The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has reached its RE100 target of achieving net zero emissions and sourcing 100% renewable electricity globally for its direct operations. To achieve these targets the company invested in renewable energy agreements in order to reduce its operational carbon footprint. This includes signing a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) for 22 MW of wind power from the Ponderosa wind farm in Oklahoma. This VPPA is the company’s largest renewable energy agreement till date and alone will cover more than 50 per cent of the company’s electricity footprint with renewable energy technologies.
ELC has installed solar power projects, both ground-mounted and rooftop, at its various facilities across the world so as to achieve a total of 5 MW of installed solar capacity worldwide. Further, the company procured renewable energy certificates (RECs) or their international equivalent in markets where its operations have a comparatively smaller carbon footprint. These certificates would help to support local renewable energy generation.
ELC’s new climate targets address Scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions and are independently validated and approved by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi). Under these targets, the company has committed to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. Further, it commits to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions by 60% per unit revenue over the same timeframe from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and distribution, and business travel.