Sustainability Round-up December

©People's Daily

As China relaxes many of its Covid controls in early December, the country is now on the path aiming for a quick return to a pre-pandemic situation, with brands, retailers, parks etc. launching Christmas campaigns. Meanwhile, this month witnessed the success of COP15. As the president of COP15, China's achievements and practices on biodiversity conservation are being shared at the conference. Find out more about China's sustainability news at GREENEXT's Sustainability Round-up for December 2022!

FOCUSING ON COP15

©Felipe Castilla via Unsplash

The 15th meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity (COP15) kicked off with summit leaders calling for international cooperation to tackle rapidly declining nature and species extinction worldwide. As the president of COP15, China's achievements and practices on biodiversity conservation are being shared with members and participants of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) through the launch of the China Pavilion in Montreal. During the conference, global luxury group KERING and premium and sustainable cosmetics company L’OCCITANE Group announced they're teaming up to create the Climate Fund for Nature, which will mobilize resources from the Luxury Fashion and Beauty sectors to protect and restore nature, with a particular focus on women empowerment. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of China's Tsinghua University jointly launched a program calling for Asian cases of "nature-based solutions".

RETAIL

Shanghai's ZHANGYUAN community reopens, welcoming luxury brands to one of the best-preserved and richest historical architectural forms in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Hong Kong witnessed the physical launch of two sustainability-focused brands, with Unspun opening an innovative zero-inventory store and organic skincare brand L:a Bruket debuting at K11 Musea. LVMH-owned skincare brand Cha Ling has shuttered its stores in China after Covid-19-related disruptions. It will continue to retail via Sephora as an exclusive brand in China.

BRANDS

Bally announces its commitment to cleaning Mount Everest by 2030. Bally, the Swiss luxury brand, will also launch a special capsule commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent, with 100% of net proceeds supporting mountain communities.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

©Alibaba

Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba Group’s computer arm, boosted its use of clean energy and leveraged cloud-native technology to make this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival its most eco-friendly to date. Yum China Achieves Highest Score in Its Industry for the Third Consecutive Year on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Browzwear, a leading 3D digital solution provider for the fashion industry, has teamed up with Crystal Denim – a subsidiary of renowned Crystal International Group Limited, to bring digital twins of the company’s specialty denim fabrics to users of the VStitcher 3D design platform. Launched by Shanghai Daily under the guidance of the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality and Shanghai United Media Group, the 2022 "Environment, Social and Governance" Pioneer Awards were given out on Dec. 19 to honor companies, including SABIC and NIKE China, for their achievements in accelerating the green transformation of development and contributions to society.

EVENTS

Prada presents "Lake Tai", a project by Michael Wang at Prada Rong Zhai, Shanghai, which addresses pressing issues related to ecology, sustainability, and environmental recovery. K11 Musea Hong Kong presents 'The Love of Couture: Artisanship in Fashion Beyond Time' exhibition, which sets out to bridge western European traditions with eastern innovation, paying homage to the creativity, rich history, refined craftsmanship, and boundless possibilities of couture. Prada-owned Miu Miu presented a physical screening of its ongoing Women’s Tales project in Chengdu, which showed two films commissioned by the Italian house this year, namely House Comes With A Bird and Carta A Mi Madre Para Mi Hijo.

EDUCATION

©Kering

Global Luxury group Kering, together with global innovation platform Plug and Play China, has launched the 3rd iteration of its Generation Award, focusing on circular raw materials, circular product designs, and circular business models.