PARIS — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is deepening its partnership with UNESCO to scale up global projects that link business and biodiversity, with Tiffany & Co. joining to support ocean conservation under a new five-year plan titled “For the Beauty of Life.”
The renewed partnership was signed by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton director of image and environment Antoine Arnault and UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay, marking a major expansion from the first collaboration launched five years ago.
“Proud of the actions carried out locally under the first partnership with UNESCO, LVMH is pleased to formalize this new chapter,” Arnault said. “The group intends to continue its role as an integrator and facilitator in shaping this renewed relationship with living systems.”
“Preserving together the beauty of the living is the objective of this strengthened partnership. Within UNESCO-designated sites, we are developing with LVMH nature- and culture-based solutions, such as agroforestry or craftsmanship, for the benefit of local communities around the world,” Azoulay added.
The partnership, first signed in 2019, has since evolved into a multimaison effort. For example, Guerlain trained and supported more than 120 women beekeepers in eight countries, while Christian Dior Couture helped restore butterfly habitats in Mexico’s Biosphere Reserve.
As part of the next phase, The Tiffany & Co. Foundation will support the development of sustainable management plans for marine areas in several regions of the world, with oceans a key touchstone the brand.
“It’s exactly what we want to continue to do, because the aim is to generalize — to scale up what we tested during the first step,” LVMH group environmental development director Hélène Valade told WWD.
“Nature and biodiversity are very important for LVMH, because we are in an interdependent relationship with nature,” Valade said. “No Champagne without grapes, no perfume and cosmetics without flowers, no dresses without cotton or silk. Our duty is to give back to nature what we borrow from it.”
The partnership now spans all major initiatives including nature, culture and education. “We have a lot of common values, common convictions. We must join forces for effective action between private and public sectors and local communities,” she added.
One of the partnership’s key achievements in the first five years was the creation of a data platform to measure biodiversity impacts. This was paired with giving local communities a central role in decision-making, along with skills training and creating new processes to develop income-generating alternatives to deforestation.
Valade said the work expanded her understanding of the importance of integrating locals on the ground. These communities “know the land, know the biodiversity, know the power of nature….We can’t act on biodiversity without acting with local communities.”
Hélène Valade and Meriem Bouamrane on the ground in the Amazon.
Carolina Arantes / Courtesy of LVMH
The renewed partnership aims to strengthen this model, testing new financial tools such as nature credits — a proposal in the European Union to assign value to the positive impact of conservation activities.
“These tools allow for generating additional income for local communities based on the positive impact of their activities on nature,” said UNESCO senior adviser, nature and biodiversity partnerships Meriem Bouamrane.
Bouamrane said the partnership is “a first of its kind at such a large scale,” combining private-sector business models with scientific and local knowledge.
“Conservation of biodiversity is not to be done only in national parks where there is no human intervention. Human beings know how to manage oceans, coastal zones and tropical forests — this knowledge is key,” she said. “Businesses and enterprises are part of the solution, not only a problem.”
The program’s next phase will expand the model tested in the Amazon to more UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Global Geoparks. “We want to do it in an LVMH-UNESCO way, which is systemic — not dividing conservation and sustainable use, but combining them,” Bouamrane said. “We look together at biodiversity, carbon, water, soil and cultural practices.”
As discussions around the EU’s nature credit roadmap evolve, Bouamrane said the collaboration offers a new framework for public-private projects in conservation. “The big shift is to invest in the contribution of local people — to valorize the sustainable practices and contributions they make for the planet. It’s a change of mindset, seeing biodiversity as an investment, as a wealth in itself.”
LVMH and UNESCO believe the partnership conveys that private investment and a business approach can support public action. “We cannot rely only on government to support the maintenance of biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The private sector has a role to play, and it’s possible,” Bouamrane said.
She added that companies seek “safe, credible places where they can do business with guarantees of scientific data and measurable progress.” The partnership provides “evidence and proof of results,” she added, helping reduce risk for investors.
The project’s measurable success is already creating interest among other UNESCO programs. “Colleagues are looking for adapting this kind of partnership to different thematics. People are looking at it as a sign of success,” Bouamrane said.
Beyond outcomes, the partnership has reshaped how both institutions operate. “The partnership is transforming UNESCO, because now we know what businesses are looking at, and it’s transforming the businesses with UNESCO — taking time to know what communities want,” Bouamrane said. “If you want to do sound and sustainable partnership, it’s learning from each other, not only money.”
However the partnership is “very significant,” said Valade, adding that “the partnership is giving a framework with values and ethical aspects,” as well as supporting maisons who want to pursue specific projects under shared principles.
Even amid global instability, LVMH remains unwavering in its sustainability goals. “Despite geopolitical and economic uncertainties, we remain fully on course with the same environmental ambition,” Valade said. “Expectations from our clients and colleagues inside LVMH are very high about sustainable policy and our roadmap.”
The continuation of the partnership will send a signal to new sectors. “There’s no going backwards on biodiversity. It’s not negotiable,” Bouamrane said. “Despite the crisis and even the gaslighting, this is the only way we can continue to live on this planet — to do business, but also to be human beings sharing humanity with other species.”
Both Bouamrane and Valade plan to promote the initiative through media, social campaigns and roundtables tied to the Paris Agreement’s 10th anniversary.
“We hope it is an example for all actors, for all companies,” Valade said. “The aim is to generalize and scale up what we tested during the first step.”
Future projects will extend to more LVMH maisons, with new pilots and special events planned at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2026.
