Our EP&L

 What is the EP&L?

Kering’s EP&L enables the Group to quantify, monitor and communicate its annual environmental footprint across the entire value chain. Kering published its first EP&L accounts in 2015, analyzing the Group’s 2013 and 2014 impacts, ahead of its peers and regulation. It has since become the cornerstone of the Group’s environmental approach.

In operational terms, the EP&L measures the impact of Kering and its Houses on natural capital from raw material production to consumer use and product end of life, covering six key environmental impact indicators: 

-    greenhouse gas emissions
-    air emissions
-    water pollution
-    water consumption
-    waste production 
-    land use
 

These environmental impacts are measured in physical units (e.g., tons of CO₂e, hectares of land occupied, etc.). Through the EP&L methodology, they are then converted into monetary values representing the potential consequences of the Group activities and that of its suppliers in terms of cost on environment and society.

A strategic management tool
 

Following the principle that “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”, 
Kering uses the EP&L for four main objectives:
 

1/ Ascertaining the largest impacts drivers through a deeper understanding of where environmental impacts lie and translating them into a common business language; 

2/ Developing an effective and knowledgeable decision-making process to provide critical insights and steer the business strategy responsibly, for example by supporting the adoption of sustainable materials with data from the supply chain; 

3/ Creating more resilient supply chains to manage future risks due to climate change and biodiversity loss; 

4/ Monitoring progress against the Group’s environmental targets and transparently communicating with stakeholders.

Discover the Group’s latest EP&L results here.
 

The EP&L in action

Comparing different environmental impacts for effective decision-making 

The EP&L’s ability to measure environmental impacts and translate them into monetary terms is a means to gain greater insight, including guiding clear strategic choices to improve raw material sourcing. 

When comparing the environmental impact, expressed in monetary terms (€), of conventional versus responsible alternatives (recycled, organic etc.) for materials such as wool, cotton, gold, and leather, it is evident that the responsible alternatives have a significantly lower impact. In all cases, these alternatives reduce the environmental footprint significantly.

The EP&L makes it possible for Kering to: 

-    Compare between different environmental impact types through converting varying units of measurement into a single unit (in euros);

-    Compare between raw material options and resulting impacts of products;

-    Compare, for any given environmental indicator, the magnitude of an impact for different sourcing and production locations;

-    Facilitate comparisons between Houses and business units;

-    Take appropriate action at House level, each House being responsible for creating its own action plan.

Supporting the Group sustainability targets
 

By measuring and understanding the impact of both its business activities and sustainability efforts, Kering can increase its ability to improve its environmental performance. Thanks to the EP&L, Kering set itself ambitious goals: to lead the way in sustainability within the luxury sector and to make decisions that sustain a resilient business in the longer term. The EP&L also enables Kering to closely monitor and transparently communicate the progress made towards these goals:
 

-    Reducing the Group’s total EP&L intensity by 40% by 2025 compared to 2015 levels. This target was attained in 2021, four years ahead of schedule

-   Sourcing raw materials according to the sustainability criteria defined in the Kering Standards for Raw Materials and Manufacturing Processes, which provide a unifying framework and detailed guidelines based on the latest scientific research and geared toward continuously reducing the Group’s environmental footprint. The Group is in line to achieve 100% traceability of key raw materials and 100% compliance with Kering Standards by 2025. 

-    Reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2050 – through targets validated by the SBTi.  

Communicating EP&L results also fosters dialogue and strengthens relationships with Group stakeholders, by sharing best practices and establishing a mutual understanding of priorities.

As part of its continuous improvement efforts intended to align with best practices and the latest scientific knowledge, the Group strives to improve the quality, accuracy, and comparability of its reported data. 

In addition to its compliance with evolving external reporting standards and frameworks, Kering is also developing and enhancing its own internal tools. In 2023 alone, Kering improved its data collection and integration processes, extended the scope of greenhouse gas emissions covered, and created a new breakdown of impacts across the Group’s entire value chain, from the production of raw materials used to make its products through to consumer use and end-of-life of sold products. 
 

Enhanced control processes performed by an independent third-party organization, renewed in 2023, has increased the reliability of data used in the EP&L. This method strengthens Kering’s approach and increases confidence among stakeholders.