Lush, a popular brand of cosmetics from the United Kingdom, has closed all of its stores globally in support of Climate Strike, a youth movement demanding governments take more action to tackle the climate crisis inspired by school-skipping Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg.
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The multi-million dollar privately held brand, known for making vegetarian packaging-free products and advocating against the use of palm oil and animal testing, is among a number of corporate activists closing in support of Climate Strike Week, which runs from 20 to 27 September.
Lush has shuttered its stores at different times and days during Climate Strike Week depending on the market. In Singapore, where no students are known to be skipping school in support of Climate Strike, Lush’s five stores have closed for a few hours on Friday, opening again at 2pm.
“Lush are responding to the call from School Strike for Climate asking adults to suspend business as usual whilst they rally today to demand action on climate change,” the company said in a message on its store fronts in Singapore.
Lush has promoted its support of Climate Strike on social media in a number of markets, but not in Singapore. A Lush spokesperson told Eco-Business that the company would rather the focus be on what the youth movement is doing in Singapore, rather than brands.
Lush’s store in Orchardgateway Mall, Orchard Road, Singapore on Friday 20 September. Image: Eco-Business
In a statement shared with Eco-Business, the company said: “There can be no call stronger than children sincerely asking us to do the right thing. For this reason, Lush will stop our business-as-usual on September 20th for the [Climate] Strike. Our tills will switch off, our shops and offices will shut, our website will go onto a low energy holding page and our factories will come to a standstill. We hear our children and we stand with them.”
Singapore students, academics, lawyers and teachers are staging a protest against government inaction on climate change on Saturday 21 September. The protest, known as SG Climate Rally, is inspired by Climate Strike and civil disobedience climate movement Extinction Rebellion.
The Climate Strike is expected to be the largest of its kind in history, with thousands of students expected to skip school and workers take the day off to take the streets to demand more climate action from their governments.
