PARIS — Cartier is the latest company to throw its hat in the ring for Gucci’s CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge — on Earth Day, no less.
“We firmly believe that aspirations for a sustainable industry can only be achieved through collaborative initiatives. As citizens of the world, we believe it is our duty to protect its biodiversity and make a positive impact on the planet,” stated Cyrille Vigneron, president and CEO of Cartier International, adding that he hoped that “additional actors from the private sector will commit to join the challenge.”
Back in 2019, Gucci’s president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri had called for collective action to reduce GHG emissions “immediately, not over decades” in an open letter to his peers across sectors, urging corporate accountability and responsibility in finding solutions to meet climate and biodiversity crises head on.
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Cartier’s announcement comes as the latest climate mitigation report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that it was “now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius,” said Jim Skea, co-chair of IPCC Working Group III.
“Given the escalated warnings in [the IPCC] report, it is becoming even clearer since I issued the CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge in 2019 that we need to act now for nature, as it is simply not enough to focus solely on reducing emissions over the coming decades,” said Bizzarri, lauding Cartier for “taking this leadership step to prioritize emissions reduction through their science-based target and holding themselves accountable for all their residual emissions every year by investing in nature-based solutions to protect, manage and restore natural ecosystems.”
Joining the CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge is the latest step in the high-end jeweler’s sustainable and environmental commitments, after becoming a member of the Science Based Targets Initiative in 2021 and aiming to reduce emissions by 46 percent by 2030 while sourcing its electricity from exclusively from renewable sources.
The Compagnie Financière Richemont-owned brand also launched and fully funded Cartier For Nature in 2020, a structure supporting nature-based solutions to help protect, manage and restore ecosystems on the long term.
In April, Cartier and Kering went ahead with the official founding of the Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030 association at the 2022 edition of the Watches & Wonders fair in Geneva, despite severing ties with the Responsible Jewelry Council, their partner when the project was launched in 2021. Chanel’s watches and jewelry division, Montblanc, Swarovski and diamond trading firm Rosy Blue were also announced as new members of the initiative that is meant to span high and low players, including brands, distributors and suppliers.
Other companies who have answered Bizzarri’s call are luxury consignment specialist The RealReal, technology company SAP, Lavazza Group, Nestlé-owned mineral water brand San Pellegrino and Levin Sources, a consulting firm working in the mining sector.
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