Arabian Post Staff -Dubai
The pledge was announced at the third L’Oréal For the Future Summit in Dubai, where the company positioned climate action, refillable products and more sustainable retail operations as central to its next phase of growth in the region. The move strengthens L’Oréal Middle East’s public commitments as the UAE shifts corporate climate action from voluntary ambition towards measurable implementation, with businesses facing growing expectations on carbon reporting, resource efficiency and supply-chain accountability.
The UAE Climate-Responsible Companies Pledge, initiated by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, calls on companies to track and disclose greenhouse-gas emissions, develop science-based decarbonisation plans, embed mitigation and adaptation into operations, and encourage suppliers, employees and consumers to take part in climate action. It has drawn companies from banking, real estate, energy, transport, retail and professional services as the country seeks deeper private-sector participation in its climate neutrality strategy.
For L’Oréal Middle East, the signing extends a sustainability programme being rolled out across products, offices, retail materials and logistics. The company has said its regional strategy is anchored in L’Oréal for the Future, the global programme built around four pillars: stewarding the climate transition, safeguarding nature, driving circularity and supporting communities. Group-level 2030 targets include a 57 per cent reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse-gas emissions compared with 2019 and a 28 per cent reduction in selected Scope 3 emissions linked to purchased goods and services, upstream transport, distribution and business travel.
The group says it reached 100 per cent renewable energy use across operated sites and stores where it holds electricity subscriptions by the end of 2025. Within the UAE, its climate push has included renewable energy use at its Dubai office, lower-carbon logistics initiatives with partners and the expansion of refillable or reusable formats in fragrance, skincare, haircare and makeup. The company has also worked with retailers to reduce the environmental footprint of point-of-sale material, an area that often receives less attention than packaging.
Refillable beauty products are expected to form one of the most visible elements of the company’s UAE strategy. At earlier editions of its summit, L’Oréal Middle East outlined plans with Sephora to increase the availability of refillable, refill and reusable products from its luxury brands, supported by digital campaigns and in-store visibility. The same collaboration set a target for 75 per cent eco-designed point-of-sale materials in Sephora stores by 2027 and 100 per cent by 2030, under a model focused on reducing weight and replacing conventional materials with lower-impact alternatives.
The pledge lands as the UAE tightens its climate governance. Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024 on the Reduction of Climate Change Effects applies to emissions sources across the country, including free zones, and creates a legal basis for emissions management, climate adaptation planning and a national carbon credit registry. The law reinforces a policy environment in which corporate climate claims are likely to face sharper scrutiny from regulators, investors and consumers.
L’Oréal’s regional leadership has framed sustainability as a business transformation rather than a marketing campaign, but implementation will be judged on verifiable outcomes. The beauty industry faces difficult emissions challenges because much of its footprint sits outside offices and factories, in ingredients, packaging, logistics, retail display, consumer use and end-of-life disposal. Gulf demand adds complexity, particularly where premium beauty relies on high levels of packaging, imported stock and energy-intensive retail environments.
Consumer behaviour will be another test. Surveys show strong environmental awareness in the UAE, but the shift from awareness to changed purchasing habits is slower when refills cost more upfront, are less familiar or require specific retail infrastructure. For L’Oréal and its retail partners, success will depend on making refill formats convenient, desirable and widely available.
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