Ezgi Barcenas to take over as L’Oréal Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer

L’Oréal has announced that Ezgi Barcenas will take on the Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer role on April 1 as its sustainability lead of 12 years, Alexandra Palt, steps down.

Barcenas joins from brewing giant AB InBev, where she has been Chief Sustainability Officer for the past three years, largely focused on water stewardship and agricultural development. She will be replaced there by Ingrid de Ryck.

Palt joined the €240 billion company as Chief Sustainability Officer in 2013 and was nominated to the Executive Committee as Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer in 2019. According to the company, she is leaving to “embark on a new chapter focused on personal endeavours”. She will remain CEO of the Fondation L'Oréal until June 30, and will then sit on its board.

L’Oréal sustainability goals and progress

The company posted sales of €38.26 billion in 2022, up 18.5% year on year. In 2018, it established a science-based target to reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030, from a 2016 base year. 

L’Oréal is working to make all its facilities carbon neutral, use more biobased ingredients in its formulas and packaging and recycle or reuse its industrial waste. More than 99% of the company’s carbon footprint sits within Scope 3, and it plans to tackle it by engaging strategic suppliers to reduce their Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50%, as well as innovating to reduce emissions from products in use.

But it appears to have made little progress towards its emissions goal so far: in 2022, it reported a total carbon footprint of more than 11.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent – an increase around 0.7 million tons compared to 2020, which it attributed to “direct and indirect purchases”.

L’Oréal was recently awarded an A rating by CDP for its climate change, deforestation and water disclosures – one of just 10 companies to make the ‘A list’ on all three sustainability aspects.