The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
11/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/22/2024 10:23
10 Takeaways From ELC’s 2024 Social Impact & Sustainability Report and Climate Transition Plan
10 Takeaways From ELC's 2024 Social Impact & Sustainability Report and Climate Transition Plan
Company Feature, Nov 22, 2024
At The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC), we're committed to social impact and sustainability, both within our company and in our global communities. In fiscal 2024, we've continued to focus on climate action, water reduction, ingredient transparency, responsible sourcing, packaging innovation, social investments, employee experience, equity, and well-being.
For a detailed look at our progress throughout the past fiscal year, explore our fiscal 2024 Social Impact & Sustainability (SI&S) Report, released on October 24, 2024, which details our initiatives in areas like social equity, environmental impact, and community engagement. Alongside the report, we released the Climate Transition Plan 2024 Progress Update which outlines ELC's latest strategic actions, challenges and progress aimed at reducing total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain. Key takeaways from the SI&S Report are detailed below.
Spelman College students participating in the Black Beauty STEMinist Lab and gaining hands-on STEM experience.
1. We continued to support women in STEM.
With women comprising 81% of our global workforce and holding more than 60% of vice president positions at ELC,* we are deeply committed to supporting women. As a company intent on developing and manufacturing breakthrough products, this commitment importantly includes women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields and supporting leaders who are driving the creative, scientific, and technological innovations of tomorrow. 70% of our scientists and technical professionals are women,* which far surpasses the global average for gender representation in STEM careers.1 We are also proud that all our R&D and Innovation Centers around the world are led by women.
2. We published ELC's new corporate ingredient glossary.
We achieved ELC's 2025 ingredient transparency goal ahead of schedule. We published our new corporate ingredient glossary resource on ELCompanies.com, which features more than 100 key ingredients, including ascorbic acid, vitamin C, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, peptides, and many others. Recognizing our consumers' interest in understanding product ingredients, we created this glossary to offer transparency and clarity on the ingredients' benefits and purpose.
3. We achieved our palm oil sustainability goal ahead of schedule.
We are committed to taking concrete action with our suppliers to build sustainable and ethical palm supply chains. In 2023, we achieved our goal of at least 95% of our palm-based ingredients (palm oil and its derivatives) being certified sustainable from RSPO physical supply chains2 -2 years ahead of schedule. In fiscal 2024, ELC also received the highest ranking in the personal care and cosmetics sector on the WWF's Palm Oil Buyers Scorecard.
4. We surpassed our water withdrawal reduction targets.
We recognize the importance of continued water stewardship in mitigating and adapting to climate change and are committed to minimizing our impact on local water resources. In fiscal 2024, we exceeded our water withdrawal reduction goals, achieving a 23% reduction at our direct manufacturing sites-surpassing our target of a 20% reduction, based on our fiscal 2019 baseline.3
5. We integrated new sustainability practices across our operations.
We are continuously implementing sustainability practices to enhance efficiency and help reduce our environmental impact across our operations. In fiscal 2024, we completed a new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified process for various locations and installed a new solar energy system at our manufacturing site in Belgium. We also expanded our Responsible Store Design program by developing a complimentary global toolkit to help individual retail locations identify opportunities to optimize store buildouts, energy and water use, material sourcing, daily operations, and in-store technology.
6. We maintained and expanded pay equity across ELC employees globally.
Inspired by the legacy of our founder, we are committed to women's development in the workplace and beyond. ELC's initial commitment to reach global pay equity4 was reached in fiscal 2023.5 In fiscal 2024, we maintained and expanded pay equity to include our point-of-sale employees globally.6
7. We grew our culture of employee volunteerism.
Through ELC's Good Works program, we are accelerating diverse and inclusive volunteer programs across 31 markets globally. In fiscal 2024, we made significant strides toward our 2025 goal of mobilizing employees to contribute a total of $25 million to nonprofits of their choice. Through donations, volunteering, and company matching campaigns, we reached $24.2 million in fundraising since 2015.*7,8
BCC Global Ambassador Elizabeth Hurley joins ELC-funded BCRF researcher Dame Lesley Fallowfield and UK&I BCC Ambassadors Lauren Mahon, Dr. Zoe Williams, Kreena Dhiman, and Leanne Pero, MBE.
8. We supported more than 60 organizations worldwide through ELC's Breast Cancer Campaign.
ELC has been at the forefront of supporting The Breast Cancer Campaign for more than 30 years and remains steadfast in its mission to help create a breast cancer-free world for all. Together, The Breast Cancer Campaign and The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation have funded more than $144 million for lifesaving global research, education, and medical services, with more than $114 million funding medical research through the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. As part of its global impact, The Campaign funds numerous grants and programs that help accelerate opportunities for women in STEM.
Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate and Estée Lauder Global Changemaker, champions literacy and equality through the WRITING CHANGE initiative.
9. We continued our commitment to advancing literacy.
A collaboration between ELC and National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, WRITING CHANGE is dedicated to advancing literacy as a pathway to equality, access, and social change through the power of young voices. In fiscal 2024, WRITING CHANGE met the initial funding goal of supporting a total of 10 nonprofit organizations across the United States that enable access to literacy and education resources, advocate for representation in literature, and encourage artistic expression.
Le Labo's refill program lets consumers reuse their cherished glass bottles, blending sustainability with timeless fragrance.
10. Maintained our packaging sustainability efforts.
As a brand-led, prestige beauty company, packaging helps us to tell the story of our prestige products. It also presents a key opportunity to incorporate additional sustainability concepts into our product offerings, aligned with our goals. By 2025, we are aiming for 75-100% of our packaging, by weight, to be recyclable, refillable, reusable, or recoverable. In fiscal 2024, we maintained packaging sustainability efforts, with more than 71% of our packaging already meeting at least one of these sustainability principles.9
*As of June 30, 2024.
1According to the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2024, women remain underrepresented in STEM roles, comprising only 28.2% of the STEM workforce compared to 47.3% in non-STEM sectors.
2Excludes palm-based ingredients not directly procured by ELC, such as those procured by third-party manufacturers (TPMs) and directly procured and received by DECIEM.
3Reduction is from a fiscal 2019 baseline of 1.5 million cubic meters water withdrawal at ELC-operated manufacturing sites. Excludes any manufacturing sites not fully operated by ELC within the target timeline.
4For purposes of this commitment, the Company defines pay equity as a pay gap of less than 1% and/or not statistically significant between women and comparably situated men included in its pay equity review process.
5In fiscal 2023, the following global workforce populations were included in the pay equity review process: R&D, Supply Chain (including Manufacturing and Distribution), other Corporate Functions, Brands, and Regions. At that time, the review did not include point-of-sale (POS) employees or non-discretionary pay populations.
6With the exception of non-discretionary pay populations (i.e. where we are restricted from making such adjustments), all employee populations are now included in our pay equity review process.
7Metrics reflect information self-reported to ELC's employee social impact and sustainability engagement program, the ELC Good Works platform, used to report employee volunteerism, employee monetary donations, and ELC charitable matching gifts. The platform was available in 17, 31, and 31 markets at the end of fiscal 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively. Eligible employees are those who meet certain criteria, which varies by market, and have access to the platform. Excludes DECIEM.
8Metric includes total cumulative ELC employee donations and amount matched, inclusive of volunteer rewards, by ELC since the launch of the ELC Good Works platform in November 2015.
9Product packaging is defined as any item to be used for the containment, protection, handling, and presentation of products and delivery to ELC's distribution centers that is included on the bill of materials. Excludes DECIEM.