The beauty industry, which is worth over $500 million, is facing an unprecedented challenge: the climate crisis. As the global climate crisis intensifies, industries across the sector are being forced to rethink their operations, and the beauty sector is no exception. The world currently grapples with increasing temperatures, biodiversity loss, extreme weather, and environmental degradation, forcing beauty brands to reevaluate their practices. Climate change impacts every facet of the beauty supply chain, from the availability of natural ingredients to the cost of shipping products across the globe.
One of the most significant ways in which the beauty industry impacts the environment is through carbon emissions. From sourcing ingredients to manufacturing and distribution, the entire lifecycle of a beauty product contributes to its carbon footprint. “The thing with the supply chain in the beauty industry is that it can be analyzed and understood,” Akemi Ooka, Vice President of Global Supply Chain & Sustainability Resources at Independent Beauty Association (IBA), says to BeautyMatter. “A way for brands to navigate this is asking themselves questions like where their production materials are coming from, and what are all the elements of transport involved between points A to B,” she continues. 2023 reserch by Statista found that mobility from land, air, and sea is still heavily reliant on polluting internal combustion engines (ICEs), producing roughly 8.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e). This accounted for approximately 16 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023, making transportation the second-largest source of emissions worldwide. “The industry’s carbon emissions are vast, largely due to energy-intensive production processes and global supply chains that rely heavily on fossil fuels,” Ooka adds.
In the face of climate change, reducing carbon footprints has become a critical priority. Some companies are making notable progress. For instance, heavyweights like L’Oréal have committed to achieving carbon neutrality across all of its facilities by 2025, ensuring 100% of plastics used in its packaging will either be from recycled or bio-based sources by 2030, and reducing its entire greenhouse gas emission by 50% (compared to its 2016 emissions) per finished product by 2030. The company has invested €150 million ($167 million) to address urgent social and environmental issues like climate change. Similarly, Unilever’s Beauty & Personal Care division has pledged to cut its carbon emissions to zero by 2039, investing €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in the effort.
However, while these commitments are promising, they represent only a fraction of the industry. Smaller beauty brands, many of which lack the resources for large-scale sustainability initiatives, face steeper challenges. For brands like clean beauty Saie, one of the major ways they’ve had to navigate the challenges of increasing the output of its initiatives, is collaborations. Saie, whose mission is to offset 100% of its carbon by 2039, has just announced a three-year partnership with rePurpose, a leading Plastic Action Platform. “For many years, we’ve collaborated with rePurpose to ensure that our approach and sustainability in general has maximum yield,” Laney Crowell, founder of Saie, currently exclusive in Sephora in North America, and Cult Beauty in the UK, says to BeautyMatter. “Our reason and commitment for this partnership is geared towards collecting five million pounds of plastic waste.”
Ingredients and Formulations
Natural ingredients are the backbone of the beauty industry, but as climate change intensifies, the availability and quality of these raw materials are becoming increasingly precarious. Ingredients like argan oil, popularly harvested in countries like Morocco, are particularly vulnerable to extreme droughts, which threaten both the yield and quality of the oil. Similarly, shea butter, a staple in many skincare and haircare products, is produced in West Africa, where rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns are making cultivation more difficult, prompting brands to get creative. “As climate change threatens global crop yields, beauty brands are racing to secure resilient natural ingredients,” Hannah Roberts, Global VP Strategic Marketing at Croda International Plc, tells BeautyMatter. “[They’re also] drawing inspiration from crops that have thrived for generations and leveraging new breeding technologies; the industry is adapting to safeguard its supply chains,” she continues.
Roberts also points at the biotech revolution currently happening in the beauty industry. “With GMO ingredients becoming less taboo and regulations relaxing, biotech is stepping in to produce ingredients that can withstand the effects of climate change,” she says. “This shift not only reduces reliance on traditional crops but also opens up new possibilities for creating high-potency botanicals in controlled environments,” she adds. However, biodiversity loss, another major consequence of climate change, also threatens access to essential plant-based ingredients. Rainforests, which house thousands of species used in cosmetics and skincare, are being destroyed at an alarming rate. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the world loses approximately 10 million hectares of forests each year, directly impacting the supply of natural ingredients. This trend forces brands to turn to synthetic alternatives or reformulate products, often at the cost of sustainability, although in some cases, synthetic ingredients are more sustainable than natural ones.
In response, brands like L’Oréal have begun investing in climate-resilient ingredients. Brands are also exploring lab-grown alternatives for ingredients like collagen and hyaluronic acid, reducing the need for plant-based sources that are vulnerable to climate change. “The beauty sector is following the lead of the food industry by investing in future-proofing strategies, ensuring continued access to vital ingredients despite the volatile climate,” Roberts says.
The Role of International Policy: UN and Country-Sponsored Initiatives
The beauty industry’s global supply chain is heavily reliant on long-distance shipping, which itself is a significant contributor to carbon emissions. “Raw material extraction, for example, manufacturing, packaging, and distribution—each of these steps in the beauty supply chain has a carbon footprint,” Don Frey, President and CEO of IBA, says to BeautyMatter. “Therefore, as governments and agencies tighten regulations on carbon emissions, and consumers demand more sustainable practices, it would cause beauty brands to rethink how they transport goods,” he continues.
On a global level, BeautyMatter reported that governments across the US, Europe, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and many others, have put policies in place to check industries, including the beauty industry, and their sustainability. For example, on a country level, governments are implementing stricter environmental regulations that will affect the beauty industry. In the European Union, the European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. This includes regulations on sustainable packaging, carbon emissions, and the use of controversial chemicals in cosmetics. In response, many beauty brands are reformulating products to comply with these new standards, moving away from certain ingredients that contribute to pollution and biodiversity loss.
The United Nations, for example, has been a critical player in addressing climate change and its impact on industries like beauty. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), encourage industries to reduce their environmental footprint by respecting the biophysical boundaries of the planet, and reducing the current global consumption rates in order to fit with the biophysical capacity to produce ecosystem services and benefits. Many beauty brands are aligning their sustainability strategies with these goals, committing to carbon neutrality, reducing waste, and supporting biodiversity. Over time, sustainability-geared conferences like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), have highlighted the beauty industry’s role in mitigating climate change. The Race to Zero campaign, backed by the UN, calls on companies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
What Does the Future Hold for Beauty in a Post-Climate Crisis World?
While the beauty industry is taking steps to address climate change and is uncertain what will come in the future, experts argue that the road ahead is fraught with challenges. “The reliance on natural ingredients, global supply chains, and plastic packaging means that beauty brands must overhaul their entire operations to survive in a post-climate crisis world,” Frey says. “Companies and brands need to start thinking of where they have the most vulnerabilities within their supply chain, and whether or not they have alternatives in place to overhaul what post-climate crisis the industry may face,” Ooka chimes in. “They need to start thinking whether or not they have overland routes, do they need to move production, etcetera,” she continues.
Roberts seconds this. “In the face of increasing climate challenges, beauty brands may have to turn to the most extreme environments on earth—and even beyond—to discover resilient crops,” she says. “Ingredients derived from ‘astrobiology’ and extremophiles, organisms that thrive in the harshest conditions, are being explored as potential solutions to ingredient shortages. This forward-thinking approach could revolutionize how the beauty industry sources its materials, ensuring sustainability in an unpredictable world,” she adds. It points out that innovation will be key to the industry’s survival. From lab-grown ingredients to carbon-neutral supply chains, the beauty industry must embrace new processes and practices to mitigate the impact of climate change.
“[Ultimately], the future of beauty will be shaped by its ability to adapt,” Frey says. “If the current climate crisis persists, the most resilient and forward-thinking brands may be the only ones to thrive. The industry needs to evolve from a sector that contributes to environmental degradation, to one that is part of the solution,” he continues. “[Plus] biotechnology and synthetic biology will play a significant role in the industry’s evolution,” Ooka says. “Instead of relying on traditional, resource-intensive farming methods for ingredients, beauty brands may increasingly turn to lab-grown alternatives that minimize environmental harm. This shift could also help reduce the industry’s reliance on volatile supply chains vulnerable to the effects of climate change.” This shows that if the industry wants to reap the benefits of biotech, it needs to start investing in it, with one caveat being that these innovations can take longer than expected to create and scale.
The global beauty industry faces significant challenges as it prepares for a post-climate crisis world. While progress has been made, particularly in areas like packaging innovation and carbon reduction, the industry may not yet be fully prepared for the scale of transformation required. Circular beauty models, sustainable sourcing, biotechnology, and stricter regulations will all play a role in shaping the future of beauty. Ultimately, the industry’s success will depend on its ability to embrace change, innovate responsibly, and meet the growing demands of eco-conscious consumers.
