Key takeaways
- Ethical sourcing and biodiversity will be major themes at the 2026 Sustainable Cosmetics Summit in New York.
- Speakers will address emerging regulations, certification schemes, and nature-positive supply chain strategies.
- The programme includes insights into environmental scoring, social sustainability, and economic impacts.
- New green ingredients, from biotech lipids to regenerative botanicals, will be showcased.
- Experts will explore supply chain volatility, geopolitical pressures, and future technologies shaping sustainable beauty.
The US-based Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will focus on ethical sourcing & biodiversity, sustainability impacts, and green ingredients.
The annual summit, which is set to take place in New York on 21–22 May, will put ethical sourcing and biodiversity, sustainability impacts, and green ingredients in the spotlight.
Ethical sourcing and biodiversity move to the forefront
Organiser Ecovia Intelligence noted that at the last UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16), a global framework was established to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, including a commitment to protect 30% of land and water by 2030. The summit will therefore explore how the cosmetics industry can help halt and reverse biodiversity loss through ethical sourcing and nature-positive approaches.
Speakers include author, educator, and winner of the 2025 American Botanical Council Champion Award, Chris Kilham (AKA The Medicine Hunter), who will speak about the growing importance of ethical sourcing of natural ingredients.
Meanwhile, Sustainability Director North America at the L’Occitane Group, Ruth Calvo Rubial, will share more about the company’s experience in developing nature-positive cosmetics. As part of its biodiversity strategy, the L’Occitane Group is sourcing its key ingredients through organic, fair trade, or regenerative practices. It also plans for its land footprint to support biodiversity preservation and regeneration, either directly or indirectly, by 2040.
Amarjit Sahota, who is founder of Ecovia Intelligence, said that ethical sourcing of raw materials is increasingly becoming a “must-have” for certain natural ingredients, whereas previously it was a “nice-to-have”.
“If companies are using natural raw materials, buyers are increasingly asking questions about how they have been sourced: were they produced according to sustainable agricultural practices? Was the sourcing compliant with international labour laws? Were growers paid a fair price? For example, most cosmetic companies have made commitments to sustainable palm oil. We are now seeing similar commitments for other raw materials,” he said.
Industry impacts, scoring systems, and the economic side of sustainability
Ecovia Intelligence said that in the future, certification will play an important role in verifying companies’ ethical sourcing and biodiversity claims.
At the show, Christine Lippai from the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network will present details of its wildlife-friendly certification scheme; and Lara Koritze will provide an update on the Union for Ethical BioTrade charter and explain how beauty companies can build supply chain resilience through biodiversity actions.
Another speaker will also cover biodiversity regulations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Nagoya Protocol (Access and Benefit Sharing), and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Meanwhile, a panel on the future of ethical sourcing will discuss the role of sustainability charters, standards, and eco-labels in the beauty industry; a Sustainability Impacts session will highlight the various ways cosmetic companies are addressing their impacts; and another session will share more on the EcoBeautyScore Association, which launched the first industry-wide environmental scoring system last year.
Joan Birika from the United Nations Global Compact is set to speak about social sustainability in the beauty industry, and a dedicated panel of experts will also examine the economic impacts of sustainability.
New green ingredients and solutions for supply chain volatility
New and emerging green ingredients will be presented at the summit by various experts and pioneering startups. This will cover actives for neurocosmetics, green surfactants, novel green chemicals and more.
Ecovia Intelligence also noted that since COVID-19, raw material supply chains have been disrupted by geopolitical conflict, tariffs, and trade uncertainty. For example, the Middle East conflict is currently affecting the supply of petroleum feedstock. To address this, speakers will discuss raw material supply chain volatility and how operators can mitigate associated risks, while a group of panellists will examine the sustainable supply of raw materials, including which materials are currently most affected and how companies can adapt their purchasing patterns.
Sahota has previously explained to Cosmetics Design how sustainability issues are evolving rapidly in the beauty industry. “Currently, topics such as ethical sourcing of raw materials, decarbonisation, packaging impact reduction, and eco-labelling are highly relevant,” he said.
“In the next five years, sustainability concerns will likely evolve to include new technologies. Just as the food industry has embraced ‘foodtech’ innovations like precision fermentation and cellular agriculture, we will see cosmetic ingredients produced without land or traditional feedstock. We are already seeing signs of this.”
The North American edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will be hosted at the Dream Downtown by Hyatt New York on 21–22 May 2026. Find out more here.