Louis Vuitton 2009 Annual Report Download - page 71

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Reach: The Brands take a proactive approach
to their obligations
LVMH continues to deploy its initiatives and works to anticipate
future changes in the Reach regulations. The work group established
by the Environmental Department is a venue for exchange and feed-
back from everyone. All the companies have prepared and/or modified
their contracts and sales documentation and questioned their sup-
pliers. They have set up a Reach Committee to increase employee
awareness so that they can specifically answer any question asked.
Encourage responsible consumption
Efforts to increase consumer awareness continued in the Moët
Hennessy companies. Promotion of a responsible consumption
message will be made more visible at tour sites to encourage those
who discover the Group’s companies to follow the recommendations
issued by health authorities. This effort is also reflected on the Moët
Hennessy brand websites where a request for the visitor’s age has
become virtually systematic, and which include a responsible
consumption message and reference to informational sites.
PROGRAMS EXTENDED TO CIVIL SOCIETY
The Global Pact, which was launched in 1999 by Kofi Annan, commits
major corporations to compliance with ten principles relating to human
rights and labor and environmental standards in order to contribute
to more sustainable development for the planet. LVMH has made
this international commitment and also contributes to its local imple-
mentation through the Ile-de-France Sustainable Development Club
formed in 2007. This club works to disseminate best practices to
small and medium businesses, and implements a system of cross-
audits between representatives of companies that are comparable in
terms of concerns and resources. Bernard Arnault also signed the
Copenhagen Communique on Climate Change launched in June
2009 at the initiative of the Prince of Wales and Cambridge University.
This document calls for an ambitious, vigorous and equitable global
agreement that will respond credibly to the magnitude and urgency
of the crises facing the world.
LVMH: a partner to associations,
local communities and schools
Some particularly active companies have initiated partnerships with
associations. Louis Vuitton, for example, renewed its support for
Al Gore’s Climate Project through a new institutional advertising
campaign featuring Sean Connery, Jim Lovell, Sally Ride and Buzz
Aldrin. Their fee and an additional amount were contributed to the
Climate Project along with 15% of the profits from Internet sales
during “Earth Day.” The company also repeated the collection of
cartons at its headquarters and paid the money obtained to the
League against Cancer. And, finally, the leather goods company
decided to acquire a forest located in Komoro City, in the Nagano
region, which will be the site of specific projects to restore
bio diversity.
Since 2002, TAG Heuer has been conducting various projects to
reduce its carbon footprint. In 2009, it formed a partnership with
Leonardo DiCaprio who personalized the design of the Aquaracer
500M watch. The gains generated by this limited series were contri-
buted to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Green Cross
International, two NGOs also personally supported by the actor.
Since January 2009, Leonardo DiCaprio and TAG Heuer have been
working together to identify the most appropriate measures to take
to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
At the same time, Bogedas Chandon Argentina made a successful
contribution to the “Educar Forestando” project launched last year:
over 1,800 trees were planted at twelve different institutions or
local communities. Belvedere continued to actively contribute to
two projects conducted by the Foundation for the Protection of the
Environment in Zyrardow, “Cleaning World” and “Cleaning the Pisia
River”.
Fine Cognac H2O,
a model of eco-design
In the purest tradition of Fine à l’eau (brandy with a splash
of pure water), Hennessy decided to review its emblematic
Cognac. The House focused on the articles used for
this “expanded” form of consumption: a filtering carafe
and an eternal glass ice drop, the Eternal Ice Drop,
were designed by 5.5 designers. These two articles create
a subliminal image of the water that is particularly important
to the Hennessy House, the quality of which is crucial for any
tasting. In line with this process, the complete packaging
system was eco-designed: the weight of the glass was
reduced from 780g to 600g, the glass was labeled in enamels
without ink or glue or paper, the cork is made of beech wood
from FSC certified forests, the box is also FSC certified
and bleached without chlorine, shipping cartons are lighter
because they are simply fluted and have only the legal
notices on them so as to limit ink use, with the printed product
information inside the box.