and inclusion.

Addressing a question about the company’s investments in Egypt, Agon said that Egypt is an important market for the company’s products in the Middle East and North Africa, and that it has a factory operating in the country with total investments of €50 million.

He added that the company’s investments and its future plans in the Egyptian market have not been affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Egyptian factory represents a leading model of professional efficiency in sustainability, he also said, having reduced consumption of energy by 29 percent, water by 27 percent and waste generated by 32 percent, which qualified the factory to receive the 2016 Sustainable Development Award from the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ Environmental Compliance Office.

Alexandra Palt, executive VP and chief corporate responsibility officer, said that the company is contributing to solving the world’s challenges by supporting urgent social and environmental needs, through a plan launched in May 2020 with total allocations of €150 million to address urgent social and environmental issues.

“Very early on, L’Oréal became aware of the need to respond to environmental challenges. As an industrial company, it decided that tackling the environmental impact of its plants and distribution centres was the most obvious first step, and a necessary one, to begin its transformation process. This first phase is nearly completed,” she added.

Since 2005, L’Oréal Group has reduced the CO2 emissions of its plants and distribution centres by 78 percent, exceeding its initial target of 60 percent by 2020, while production volume increased by 37 percent over the same period, according to Palt.

At the end of 2019, L’Oréal had 35 carbon neutral sites -- meaning they use 100 percent renewable energy -- including 14 factories.