Respect for biodiversity is key to success

Yet there is one sector within the cosmetics industry that is failing to capitalise on this insight, judging by observations drawn from the conference ‘The Beauty of Sourcing with Respect’: the natural and organic products sector. The event, organised by the Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), was held in Munich this year to raise the importance and implications of considering biodiversity issues when sourcing natural ingredients. Delegates from the cosmetics industry joined representatives from international organisations and civil society groups in the discussions. Their observations, combined with subsequent developments in the field, suggest that the implications are very important indeed, for several reasons. The natural and organic products sector is the fastest growing segment of the industry. This growth, alongside increased consumer demand for high ethical standards, means that ethical sourcing policies are becoming crucial for cosmetics companies. The conference provided a platform for all stakeholders to discuss the implications of these trends and featured presentations from corporate and NGO perspectives, including speakers from organisations as diverse as L’Oréal and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Essential to the ethical sourcing of natural products is sensitivity to its potential impacts on local biodiversity and on the traditional communities whose livelihoods depend upon that biodiversity. These issues formed the primary themes of the conference. The organisers, UEBT, also took the opportunity to present a new method they have developed called the Ethical BioTrade Barometer. This is a set of intelligencegathering procedures that are geared to tracking and reporting annually on trends in three areas: consumer views on the ethical sourcing of natural ingredients for cosmetics; company reporting on this practice; and press coverage of the issues. The first results from the barometer, obtained from an extensive survey conducted by market research company Ipsos Marketing, revealed useful intelligence that could lead to improved market opportunities for companies prepared to act. The survey – involving 4,000 participants from France, the UK, Germany and the USA – disclosed that 87% of people would favour cosmetics from a company that takes action to protect biodiversity and 79% would stop buying a cosmetics brand if they knew that its ingredients were not ethically sourced. At least half of the respondents felt that cosmetics companies should prove that they acquired their natural ingredients in an ethical way and more than 85% wanted to know more about sourcing practices used in the cosmetics sector.

Barometer

The barometer revealed that so far, few companies are responding to these trends. Of the top 100 cosmetics companies, only 44 report on sustainability issues and only 13 mention biodiversity. Of these, only nine refer explicitly to sourcing practices. The barometer also revealed that while the media frequently mention biodiversity as a general issue, they only rarely link it to the practice of sourcing ingredients for beauty products, and when they do, it is usually in a negative light. The overall conclusions drawn by the 2009 barometer were presented at the conference by UEBT’s executive director, Rik Kutsch Lojenga, who highlighted the contrast between the low level of consumer trust and their high demand for information with the low level of reporting within the cosmetics industry. He predicted that as awareness grows, consumers will become more demanding and press coverage and scrutiny will increase. Moreover, with the approach of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, cosmetics companies will be expected to engage and communicate further on their biodiversity sourcing practices. Mr Kutsch Lojenga told Personal Care: “The Ethical BioTrade Barometer provides for the first time reliable data on the issue of ethical sourcing of biodiversity, and on the growing importance of biodiversity in the eyes of consumers. This information was well-received by the cosmetics industry, and on the request of the industry, the barometer will be extended to Brazil, a country rich in biodiversity, as well as to Japan.” Needless to say, the benefits of engaging and communicating more with the public to improve market perceptions on these issues come with requisite responsibilities. These include the obligation to become accountable for sourcing practices, to work towards making these practices ethical and to work towards complying with the relevant legislation.