Natura’s Visão 2030 (Vision 2030) event was held September 5 at Casa Natura Musical in São Paulo. The date was not randomly selected—it is International Day of Indigenous Women and, in Brazil, it is Amazon Day. Established in 1850, Amazon Day is intended to raise awareness about the importance of the living forest. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest forest in the world, spanning nine countries in Latin America. If it were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world. Due to its vast dimensions, its preservation is vital for the planet's health, impacting climate stability, water levels and rainfall.

At Natura’s Visão 2030, complex sustainability issues were discussed. One of Natura's core beliefs has always been that a company's value and longevity are linked to its ability to give back to society—part of its sustainability plan. In 2020, Natura launched the “Commitment to Life” initiative. Vision 2030 revisits these goals.

“The core of this vision lies in the belief that we are a value generating agent for all society,” explained Ana Beatriz Macedo da Costa, VP-sustainability, legal and reputation, and corporate communications, Natura &Co. “We do this through a scalable business model aligned with the UN's sustainable development goals to address urgent issues in the contemporary world.”

The 2020 Commitment to Life plan was built on three pillars:
• Tackling the climate crisis and protecting the Amazon (by combatting the climate crisis and protecting biodiversity).
• Upholding human rights and being more humane (breaking down structural barriers that perpetuate inequality and amplify injustices).
• Embracing circularity and regeneration (promoting new ways of producing and consuming and aiming for minimal environmental impact).

Natura has conserved two million hectares in collaboration with 41 communities in the Pan-Amazon. This has benefited 10,600 “agro-extractive” families and Natura has developed 42 bioingredients.

Regarding women's empowerment, the presence of women in leadership roles at Natura reached nearly 52% in 2022 in Latin America. Wage disparities based on gender and race were eliminated. Another achievement was the improvement in the Human Development Index (HDI) of Natura's consultants. This result was mainly driven by investments in financial education and digital inclusion.

Angela Pinhati, head of sustainability, Natura &Co Latin America, outlined the 2030 goals which include:
• Achieve net-zero emissions at owned facilities by 2023.
• Reduce 42% of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire value chain, including suppliers and end customers.
• Contribute to the protection and regeneration of three million hectares of the Amazon Rainforest (up from two million in 2020).
• Create 55 bioingredients from the Amazon biodiversity.
• Ensure 25% of Black people in managerial positions starting in 2025 and 30% starting in 2030.
• A 100% of reusable, refillable, recyclable, or compostable packaging.
• At least 95% of renewable and biodegradable ingredients.

During Vision 2030, Natura detailed its Integrated Profit & Loss (IP&L) tool. This integrated management tool enables the company to measure financial results as well as the impact of corporate performance using environmental, social and human metrics. The results of the study consider several other fronts of the company’s performance, such as carbon emission and offsetting, circularity, regeneration and conservation of biomes, income generation for the network and its impacts on health and welfare. In 2022, for every $1 of revenue generated by the Natura brand, the return was $2.70 in positive socio-environmental impact. In comparison, in 2021, the return was $1.50. Natura is determined to reach $4 by 2030.

Elkington on Sustainability

The event featured an interview with John Elkington, who was called the dean of the corporate sustainability movement by Businessweek. A pioneer in this field, he is the author of more than 20 books on the subject and the creator of the Triple Bottom Line.

When he entered this environmental and sustainability space 50 years ago, companies wanted nothing to do with it, Elkington recalled. Business leaders often called sustainability enthusiasts “watermelons;” i.e., green on the outside and red on the inside (communists). Today, it is relatively easy to reach CEOs, board members, and executives of large companies. According to Elkington, there have been advances, but as an agenda like this becomes popular, everyone wants to be part of it, to have their own language, their own brand, their own position. Like the Tower of Babel, each one speaks a different language, and chaos reigns. Therefore, part of the challenge is to keep things simple and make it possible for people not only to understand what needs to be done but also to understand what progress is being made.

Elkington said sustainability and climate solution agendas are political. Citizens increasingly see and often experience the consequences of inaction or slow action on climate change. As a result, they are pressuring the political system. But at the same time, the loudest voices in the system are often the ones with the most to lose from effective action—think coal, oil and natural gas. On the other hand, people promoting renewable energy, for example, or electric vehicles, have less powerful voices. Therefore, the more dominant this agenda becomes, the greater the political resistance will be. It is necessary for companies to come together to form new networks, so that they can advocate for and support effective political action.

Elkington points out that Latin America must play a crucial role going forward. He said companies have a very important role to play, both individually and collectively through groups like the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

“Brazil, with the Amazon, has an absolutely critical natural resource that needs to be properly valued, financed, and invested in, and this will depend on both Brazil and its politics and the rest of the world,” he concluded.

Is Sustainability Debatable?

Vision 2030 included a debate with activists, association leaders and industry executives. Participants included Ângela Mendes, president of the Chico Mendes Institute, based in the state of Acre; Ricardo Andrés Calderon, executive director of the Agrosolidarity Association in Colombia; Natália Rodrigues, better known as Nath Finanças, one of the biggest influencers in financial education in Brazil; Aline Sousa, director of the Central Cooperative of Recyclable Materials in the Federal District; and Joselena Peressinoto Romero, VP-supply chain at Natura &Co Latin America.

Romero pointed out that no one has all the answers to address all these challenges; that's why engagement and different skills are necessary to turn proposals into reality. The government needs to implement public policies, and companies must incorporate the bioeconomy into their business models. In addition, consultants, universities and research institutes all play a fundamental role because urgent and complex challenges require collaboration, coordination and scale.

At the end of the event, the founders of Natura, Luiz Seabra, Pedro Passos and Guilherme Leal, took the stage.

“The guiding principle here is that everything is interdependent; you cannot take care of a part without taking care of the whole. And you cannot take care of the planet without taking care of each one of us, wherever you go,” said Leal. “This feeling that inhabits us, I believe, is a transformative feeling. If we dream for 2030, for tomorrow, for today a less unequal, more fair, more balanced society that preserves the future, preserves life, the conditions that sustain life, I think we will be able to transform.”

Related Content:

Carbon Data for Personal Care Labels

Kao Becomes Signatory of The Climate Pledge

What Constitutes Sustainable Packaging?