Company Announcements

Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, today releases its annual Sustainability Report 2022, detailing the Group’s strong ESG performance for the year ended 31 March 2022. Building upon Richemont’s top-ranking ESG achievements, the Group has stepped up its sustainability focus both at the Executive and Board levels with the appointments of Dr. Bérangère Ruchat, Richemont’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, and Jasmine Whitbread, the new Chair of its Governance and Sustainability Board Committee.

“We have continued to accelerate our sustainability efforts throughout FY2022, delivering against our short-, medium- and long-term goals,” said Burkhart Grund, Chief Finance Officer, Richemont. “With the arrival of Bérangère Ruchat and Jasmine Whitbread, we are stepping up our sustainability focus and laying the foundations that will drive best-in-class environmental and social progress across our operations and supply chains.”

“With my team, I am further developing the Group’s vision to accelerate and amplify the Group’s ESG transformation,” said Bérangère Ruchat, Chief Sustainability Officer, Richemont. “Our mission is to infuse an impact-driven mindset, enabling our colleagues to understand and integrate environmental and social dimensions into every business decision. Following global standards, we are committed to expand our sustainability reporting and operate with the highest level of corporate governance.”

FY2022 ESG Performance

Reducing our Environmental Footprint: Delivering against its science-based targets, Richemont was recognised for its leadership in corporate sustainability, achieving an A ranking with CDP for tackling climate change, one of 200 companies out of 12,000 ranked. Advancing the Group’s commitment to 100% renewable electricity across all its sites by 2025, today Richemont is operating with 92% renewable electricity worldwide, an improvement of 28 percentage points since 2019. Furthermore, acting on responsible waste management, Richemont is on track to eliminate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from our creations and packaging by December 2022.

Amplifying our Social Handprint: Richemont concluded its first Product Social Impact Assessment (PSIA) on artisanal and small-scale mined (ASM) gold and designed an approach for future social projects.  Through the PSIA, Richemont can evaluate specific operators and measure their overall social and human rights performance. Advancing the Group’s equity commitments, Richemont continued to partner with the EQUAL-SALARY Foundation, with the goal of 100% equal pay by 2024. By December 2022 Richemont will reach a 40%-certified workforce, encompassing the Group’s three biggest sites. Working to positively impact the communities where the Group operates, €42 million were donated to community investment-related initiatives, in the fields of healthcare, social and economic development, education, women and children’s welfare. These donations represent a 17% year-on-year increase, and 40% increase over a five-year period.

Refining our Governance: Each year, Richemont refines its governance processes to ensure they can fuel the level of change needed to become a truly sustainable business. Building on the successful establishment of the Board of Directors’ Governance and Sustainability Committee under Clay Brendish in 2021, Jasmine Whitbread was appointed as the Committee’s new Chair. Ms Whitbread is an experienced Non-executive Director with extensive expertise in ESG matters. Furthermore, Richemont was delighted to welcome Dr. Bérangère Ruchat, its first Chief Sustainability Officer in February 2022. In FY22, Richemont received a Sustainalytics’ rating of 10.7, highlighting a low ESG risk profile and ranking the Group in the top 2% of companies rated worldwide. This rating positions the Group as an industry leader in the top 10 amongst our peers globally and one of the best companies in Europe. This Sustainalytics rating follows Chloé's B Corp certification in 2022, which makes it the first luxury Maison to achieve this highly demanding endorsement, demonstrating the highest social and environmental performance levels.