French luxury conglomerate Kering announced on Friday a new commitment to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035, on a 2021 baseline.
The commitment is part of the group’s vision of a modern and responsible luxury, and complements its growing sustainability strategy. Over the last three years, Kering has been making progress towards its original social and environmental 2025 targets.
“Kering and our houses have made significant strides to reach our sustainability targets over the last years, and, in parallel, we have augmented our ambitions,” said François-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer at Kering.
“Now we are setting this new absolute target, spanning scopes 1, 2 and 3 of the greenhouse gas protocol, because, if we want to truly decarbonize our global businesses, we need to move from carbon intensity reductions to absolute reductions. I am convinced that impact reduction in absolute terms combined with value creation must be the next horizon for truly sustainable companies.”
Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering, added: “To match our long-term vision to help drive luxury and fashion’s sustainability agenda, we have continued to evolve our sustainability strategy. Setting a target to reduce our total absolute emissions will support the decarbonization of our group, while we continue to align with a 1.5° pathway. It also perfectly encapsulates our spirit; we never stop pushing forward, and when our sustainability targets are in sight, we move the benchmark even further away.”
Looking ahead, Kering, which manages luxury companies including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Brioni, among others, is expected to release its 2020-2023 Sustainability Progress Report on March 22, six years into the group’s ‘Crafting Tomorrow’s Luxury’ strategy. In 2022, it had over 47,000 employees and revenue of €20.4 billion.
