ESSEC Business School’s 2024 award for responsible trade
ESSEC’s Commerce Responsable (responsible trade) award shines a light on Groupe Rocher’s commitment
Groupe Rocher received ESSEC’s 2024 responsible trade award, in the Environmental Impact Reduction category, for its La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory project, on Thursday February 8th 2024, at the French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.
This is the seventh year that ESSEC Business School students and a jury of leading CSR and mass-market experts have rewarded holistic, human-centric and positive-impact projects carried out with a large network of partners.
La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory is an example of the Group’s commitment in action
The La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory project is part of Groupe Rocher’s all-round policy to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 compared with their 2010 levels.
La Gacilly, however, is moving faster and aiming higher—for a 75% reduction (also in Scopes 1 and 2) by 2025 compared with 2019! This emblematic project is the Group’s way of showing in practice that the transition is possible.
The plan to cut emissions on the La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory project combines three complementary targets looking at 2025:
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions by 75% compared with 2019 (Scopes 1 and 2 plus transport)
- Power facilities using 85% renewable energy
- Educate all our employees about the importance of a low-carbon strategy
These bold targets apply to the Group’s 14 facilities in the area, including six manufacturing plants and logistics hubs as well as its other operations (hotel, farms, etc.), and the overarching goal is to build momentum behind collective, inclusive action.
In more practical terms, the Group has invested in several projects. For instance installing wood boilers at its two main logistics hubs, to use renewable energy to heat the buildings where more than 850 people work. These boilers have avoided 15,561 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions so far, and the wood comes from hedge pruning campaigns at local partner farms. This has created a positive-impact loop that is helping to fight climate change and at the same time preserve biodiversity.
The Group is also working on other fronts, such as freight transport, employee travel, meals at its company and public restaurants, and responsible digital tech.
La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory is a grassroots project that is rallying the Group’s employees around this cause. A webinar on the Group’s low-carbon strategy gathered more than 170 employees in 2022, and the annual carbon committee meetings organized by the CSR team in 2022 and 2023 attracted more than 150 employees.
Strong local roots are one of the mainstays in the company’s history.
This La Gacilly, Low-Carbon Territory project, which Groupe Rocher is rolling out with its local stakeholders inside as well as outside the organization, is proof that it brings its mission to life in down-to-earth projects delivering tangible results.
Marion Decroix, Groupe Rocher’s Sustainability & Quality Director, remarked on the award, “Thank you for this accolade for our project. This prize rewards our teams’ and our partners’ extraordinary commitment and dedication as much as the initiative’s distinctive and pioneering nature. We are doing our part, together, to imagine a decarbonized world—and make it happen!”
Groupe Rocher has embraced its low-carbon policy
Groupe Rocher has pledged to shrink its carbon footprint, and is aiming to lower its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels.
At it knows that the best way to balance the energy equation is to avoid using energy in the first place, Groupe Rocher has opted not to participate on the carbon market and to focus instead on reducing its carbon footprint. Nothing short of a radical transformation in practices will enable companies to fulfil their role in fighting climate change. In a nutshell, Groupe Rocher is striving to adapt its infrastructure to do better with less.
