Towards a more sustainable model

L’Oréal is accelerating its transformation to help create a more sustainable world and engaging its vast ecosystem of partners to ensure the transition is fair for all. We pay particular attention to supporting local communities and investing in social and environmental causes, with a focus on helping those most at risk.

Inclusive Sourcing: a social, environmental and inclusive driver

L’Oréal creates and cultivates strong, sustainable ties with its suppliers. In 2010, we founded the global Inclusive Sourcing programme, aimed at helping socially and financially vulnerable people to access steady employment through inclusion projects with suppliers and international organisations. By end of 2023, more than 93,000 people have benefited from the programme.
The programme produces a regular stream of new initiatives. The beeswax project in Togo is one example, through which L’Oréal and its partners are helping to raise production standards to create a supply chain meeting the Group’s sustainability, traceability and quality criteria. In 2023, it supported more than 9,000 beekeepers in eight West African countries.
The same year, L’Oréal received the GEEIS-SDG trophy, which acknowledges the efforts of companies that have made a strong and effective commitment to gender equality and other UN Sustainable Development Goals. The award went to the TransForma project launched by L’Oréal Brazil and its supplier to ensure employment opportunities for transgender people, who face significant discrimination in the country.

Guaranteeing a living wage

Given the ongoing social and economic crisis, major companies have both the ability and responsibility to help combat poverty. The value they generate puts them in a position to activate powerful levers, like a living wage, which must cover a person’s full range of basic needs, such as housing, food, health and education, as well as those of their dependents.
L’Oréal monitors pay to adjust permanent employees’ salaries when needed and ensure they earn a living wage. In 2023, the Group was awarded the Living Wage Employer accreditation by Fair Wage Network, in recognition of its status as a committed global living wage employer. By 2030, all of our strategic suppliers’ employees will be paid a living wage or more. L’Oréal works closely with suppliers to discuss and establish shared frames of reference. We also stand alongside other companies and public and private organisations to promote initiatives like Better Business through Better Wages. In October 2023, 50 of our strategic suppliers committed to pay their employees a living wage by 2030. What is more, L’Oréal is a member of the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) coalition in partnership with the OECD, which aims to keep the issue of a living wage firmly front and centre. We have also joined the Forward Faster initiative as part of the United Nations Global Compact, which includes benchmarks to gauge companies’ performance in paying a living wage.

For more than 16 years, the Fondation L’Oréal has supported women around the world, helping them reach their full potential and have a positive impact on society through scientific research, inclusive beauty and the fight against climate change.

For Women in Science: 25 years supporting the inclusion of women in science

The Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO have been working together for 25 years to empower and promote women in science through the For Women in Science programme. To date, it has supported more than 4,400 women scientists in over 110 countries. In 2023, the award programme acknowledged the outstanding work of five women from five countries: Professors Suzana Nunes, Anamaría Font, Aviv Regev, Lidia Morawska and Frances Kirwan. The programme aligns with the 53 other national and regional Young Talents initiatives that support the work of 250 women every year.
To mark the programme’s 25^th anniversary, the Fondation L’Oréal and UNESCO also gave a medal of honour and grant to three remarkable women scientists who have been obliged to flee their countries: Dr Mursal Dawodi (Afghanistan), Dr Ann Al Sawoor (Iraq) and Dr Marycelin Baba (Nigeria).
In 2023, Katalin Karikò and Anne L’Huillier – recipients of the L’Oréal-UNESCO International Award For Women in Science in 2022 and 2011, respectively – received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Beauty for a Better Life: bringing inclusive beauty to vulnerable women

With its Beauty for a Better Life programme, the Fondation L’Oréal uses beauty as a tool to promote social inclusion. The programme focuses on two key areas – training in beauty professions, and beauty and wellness treatments – to support women in vulnerable situations by helping them build self-confidence and empower them to find their place in society. In 2023, 11,836 women facing social or financial hardship received training thanks to support from 55 charitable organisations in 28 countries. The initiative also helps arrange free professional beauty therapy and wellness services in medical and social settings. In 2023, 23,819 women in vulnerable situations benefited from these services.

Women & Climate empowers women to take climate action

5and ability to deliver solutions. The Fondation L’Oréal and the Women & Climate programme work to develop women’s leadership and ensure a more inclusive approach to tackling climate change. To that end, the Fondation L’Oréal has partnered with NGO CARE France and C40 Cities in two initiatives. “She Grows the Future” empowers women farmers to embrace more sustainable practices, gain financial independence and become ambassadors for the transition. In 2023, the programme supported 4,100 women in four countries. In 2017, L’Oréal also backed the launch of “Women4Climate”. The partnership was renewed in 2021 as a Fondation -sponsored initiative to support women who develop local solutions to adapt to climate change. The programme has provided mentorship enabling nearly 3,200 women to take the lead on climate action.