Our vision: climate neutrality

ONE SKIN. ONE PLANET. ONE CARE.

OUR VISION: CLIMATE NEUTRALITY

The fight against climate change is humankind’s most important environmental challenge. That is why NIVEA has set ambitious climate targets on a company level that are in line with latest climate science. These targets not only cover the significant reduction of CO₂ emissions at our production sites but also extend to the indirect emissions associated with the ingredients and packaging materials we use for our NIVEA products.

How does NIVEA develop climate-friendly skincare products?

The processes at our NIVEA production sites, such as mixing formulations and filling bottles, only account for a part of our products’ carbon footprint. To become truly climate-friendly, we at NIVEA have been taking a closer look and also considering the emissions that are released, for instance, while extracting raw materials for our ingredients and producing packaging materials.

When we develop our skincare products, we select the ingredients carefully and seek out packaging solutions that carry a reduced CO₂ footprint. Examples include using sustainably certified ingredients or incorporating recycled plastic in our packaging. Both contribute to more sustainable skincare products with decreased CO₂ emissions.

By reducing our overall emissions – along our entire value chain by 30 percent by 2025, compared to 2018, NIVEA is doing our part to slow global warming. This target is in line with the recommendations of independent scientists on avoiding the disastrous consequences of more than 1.5°C rise in global temperature by 2100.

What does a “100 percent climate-neutralized product” mean?

In addition to ambitious CO₂-reduction targets, NIVEA is committed to going the extra mile by compensating for remaining non-avoidable emissions through climate projects. Our guiding principle is to continue measuring, reducing, and compensating.

To ensure we develop more eco-friendly skincare products, eco-friendly toiletries, and beauty products, we measure our products’ CO₂ footprint by conducting Life-Cycle-Analyses in cooperation with external experts and in line with widely accepted scientific standards. Based on these insights, we choose ingredients and packaging solutions that contribute to reduction in our carbon emissions. However, it is not possible to reduce a product’s CO₂ footprint to zero as there will always be non-avoidable emissions.

This is where NIVEA goes above and beyond by compensating for the remaining CO₂ emissions through climate projects. An example of these projects includes afforestation efforts that help mitigate climate change. Trees absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and the carbon is stored in biomass, such as tree trunks, roots, leaves, and soil.

Generally, we only select climate projects that are certified and regularly audited based on external international standards, such as the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or the Gold Standard. This ensures that our climate impact is real, measurable, permanent, and third-party verified.

The result of this approach is a balance between CO₂ emitted and CO₂ absorbed by nature. Whenever NIVEA follows this approach, we talk about “climate-neutralized” instead of “climate neutral” because we want to underline that our products are not completely climate neutral once they leave our production sites. Instead, climate neutralization is a result of a subsequent action contributing to the fight against climate change.

NIVEA’s climate-neutralized Naturally Good Face Care range

NIVEA is proud to present its first climate-neutralized product range: Naturally Good Face Care. We worked hard to make sure that these products are not only naturally good for your skin but, as a more eco-friendly skincare product, also gentler on the environment.

The folding boxes we use are made from up to 89.6 percent recycled paper, which helps preserve precious natural resources.
Our formulas contain 99 percent naturally derived ingredients, as well as caring oils and extracts from organic agriculture.
The production of our recyclable plastic jars pioneers the combined use of plant-based and fossil fuel-based materials. Although production does not run entirely on plant-based materials yet, we guarantee that the equivalent amount needed for our jars is integrated into the process. This is verified and guaranteed by the independent ISCC Plus certification.
100 percent of the electricity we use to produce our face care formulas come from renewable sources.

Although we managed to significantly reduce the CO₂ emissions of our Naturally Good Face Care products, we wanted to go further and therefore decided to compensate the remaining CO₂ emissions.

NATURALLY GOOD ORGANIC ARGAN OIL NIGHT CREAM with Organic Argan Oil
NATURALLY GOOD ORGANIC ALOE VERA DAY CREAM with Organic Aloe Vera

Which climate project is NIVEA currently supporting?

To compensate for the remaining emissions of our Naturally Good Face Care range, NIVEA is funding afforestation in the Chinese province of Guizhou. Planting trees is one of the most straightforward contributions to mitigating climate change.

China is one of the countries most affected by desertification through deforestation. In the region where this project has been located since April 2016, the land is collectively owned by local villagers. However, since the majority of them are considered to live in poverty, it is difficult for the villagers to coordinate afforestation projects or maintain the newly planted forests effectively without financial support. The project covers a total of 30,000 hectares of previously barren land across Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture in the Guizhou province.

All afforestation activities are carried out in collaboration with local farmers, providing them with income generation opportunities. The project aims to mitigate climate change by sequestrating atmospheric CO₂ during biomass growth.

The project is certified with the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) which is one of the leading global standards for the validation and verification of voluntary reductions in carbon emission. To find out more, please visit FirstClimate.

Climate-neutral operations by 2030

Our commitment to protecting our planet and our communities also extends to the way we produce NIVEA skincare at our production sites. Since the end of 2019, all our NIVEA production facilities have been running completely on electricity from renewable sources. This commitment has significantly reduced our energy-related CO₂ emissions. However, we are looking to reduce our carbon footprint even further with the overall goal of achieving climate-neutral operations by 2030.

Progress recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

NIVEA’s parent company, Beiersdorf, has been rewarded for its efforts: In the latest CDP ranking, we are listed as a Climate A-List Company, which is a great acknowledgement of our ambitious targets on climate action and environmental transparency in 2020.

ONE SKIN. ONE PLANET. ONE CARE.

We want to be 100 percent transparent and answer all your questions about sustainability at NIVEA. If you could not find all the answers you were looking for on this website, or are looking for more detailed information, please visit the sustainability website of NIVEA’s parent company, Beiersdorf.