Luxury group LVMH has reported good progress on its efforts to meet targets in its LIFE 360 programme, writes Leatherbiz.

The group launched LIFE 360 in 2020, taking the name from ‘LVMH Initiatives For the Environment’. It has the circular economy, biodiversity protection, CO2 emissions reduction and traceability and transparency as its main areas of focus.

On December 14, LVMH invited 500 business leaders from across the group and its supply chain, as well as political leaders, to the headquarters in Paris of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on December 14 for an update on its progress so far.

Leather, an inherently circular material, featured prominently in a number of the initiatives it highlighted at the event.

It said it had achieved its 2023 target of offering new circular services by establishing a repair-and-care task force at several of its brands. To illustrate the impact of this, it reported that flagship luxury leathergoods brand Louis Vuitton now repairs 600,000 products per year for lovers of its handbags and other products.

On the footwear side, it reported that 79% of the Berluti products made from leather are now made to be repairable, while its Bon Marché department store has introduced a shoe repair service on site.

Rimowa, the Cologne-based high-end luggage and leathergoods brand that the group acquired in 2016, now offers a lifetime guarantee for bags and suitcases.

On biodiversity, it highlighted that it had helped regenerate more than 1.3 million hectares of land by the end of 2022 and was on track to meet its target of 5 million hectares by 2030.

To help it achieve this target, it announced a series of projects, including a new strategic partnership with Brazilian non-governmental organisation Fundação Amazônia Sustentável (FAS), which works for sustainability in Amazon regions.

At the Paris event, the group reported a reduction of 11% in its direct greenhouse gas emissions (scopes 1 and 2) and of 15% in its indirect emissions (scope 3). It has based its calculations on emissions “per unit of added value” over the period from 2019 to 2022.

Finally, on traceability and transparency, it said a 2023 target of knowing the countries of origin of strategic raw materials is “on track to being achieved”. It said it already knows the origin of 95% to 100% of the leather it uses.