Chanel has spent US$25 million in carbon credit offsets, which have cut or eliminated 6.9 million metric tonnes of carbon emissions every year, according to the French luxury brand’s Mission 1.5 climate report.
Chanel highlighted in the report that it is committed to investing in nature-based solutions to eliminate and avoid emissions equivalent to or greater than its whole carbon footprint. The company aims to achieve its low-carbon ambitions with two commitments: reduce and accelerate.
‘Reduce’ means to cut its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by half by 2030 and also to cut its value chain emissions (Scope 3 emissions) by 40% by 2030. To attain this target, Chanel plans to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2025.
Many measures are employed to reduce carbon emissions. Among them, one key element is to use cutting-edge design that supports low-carbon footprint buildings. Chanel thus seeks to meet the most stringent energy efficiency certification criteria for its stores, including LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), and HQE (Haute Qualité Environnementale).
In terms of Scope 3 emissions reduction measures, the firm is setting rigorous raw material requirements to ensure that they are supplied from suppliers or producers who practice more regenerative and low-carbon approach to agriculture. The luxury brand is also using lightweight packaging with fewer carbon footprint, and has adopted reusable packaging for several of its base items.
On the other hand, ‘accelerate’ entails accelerating the transition to a lower-carbon, more resilient world. Chanel has invested in nature-based solutions to avoid and eliminate carbon emissions equal to its worldwide emissions.
The fashion house not only supports environmental efforts that protect and restore land, but also invest in the Livelihoods Carbon Fund and the Landscape Resilience Fund to help communities create resilience amid climate change.
Chanel has also introduced an internal carbon fee of US$60 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions, which is used to evaluate all its major investments and serve as a motivator for the development of projects that will help the company minimize its carbon footprint.
