Estee Lauder Companies pledges fully electric fleet by 2030

The firm operates more than 2,000 vehicles globally

The firm, which owns more than 25 brands including its namesake Estee Lauder, operates around 2,200 vehicles in its corporate fleet globally at present. There are a mix of owned and leased vehicles in the fleet and a mix of vehicle sizes.

Additional EVs have already been ordered for testing and deployment within the company’s fleet in the EMEA region. Learnings from these tests, including learnings about expanding charging infrastructure, will be applied globally. The company will adopt a mix of pure EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

EV chargers are already installed at several Estee Lauder Companies facilities across North America and Europe, including in Galgenen, Switzerland, and Petersfield, England.

The Estee Lauder Companies said in a statement that the EV transition will play an important role in the delivery of its science-based targets to reduce emissions. Verified in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative’s (SBTi) 1.5C pathway, the targets involve halving absolute Scope 1 (direct) and 2 (power-related) emissions by 2030, against a 2018 baseline.

For Scope 3 (indirect) emissions from purchased goods and services, upstream transportation and business travel, the company is targeting a 60% intensity-based reduction within the same timeframe.

The Estee Lauder Companies is already signed up to the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative on renewable electricity procurement and has reached 100% renewable procurement for electricity for its direct operations.

“Our hope is that our commitment to clean transportation will not only help to reduce our impact and engage our employees in our commitment, but also inspire similar action by others in the industry and beyond,” said the Estee Lauder Companies’ SVP for global corporate citizenship and sustainability Nancy Mahon.

Indeed, the Climate Group’s ambition with EV100 is to “make electric transport the new normal by 2030”. The most recent annual progress report for the initiative, published in June, confirmed that participating companies had collectively deployed almost 210,000 vehicles and 21,000 charging points. Key challenges to further deployment included a lack of a wider range of EVs and long lead times for vehicle orders due to the semiconductor shortage.