A.S. Watson Group Announces its Social Purpose and 2030 Sustainability Vision

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and electricity intensity by 30% before 2030
• Restore 10,000 perfect smiles by providing free surgeries to kids with cleft lips and palates by 2030

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach^[1] - 15 March 2021 - A.S. Watson Group^[2] and its 13 global retail and manufacturing brands today announce the launch of their refreshed Social Purpose along with 2030 Sustainability Vision.

Malina Ngai, Group COO of A.S. Watson Group & CEO of A.S. Watson (Asia & Europe), says, "As the world's largest international health and beauty retailer, we have a strong sense of responsibility to create a better world through our global operations. Our social purpose "to put a smile on our customers' faces" is a core value to our business and deeply rooted in our heritage, from giving free medicines to the needy in the early days, to protecting people's health against COVID19 by producing medical masks and supporting vaccination programmes."

She adds, "We serve over 5.9 billion customers every year around the world and we are thankful to have a powerful community to do good together, to help build a better and more sustainable world." 

A.S. Watson Group has been a purpose-driven company with social purpose enshrined in every action over the past 180 years. The spirit of giving goes back to A.S. Watson's first dispensary which provided free medicine to the needy and is something that lives on in the business today. Last year, the Group gave a helping hand to the vulnerable and offered over HKD60m assistance to 1 million underprivileged people around the world, as well as converted their manufacturing facility in Hong Kong to produce masks and helped the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme in the UK by offering vaccinations in Superdrug pharmacies. With a wide array of sustainability and community needs across 27 markets, its brands embrace their own social purpose launch plans to address the local needs to put a smile on our customers' faces.           

A Better World with A.S. Watson 2030 Sustainability Vision

A.S. Watson Group also announces its 2030 Sustainability Vision, with clear visions for the decade to come on social and environmental sustainability.

• Energy: Achieve electricity intensity reduction by 30% against 2015 baseline by 2030
• Greenhouse Gas: Reduce GHG emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 40% from 2015 baseline by 2030
• Plastic: Eliminating unnecessary packaging by 2030, avoiding over-packaging and phase out PVC, 20% recycled plastic content in plastic packaging by 2025
• Community: Through A.S. Watson's Give a Smile Campaign, we target to restore 10,000 perfect smiles by providing life-changing free surgeries to kids with cleft lips and palates by 2030

180 Years, 180 Caring Actions

A.S. Watson believes a simple smile can have big impact so the Group launched the Smile Community to celebrate its 180^th anniversary, not only to promote mental wellness but also bring positivity to people around them. We are pleased to announce that the Smile Community has achieved its target to reach a 1.8 million smile index by 20 March 2021, to coincide with the United Nations' International Day of Happiness.

Furthermore, the Group has pledged to organise 180 caring actions around the world to help give the anniversary celebrations a greater depth of meaning. A.S. Watson believes that every little smile and action will add up to a big and positive impact on people around us and community at large.

Malina adds, "At A.S. Watson, we believe the world is better when people are smiling. Our planet is reaching its limits and millions of people's lives are impacted by extreme climate and serious pollution. The A.S. Watson 2030 Sustainability Vision is a promise we pledge to our planet and community to make the world a better place to live. People's mental health has been inevitably stressed by the pandemic and by putting a smile on the face of everyone we touch, we are grateful to have all of our people working together to aim at a higher purpose for the long term."

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} A.S. Watson Group (www.aswatson.com)