Sustainable Beauty Coalition launches to help beauty industry advance its sustainability goals
The British Beauty Council has launched the Sustainable Beauty Coalition (SBC) to help tackle the global climate change emergency by creating a framework of action that the beauty and wellness industry could collectively follow to boost its sustainability efforts.
The SBC is supported by an advisory panel of industry experts, brand owners and industry body representatives, which report into the British Beauty Council’s executive board, with a remit to:
- Develop a clear strategy and roadmap to accelerate sustainability in the industry
- Strengthen links across the industry, communities, voices and professional bodies to accelerate collaboration, knowledge and bolder collective efforts
- Work with the Government to champion the work of the industry and support the agenda in the Race to Net Zero campaign
- Act to create stronger frameworks and policies for the UK's beauty sector
- Monitor the roadmap's progress and keep the execution of initiatives under review.
The coalition has launched with an open letter to the industry, calling on the UK beauty and wellness sectors to collaborate and take decisive action to address the many climate-related problems, such as non-recyclable plastic packaging, chemicals contaminating the oceans, and unregulated, misleading product claims. For example, this is why you should be switching to stocking sea-safe sunscreen.
It also plans to create an overarching Framework for Action, which will focus on climate, biodiversity, waste and water, and set ambitious targets for the industry to work towards – in becoming more transparent and accountable, and establishing industry-wide standards.
Who is part of the Sustainable Beauty Coalition?
The coalition's steering group is headed by chair Jayn Sterland, UK managing director of Weleda UK. Its members include:
- Jo-Anne Chidley, founder of Beauty Kitchen
- Joanne Cook, trading director for beauty and sports nutrition at Holland & Barrett
- Helen Cox, global reporting lead at Lush
- Phil Cumming, global head of sustainability at Walgreens Boots Alliance
- Natalie Deacon, head of corporate affairs and sustainability at Avon
- Michelle Feeney, founder of Floral Street Fragrances
- Oriele Frank, chief product and sustainability officer and co-founder at Elemis
- Mark Smith, director general at Natrue
- Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet
- Sara Vaughan, global chief purpose and sustainability advisor at Marie Claire.
“We believe the UK beauty and wellness industry must play its part in bringing about bold, urgent change. We have a strong voice, reputation and reach, and we need to use it,” said Sterland.
“Consumers are keen to see this happen, and they are looking to us to clean up our act by addressing the many climate-related problems we have created, such as non-recyclable plastic packaging, chemicals contaminating the oceans and unregulated, misleading product claims.
“While a growing number of brands are taking significant steps to reduce their negative impact on the planet, these efforts are patchy and uncoordinated. The coalition seeks to address this.”
Millie Kendall, chief executive of the British Beauty Council, commented: "The beauty industry needs to be transparent, accountable and make changes now – we will lose the respect of the consumer if we don’t. Surveys show that 95% of consumers believe their own actions make a difference. If our customers believe that, what are we as an industry doing in response? We can and should do better. The beauty industry's purpose is, after all, to encourage the intrinsic beauty of people and our planet to shine."
Sign up to the Sustainable Beauty Coalition today.
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