Accelerating Biodiversity Preservation With L’Oréal

L’Oréal’s impact investment initiative to restore nature, managed by Mirova - the affiliate of Natixis Invesment Managers dedicated to sustainable finance - announced three new investments in high-impact projects aimed at tackling biodiversity-loss through reforestation and the restoration of ecosystems.

One million species are already threatened with extinction and 75% of the earth’s surface has been significantly altered¹. L’Oréal is accelerating its longstanding commitment to biodiversity preservation efforts beyond its own value chain. The team, which has committed EUR22 million in projects to-date, is engaging with partners with proven expertise to support in the regeneration of degraded lands and mangroves, as well as the restoration of marine areas and forests.

Three new supported projects were selected based on several criteria including business model readiness, economic viability, and positive environmental and social impacts on local communities:

• NetZero is a French climate venture operating in tropical areas such as Cameroon and Brazil, that specializes in long-term carbon removal from the atmosphere by turning agricultural residues into biochar. Biochar is a stable, non-polluting carbon that can be added to improve degraded soil. It is recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a viable solution with the potential to remove one-to-two billion tons of CO2 emissions from the planet’s atmosphere each year.
• ReforesTerra aims to restore 2,000 hectares of land degraded by pastures. The project will engage with smallholder farmers to directly plant new trees and create a favorable environment for natural regeneration in the lower Rio Jamari basin of Rondônia, covering 75% of the project area. The remaining 25% will benefit from strategic planting in small clusters that attracts wildlife to naturally propagate new forests.
• Mangroves.Now will facilitate community-based mangrove restoration projects in South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It aims to provide access to financing for small-scale projects with local NGOs and to restore approximately 20,000 hectares of previously degraded land, while providing equitable benefit-sharing with local communities. Mangroves.Now is an initiative by VNV Advisory.

For Mirova, which manages the initiative through its natural capital platform, this collaboration with L’Oréal is a great example of how its impact investing expertise can be leveraged to help corporate investors meet their climate and biodiversity goals.

Gautier Queru, Managing Director of Natural Capital at Mirova, comments: “L’Oréal's project for nature restoration accelerates the growth of innovative companies and projects throughout the world. We are proud to partner with L’Oréal to catalyze new approaches to nature conversation and restoration. The three investments that we are announcing today test new approaches to cost-effectively sequester carbon, to support smallholder farmers and NGOs, and to achieve long-lasting impact at scale. We are excited to have them join our portfolio of pioneering investments.”

L’Oréal’s initiative for nature restoration was created in 2020 and is endowed with EUR 50 million for impact investment. In 2021, L’Oréal announced the first two recipients of funds: the Real Wild Estates Company (RWEC), the UK’s first rewilding business; and RIZE carbon financing, which helps accelerate France and Europe’s farming sector towards sustainable practices.


For Further Reading:

• Mirova to Manage €50m Impact Investment for L’Oréal
• What is Impact Investing?
• Mirova Predicts Growth in Natural Capital Investing
• Mirova Among the ImpactAssets 50 for its Natural Capital Activities
• What is Natural Capital (VIDEO)?