EXCLUSIVE: Kering and L’Occitane Group Launch Climate Fund for Nature at COP15
Kering and L’Occitane Group are joining forces at the United Nations conference COP15 to help protect nature and biodiversity.
The duo will launch the Climate Fund for Nature, with 140 million euros committed to biodiversity and preservation projects, with a 300 million euro investment goal. The fund will be managed by Natixis Investment Managers’ Mirova arm, which is dedicated to environmentally sustainable and social impact investing, and the companies will invite other luxury fashion and beauty brands to join and contribute funds as it scales up.
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“The Climate Fund for Nature provides an opportunity for the luxury fashion and beauty sectors to collectively support biodiversity restoration and conservation at scale,” said Kering chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer Marie-Claire Daveu.
“Innovative financing mechanisms are crucial to channel much-needed investment into nature-based solutions if we are to reverse biodiversity decline by 2030 and, simultaneously, address climate change, which is intrinsically interlinked with nature. We entreat further companies to join this ambitious initiative to contribute to a nature-positive future,” she said.
“With our planet facing a global climate and biodiversity crisis never witnessed before, L’Occitane Group is proud to join forces with Kering and Mirova to scale up its action against the degradation of nature, which provides the very resources and services we rely on. While reducing our emissions and impacts is our priority, the Climate Fund for Nature will help us go further by supporting projects that encourage regenerative practices, benefiting both nature and communities,” added L’Occitane Group chief sustainability officer Adrien Geiger.
The Climate Fund for Nature will primarily concentrate on countries where the luxury brands source their raw materials. It will support projects that preserve and restore nature, help farmers transition to regenerative practices and deliver carbon credits. Projects that contribute to empowering women will be a specific focus.
To that end, Mirova will partner with the 2X Collaborative, a gender-focused investment network to find projects that address gaps relating to access to finance, land and training for women. The projects’ progress will be monitored to ensure they deliver measurable outcomes for nature, climate and livelihoods.
“We are proud to work with Kering, L’Occitane Group and more corporates, to accelerate the mobilization of resources for nature-based solutions to climate change and women empowerment. A net-zero and nature-positive economy requires huge amounts of capital and the ambitious contribution of corporates is essential to achieve this transition,” added Mirova deputy chief executive officer Anne-Laurence Roucher.
The Climate Fund for Nature will be officially launched on Tuesday at the Business and Biodiversity Forum as part of COP15, and begin operations in the first quarter of 2023.
World leaders are gathering at COP15 in Montreal to adopt a global biodiversity framework that seeks to halt and reverse nature loss, which is critical to limiting global warming and preventing ecosystem collapse.
COP15 focuses on nature and biodiversity, following last month’s COP27 in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, where fashion executives called for change within the industry.
