Outlining a Sustainability Strategy for the British Beauty Council

The British Beauty Council (BBC) is a not-for-profit organisation that works to ensure that the beauty industry is recognised and valued by government, consumers and throughout the wider economy. The BBC wanted to take a leadership role in driving collective action on environmental and climate change issues that affect the beauty industry. They sought to gather together consumer, expert and industry perspectives to create a shared understanding of the significant areas of concern and opportunities for collective action to address them.

The Business Challenge

The world of beauty has woken up to the urgent need to take action to prevent permanent climate change and irreversible damage to the environment. There is growing appreciation for the Sustainable Development Goals and the need for all sectors to align with them – including the beauty industry.

With a range of issues under the sustainability heading – and a multitude of perspectives to consider – The BBC commissioned Junxion to outline a strategy for how the beauty industry should address climate change and the environment. To achieve wide buy-in it was important to convene a process where the whole industry felt like it was contributing to a plan of action.

How We Helped

Our brief was to surface material issues, capture a snapshot of current practice – both areas of strength and what could be better – and make recommendations for what the BBC and its members should do next. 

Junxion conducted desk research and in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders with a range of perspectives on the beauty industry. These covered the whole value chain from product design and ingredient-sourcing to packaging and impact measurement. 

We synthesized our findings with survey results gathered by project partner Hubbub and our draft strategy was reviewed and developed with a 40-person thinktank drawn from industry leaders. 

By bringing together consumer concerns with an industry perspective and insight from experts, we produced a landmark, innovative roadmap for the industry to follow.

Measuring Success

When the Courage to Change report launched in November 2020, it received wide media coverage and a positive reception across the industry. The report pdf was downloaded hundreds of times in the first two weeks. The British Beauty Council is taking forward the key recommendation to establish a Sustainable Beauty Coalition to advance this important agenda. Courage to Change has successfully shone a spotlight on the topic of sustainability in the beauty industry and helped to focus concerted attention on the most pressing environmental issues facing the industry.