Natura &Co has given its first update on progress made and the challenges faced since the launch of its 10-year Commitment to Life plan in June 2020.
Related: Natura &Co Raises $1B in Sustainability-Linked Bond
Key updates include:
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The launch of a new monitor tool called PlenaMata, in partnership with MapBiomas and InfoAmazônia. This new portal, built in collaboration with multiple groups, will create a centralized database to inform initiatives for the conservation and regeneration of the Amazon biome.
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A renewed call to build an agreement on nature with the same importance it has been given to climate and carbon. The company supports the creation of science-based targets for biodiversity.
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Natura &Co will set out a new plan to ensure its workforce reflects the demographic composition of the societies in which it operates. It aims to develop new ways to tackle inequality and under-representation.
Highlights from the first year of progress:
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Natura &Co's preservation of Amazon forest increased from 1.8-2million hectares.
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Access Benefit Payments totalling 8.7 million R$ were made to communities in the Amazon.
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The gender balance of the management team reached 49%.
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The company is on track to close a 0.9% unexplained pay equity gap by year end 2021.
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It invested $4.87 million in regenerative solutions, such as Ekos Tukumã.
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It invested $94 million in causes, including donations to fighting COVID-19, supporting breast cancer awareness initiatives, and support for victims of domestic violence.
Roberto Marques, executive chairman and group CEO Natura &Co, said: "We are sharing our progress, and our challenges, in the spirit of transparency, and in the spirit of collaboration. Our business model holds ourselves accountable to balance profit and purpose, which is why we will always report our social and environmental performance with the same transparency as we do our financial performance. With 75% of Fortune 500 companies not having carbon neutral commitments by 2030 in place, it's clear that the world has a long way to go. The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time, and it will be incumbent upon the private sector to step up and push for change in order for the goals of the Paris Agreement to become a reality. Equally, social justice will continue to be an aspiration unless businesses step up to ensure diversity and inclusion through every aspect of their structure and its entire network in which they participate. Our Commitment to Life vision is ambitious, but with collaboration, creativity, and care, we will achieve it."
Tasso Azevedo, founder of MapBiomas, said: "We are launching an instrument to engage the private sector, civil societies, local communities and governments to articulate the fight against deforestation and successful conservation and regeneration initiatives."
Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and executive director of the UN Global Compact, said: "I am grateful to Natura &Co for convening this important dialogue on diversity equity and inclusion. While we´ve made some great strides toward the SDGs, persistent inequality threatens to derail our progress with gender inequality the most glaring of all and the COVID-19 crisis has made the economic gender gap even wider. Threatening to slow or reverse any progress we have made. Embracing diversity and inclusion has proven not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do. I congratulate Natura &Co on their ambitious targets. Target setting is crucial for progress on diversity and inclusion, because what gets measured gets done. Our workforce should reflect the diverse world in which we live in. Responsible business leaders can and must set the tone from the top, because the evidence is clear, when women and other underrepresented groups are empowered, everybody wins."
Akanksha Khatri, head of nature and biodiversity at World Economic Forum, said: "We are seeing an unprecedented interest in and commitment to fighting the climate and nature emergencies facing humanity. Despite this increasing attention on the topic of nature loss, there is still limited understanding on how it can be material to businesses and what the private sector can do to address this challenge. Business leaders, governments and heads of civil society organizations must come together to create an integrated nature action agenda to tackle the issues of climate, biodiversity, forests, oceans and sustainable development."
