Gucci, Balenciaga and YSL owner redesigns its future with carbon neutral goal

Kering has pledged to offset its remaining greenhouse gas emissions for 2018, which amounts to 2.4m tonnes

The owner of luxury brands such as Balenciaga, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) and Alexander McQueen has made a commitment to become carbon neutral within its own operations and across the entire supply chain.

Kering previously set a Science Based Target (SBT) to halve its greenhouse gas emissions across its business and the supply chain by 2025 against a 2015 baseline.

The French luxury conglomerate has pledged to offset its remaining greenhouse gas emissions for 2018, which amounts to 2.4 million tonnes.

It will do so by investing in REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) projects that conserve critical forests and biodiversity – equivalent to nearly two million hectares of global forests.

The pledge comes as the fashion industry has come under increasing scrutiny for its environmental impact.

Kering, however, hasn’t set a date by which it hopes to achieve the carbon neutral status.

It says the group has reduced its carbon intensity by 30% sine 2015 by investing in energy efficient measures and achieved 100% renewable energy in seven markets so far.

The news comes just weeks after Gucci announced it is now 100% carbon neutral across its own operations and supply chain.

Francois-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering said: “When it comes to climate change, we can no longer wait to take real action. We all need to step up as businesses and account for the GHG emissions that we generate in total. Kering is committing to become completely carbon neutral as a group across all our operations and supply chains.

“While we focus on avoiding and reducing our GHG emissions to meet our Science Based Target, we will offset all our remaining emissions and support the conservation of vital forests and biodiversity around the world.”

Latest Podcast