‘Cruelty-free’, ‘vegan’, ‘organic’, and ‘recyclable’, the beauty industry is actively responding to consumer demand for more socially and environmentally conscious cosmetics. Yet, despite a sea of claims, very little is said about the carbon impact of these products. Is carbon the industry’s blind spot?
Demand for organic and natural beauty products has risen in recent decades as consumers increasingly seek products free from synthetics and harmful chemicals. Several movements have shaken up the beauty industry: ethical practices, zero waste and fair trade ingredients. For years, consumers have been mindful of the impact their purchased products have on their skin, workers, animals – and now, the planet.
A British Beauty Council survey revealed that 41% of consumers feel guilty about the negative environmental impact of their grooming products and are willing to change their behaviours. As the state of the climate becomes a growing consumer concern, beauty brands have responded by trying to tackle waste, deforestation and microplastics. Nonetheless, little investment has been made into reducing and communicating the carbon footprints of the products beauty brands sell. A recent analysis by Provenance, which specialises in validating sustainability claims, for example, found that of the nearly 158,000 sustainability claims it had assessed of the UK’s top seven beauty retailers, less than 2% related to the climate.
Building the foundation with third-party verification
The beauty industry has been marred with vague claims and little proof to substantiate them. This rings especially true for climate-related claims. Provenance’s risk analysis found that more than 1 in 8 climate-related beauty claims (12.9%) are at high risk of misleading consumers and breaching regulatory guidance; higher than claims made around waste (6.3%) and nature (10.7%). This lack of transparency leads to confusion and mistrust; reiterating the need for third-party verification. Such a verification can be communicated in the form of an accessible, on-pack carbon label.
Getting carbon claims right is not easy for beauty retailers – our analysis shows 1 in every 8 climate-related green claims carries a high risk of misleading consumers. But given that climate claims only account for a very small fraction of green claims today, there's also a major opportunity for retailers to stand out in an increasingly carbon-conscious beauty market.
Women, who remain the primary consumers of beauty products, are particularly interested in carbon labels. In our 2023 consumer research, 71% agreed that it would be good for companies to use recognisable labels on products made with a commitment to measuring and reducing their carbon footprint.1 Product carbon footprints and labels should not be glossed over.
Carbon labels provide a transparent way forward for companies that actively try to reduce the carbon impact of their products. With new regulation in multiple markets aiming to crack down on claims that could potentially mislead consumers, it’s more important than ever to make sure claims are third-party verified and communicated in a way that is clear and backed by evidence. A label that confirms if – and by how much – a product's carbon footprint has been reduced, benefits both consumers and companies in many ways. It can:
- Achieve far more tangible impact. The Carbon Trust’s ‘reducing’ label claim, for example, requires a company to demonstrate year-on-year reductions in product carbon emissions. It encourages companies to actively reduce the footprint of the product rather than allowing those emissions to be offset through the purchasing of carbon credits.
- Steer consumers towards select products. Beauty Heroes, for example, saw a 20% greater conversion rate on products that have had their sustainability claims backed up with a verification.
- Drive continuous investment in sustainability as companies need to achieve an annual reduction in their product’s emissions to retain footprint verifications.
- Increase the credibility and trust of a brand in the eyes of the consumer and other stakeholders.
Consumers want to be able to trust their favourite brands and have the option to shop with the climate in mind. They want to able to quickly access a product’s sustainability credentials and carbon footprint in-shop or online, expecting to receive this level of information from brands directly in easy-to-understand language.
Ignoring the carbon impact of products could overlook a critical element that is core to sustainability. To date, communication on beauty products’ carbon impact has been minimal. Now is the time for the beauty industry to apply what it has learned in communicating biodiversity and animal welfare efforts to emission reductions. Doing so, the industry can help consumers make more carbon-conscious choices.
1 YouGov research May 2023 based on 11 global markets – China, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the US.
