PR95546

PARIS, April 20, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Ambitious global program marks a new era for the leading luxury beauty brand,

which has also revamped its wider sustainability platform

Today, in the lead-up to Earth Day, YSL Beauty has announced a global program

called REWILD OUR EARTH, in partnership with global NGO Re:wild, reflecting its

broader commitment to making a positive impact on the planet and its people.

The Rewild Our Earth program aims to protect and restore 100,000 hectares by

2030––a surface area that is almost 10 times the size of Paris––and to

safeguard biodiversity in priority areas affected by climate change where YSL

Beauty's ingredients are sourced. Inspired by the brand's longstanding

involvement in Morocco's Ourika Valley with the innovative Ourika Community

Gardens initiative, this project is inscribed within the brand's new

sustainability platform, known as 'Change the Rules, Change the Future'. This

revamped vision has 3 key pillars: (1) Reduce Our Impact; (2) Rewild Our Earth;

and (3) Abuse Is Not Love.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:  

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/9038151-ysl-beauty-launches-rewild-our-earth/

Rewild Our Earth: A Long-Term Initiative to Protect and Restore the Wild

A commitment to the Earth lies at the heart of the YSL Beauty brand, inspired

by the legacy of Mr. Saint Laurent, a nature lover who drew inspiration from

the natural wonders of Morocco throughout his career. Since the 2013

introduction of the innovative Ourika Community Gardens project in Morocco, the

brand has worked on restoring at-risk environments and has helped to empower

local communities for nearly a decade. In 2021, the brand affirmed its

commitment as part of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Now,

with the launch of 'Rewild Our Earth', YSL Beauty will work in partnership with

Re:wild, a world-renowned non-governmental organization that works across 188

conservation areas in 89 countries to protect and restore biodiversity and to

advance ecological restoration globally. For 2022, this program will focus

specifically on the launch of "rewilding" programs in priority areas for

biodiversity where the brand sources product ingredients. Rewilding is an

innovative approach to conservation based on a progressive effort to enable

natural processes, repair damaged ecosystems, and restore degraded landscapes;

in other words, to better let nature take care of itself.

For 2022, 'Rewild Our Earth' will focus on the following priority areas:

1. The Ourika Valley, Morocco, is a region where the brand cultivates a range

of ingredients (such as pomegranate, marshmallow, iris, jasmine, walnut, and

saffron), and which lies at the heart of YSL Beauty's sustainability strategy.

The Ourika Community Gardens was started in 2013 as a socially responsible

program connected to the Earth––living proof of the brand's commitment to

sustainability. Today, at this remarkable site that is home to more than 200

plant species, the brand continues to help empower communities of women to

better their autonomy through a co-created co-operative. Beyond the Gardens,

YSL Beauty has also worked more broadly throughout the Ourika Valley region

since 2017 to plant trees and restore arid land, so far planting over 125,000

trees in an area whose primary ecological risk is rising temperatures,

deforestation, and frequent natural disasters.

2. Haiti, linked with vetiver sourcing (an ingredient used in YSL Beauty's

L'Homme & La Nuit de L'Homme, as well as in historical fragrances such as

Opium).

Haiti is experiencing an ecological crisis fueled by floods and landslides: the

primary forest cover has shrunk from 60% in the 1920s to less than 1% today.

This remaining land is a biodiversity hotspot that is home to an astonishing

diversity of wildlife, much of which occur nowhere else. Without adequate trees

to stabilize the sloping terrain, the country's population living downstream is

being put in danger by these floods and landslides, creating a disastrous

feedback loop of poverty and deforestation, fueled by climate change. The

brand's priority is to help save and manage the remaining important forests of

Bois Pangnol, and the essential habitats and species within.

3. Madagascar, linked with vanilla and geranium sourcing (ingredients used in

YSL Beauty's Black Opium, Libre, Le Vestiaire des Parfums, and Y).

In Madagascar, the world's largest Oceanic island and a critical area for

sustainability, widespread deforestation has compromised an important remaining

forest link between two regions containing key biodiversity areas: Analamanga

and Alaotra Mangoro. The protected area of Anjozorobe Angavo is a remaining

primary forest corridor, harboring 558 species of plants, 9 species of lemurs,

34 species of amphibians, 36 species of reptiles, and 75 species of birds. YSL

Beauty is supporting the restoration of this corridor through collaboration

between both authorities and communities, including a robust site monitoring

program to ensure ecosystem health. The target of this program is to restore

400,000 trees by 2023.

4. Indonesia, linked with patchouli sourcing (ingredients used in fragrances

such as YSL Beauty's Mon Paris, Black Opium and Le Vestiaire de Parfums).

Described as the 'freshwater Galapagos', the lakes and surrounding areas of the

Indonesian island of Sulawesi are home to some of the most unique sets of flora

and fauna in the world. However, in recent years, the level of threat to this

ecosystem has increased dramatically with overdevelopment in the area. These

lakes are surrounded by largely unexplored forests, which support vibrant

animal populations and act as watersheds that provide clean water and help to

regulate the local climate; in other words, saving the lakes requires saving

their forests. YSL Beauty's objective in supporting this area is to reduce the

impact of invasive species on the endemic species of the lakes (restoring more

than 16,000 hectares of Lake Matano), while also working with forest-edge

communities to manage, protect, and restore 30,000 hectares of forests.

Change the Rules, Change the Future: An Ambitious Sustainability Platform that

Prioritizes People and Planet

YSL Beauty is committed to enacting positive change in the world, focusing on

both people and the planet. The brand has made new sustainability commitments

and renewed its sustainability platform, which includes three key pillars. In

addition to Rewild Our Earth, these include Reducing Our Impact and Abuse Is

Not Love.

- Reducing Our Impact addresses transitions towards low carbon and circular

economies and establishes targets that are in line with the latest climate

science. From sourcing and formulation, to packaging, manufacturing, transport,

point of sale, and end of life use, YSL Beauty is committed to drastically

reducing its environmental footprint. Through prioritizing bio-based

ingredients (70% by 2023); investing in recyclable, rechargeable materials with

lighter packaging (100% eco-designed and recyclable, with virgin plastics

phased out by 2030); transitioning to 100% carbon-neutral French factories in

2022; training and upskilling 100% of our beauty teams in sustainability,

social impact, and consumer transparency; and ensuring retail and merchandising

is 100% eco-designed, Reducing Our Impact is ambitiously targeting every aspect

of the business to ensure goals are met.

- Abuse Is Not Love is a global program to prevent and fight against intimate

partner violence through prevention programming with non-profit partners, with

the objective to create a dialogue on abusive behaviors and offer support to

partners on the ground. Today the program exists in 20 countries and has

already educated over 130,000 people on the warning signs of abuse through NGO

prevention programming. Through internal training, partner and NGO support and

evidence-based thought leadership, the program aims to educate 2 million people

by 2030.

For YSL Beauty, this platform marks a new era of sustainability that will

define the beauty of the future. Moving forward, the brand's focus will be on

continuing to harness innovation to unlock new possibilities––from how the

brand makes its product, to the overarching impact it will have on the world.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1799818/YSL_Beauty_rewild_our_earth.jpg

Source: YSL Beauty