Pierre Fabre attains ECOCERT 26000 CSR excellence

The Pierre Fabre Group invited independent body ECOCERT Environnement to assess its CSR approach according to the ISO 26000 standard on sustainable development.

The company attained a level of excellence from its very first assessment with a score of 77%, corresponding to the highest level of maturity under the ECOCERT 26000 standard. It was the first time that ECOCERT assessed an international company of Pierre Fabre’s caliber in relation to this standard.

150 interviews were conducted in France and abroad for the purposes of this assessment, involving 55 Pierre Fabre employees chosen at random and a panel of eight external stakeholders. On evaluating the seven main ISO 26000 assessment criteria, the independent assessment body identified many strengths and indicated some opportunities for improvement.

Pierre Fabre Group strengths identified by ECOCERT Environnement included:

The founder’s initial vision – “to take care of people, their health and their environment” – and his values built around respect for the company’s stakeholders, which have retained all their significance. According to ECOCERT Environnement, these lay “the foundations of a truly transparent and ethical CSR approach”;
Being a majority shareholder of a government-recognized public-interest foundation and high levels of employee share ownership (85% of employees are shareholders) allow the Pierre Fabre Group to carry out its actions over the long term;
The group is committed to all aspects of sustainability, is at the forefront of research and innovation (oncology, dermatology, dermo-cosmetics, etc.), and asserts its ambition to be exemplary in its environmental quality and working conditions;
Its strong local history in south-west France, particularly in the Tarn, supports long-term value creation in this largely landlocked region and allows it to export its regional know-how worldwide.

The ECOCERT Environnement audit also identified several areas for improvement that will guide the company’s CSR approach over the coming three years:

Give consumers easier access to information on the Pierre Fabre Group’s CSR challenges and commitments, and those of its brands and products;
Develop methodological guidelines for each of the company’s businesses, allowing them to take more comprehensive ownership of their own specific CSR challenges;
Participate more systematically in helping the Group’s partners to structure their own CSR approach.

“In a world saturated with ‘green’ information, it is important to provide evidence of our commitments to consumers and stakeholders. This exercise in transparency, undertaken with ECOCERT Environnement, was conducted above all to fulfil this requirement. Very few companies of our size do as much. Furthermore, it will allow us to pursue our continual improvement process by working on the identified opportunities for improvement between now and the next assessment, scheduled for 2022.”

Séverine Roullet-Furnemont,
Director of Sustainable Development at Green Mission Pierre Fabre

The Pierre Fabre Group has already set itself several ambitious and measurable short- and medium-term objectives.

100% of new products will be eco-designed from 2019;
80% of new plant extracts will be sourced from plants grown in line with organic or sustainable farming principles (pesticide-free) by 2021;
30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2025;
25% reduction in energy consumption by 2025.

DUCRAY is a brand of the Pierre Fabre Group with a CSR approach rated Excellent by ECOCERT Environnement according to the ISO 26000 standard.

DUCRAY is a Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique brand with a CSR approach assessed For Life.