Engaging in system level change
Recognizing the urgency of this moment in history, we are focused on both addressing sustainability within our own business operations, and also actively advocating for system-level change.
Principles Underpinning our Approach to Advocacy
To help us use our power and our voice to push for system change we have adopted five principles to guide our advocacy strategy:
Authenticity. Building a strategy based on clarity of where we’ve come from and where we are right now, embracing transparency.
Ambition. Setting stretch goals based on what is needed rather than being limited by what feels possible and being held accountable to those goals.
Agency. Supporting employees, customers, and supply chain partners to understand the issues and find ways to do something about them.
Activism. Engaging with social movements.
Allyship. Partnering through alliances and amplifying the voices of others through our platform, especially those who otherwise would not otherwise be heard.
To learn more about these principles, you can review the HBR article ‘Designing a Climate Advocacy Strategy’ which we co-authored with friends at Patagonia and Ecosia.
Establishing our Priorities
Guided by these principles, our approach involves taking a principled stance on important issues which are directly connected to our business.
Nature and Climate: We champion the The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and partner with Business for Nature, Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Zero Hour and many others who are focused on the importance of taking action on nature. We use Science-Based Targets to accelerate the race to net zero. We engage in discussions on the future of offsetting linked to nature-based solutions, and actively support initiatives like The Earthshot Prize.
Inclusion and allyship: We champion stakeholder governance with our partners at B Lab. We advocate for gender equality alongside our partners at UN Women and She Changes Climate.
Future of the Beauty Industry: We directly engage in industry initiatives focused on building a positive future for the beauty sector. We are members of the B Corp Beauty Coalition, EcoBeauty Score Consortium and Cosmetics Europe. We also believe in the importance of building regenerative business models and have supported the work of UEBT and the development of their regeneration certification.
Business with purpose
To enable these priorities to come alive, we recognized the transformative potential of people's collective power and explored and experimented with activations designed to mobilize people in our business. By doing so, we positioned ourselves as a movement of people ready to join forces with others and advocate for change in where our impact could truly make a difference.
Taking Action: Our Focus on collaboration
Recognizing advocacy's focus on systems-level change, our strategy is based on working in partnership both internally and externally to create a critical mass for widespread change.
Internally, we've streamlined processes to enhance collective action through information-sharing systems such as regular news updates and ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions with our partners. Our internal advocacy also involves communicating our new goals and co-creating learning programs.
Externally, we influence change through strategic partnerships, backing campaigns and coordinated event presence which link to opportunities to advocate for positive change in policy and culture. Connecting with policymakers, trade associations, and NGOs helps drive the necessary regulatory shifts, while sharing our views in the media contributes to the amplification of new norms, raises awareness, educates consumers, and guides meaningful engagement for cultural change. In addition to the organizations listed above, we are proud to stand alongside the work of the United Nations Global Compact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, B20 India, We Mean Business Coalition and the B Team.
We positioned ourselves as a movement of people ready to join forces with others and advocate for change...
Places where we engaged in 2023
We participated in both London Climate Action Week and New York Climate Week. Our CEO, Fabio Barbosa, served as a panel speaker, discussing strategies to mobilize business ambition and investments towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Another highlight of the New York Climate Week was the launch of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework, which was a particularly important moment for us as early adopters of TNFD and participants in its development.
We engaged in many B Corp connected events including B for Good Leaders and Encuentro +B. We provided guest lectures at many global institutions including Schumacher College, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.
During COP 28, we stood alongside a diverse, growing coalition of over 800 leaders calling on Sultan Al Jaber and all parties to deliver a 1.5C aligned outcome in response to the Global Stocktake. We also used COP 28’s stage to present Natura’s 2050 Vision whose fundamental principle is the search for regeneration and positive impact, the idea that a company must regenerate systems, society and the environment. Natura believes the concept of sustainability is no longer sufficient to address the restoration of what has already been degraded by human action.
Campaigns we backed in 2023
We supported the following key campaigns in 2023: Fossil to Clean campaign, Zero Hour campaign, B Lab Stakeholder Governance campaigns (UK Better Business Act, EU Interdependence Coalition, Global B Movement Builders Stakeholder Governance), signed the letter backing the International Sustainability Standards Board, and Natura &Co team members joined Queue for Climate and Nature.
