Unilever sets out new actions to fight climate change

Unilever sets out new actions to fight climate change

Robert Candelino, CEO of Unilever Thailand
Robert Candelino, CEO of Unilever Thailand

Unilever sets out a new range of measures and commitments designed to improve the health of the planet by taking even more decisive action to fight climate change, protect and regenerate nature and preserve resources for future generations. Unilever will achieve Net Zero emissions from all our products by 2039.

To accelerate action, Unilever’s brands will collectively invest €1 billion in a new dedicated Climate & Nature Fund. This will be used over the next ten years to take meaningful and decisive action, with projects likely to include landscape restoration, reforestation, carbon sequestration, wildlife protection and water preservation. 

Alan Jope, Unilever Global CEO, explains: “While the world is dealing with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and grappling with serious issues of inequality, we can’t let ourselves forget that the climate crisis is still a threat to all of us. Climate change, nature degradation, biodiversity decline, water scarcity – all these issues are interconnected, and we must address them all simultaneously. In doing so, we must also recognise that the climate crisis is not only an environmental emergency; it also has a terrible impact on lives and livelihoods. We, therefore, have a responsibility to help tackle the crisis: as a business, and through direct action by our brands.”

Fighting the climate crisis

Unilever’s existing science-based targets are to have no carbon emissions from its own operations, and to halve the GHG footprint of their products across the value chain by 2030. In response to the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, Unilever worldwide is today additionally committing to net zero emissions from all our products by 2039 (ahead of the 2050 Paris Agreement deadline)– from the sourcing of the materials used, up to the point of sale of their products in stores.

Unilever will work jointly with partners across the value chain, to collectively drive lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions. 

To accelerate the global race to zero emissions, Unilever will communicate the carbon footprint of every product they sell. 

The race to zero must be a collective effort, and business alone cannot drive the transition at the speed that is required. Governments must also set ambitious net-zero targets, as well as short term emissions reduction targets, supported with enabling policy frameworks such as carbon pricing.

Protecting and regenerating nature

Unilever has been leading the industry on sustainable sourcing practices for over a decade, 89% of their forest-related commodities are certified as sustainably sourced to globally recognised standards. 

Unilever plans to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023 by increasing traceability and transparency, using emerging digital technologies – such as satellite monitoring, geolocation tracking and blockchain – accelerating smallholder inclusion and changing the approach to derivatives sourcing.

Unilever will work with the industry, NGOs and governments, to look beyond forests, peatlands and tropical rainforests, and to protect other important areas of high conservation value and high carbon stock which are under threat of conversion to arable land, with potentially devastating impact on the natural habitats.

In addition to continuing to drive sustainable sourcing and an end to deforestation, Unilever is setting out to help regenerate nature: increasing local biodiversity, restoring soil health, and preserving water conservation and access. To do this, Unilever will empower a new generation of farmers and smallholders who are committed to protecting and regenerating their farm environment. Initiatives will also include securing legal land rights, access to finance and financial inclusion, and development of restorative practices. This integrated approach will improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and give them leverage to drive the regeneration of nature.

Unilever is also introducing a pioneering Regenerative Agriculture Code for all their suppliers. The new code will build on their existing Sustainable Agriculture Code, which is widely recognised as being best-in-class in the industry, and it will include details on farming practices that help rebuild critical resources. Unilever will make the Regenerative Agriculture Code available to any organisation that may find it useful – with the goal of driving change throughout the industry.

Unilever will step up direct efforts to preserve water. Already, 40% of the world's population is affected by water scarcity, and more than 2.1 billion people consume unsafe drinking water. Through a partnership with the World Bank, Unilever will implement water stewardship programmes for local communities in 100 locations by 2030. This programme takes a community approach to water management, and not only helps farmers across cropping seasons, but also addresses the basic human need for adequate and easy access to water. A model for this water stewardship programme will be built and partner with key suppliers for them to also run similar programmes.

Unilever will also join the 2030 Water Resources Group, a multi-stakeholder platform hosted by the World Bank, to contribute to transformative change and building resilience in water management in key water-stressed markets, such as India, Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam and Indonesia.

To further protect water resources, Unilever aim to make our product formulations biodegradable by 2030, to minimise their impact on water and the aquatic ecosystems. Although some of the ingredients that we currently use have no viable biodegradable alternatives, we will work with partners to drive innovation and find solutions to help us reach our ambition.

In Thailand, Unilever introduced 2 new inside-out environmentally friendly brands to the market last year; Love Beauty & Planet and Seventh Generation and revamped its packaging for best-seller brands to post-consumer recycling (PCR). Unilever’s homecare products have reached 80% PCR materials. Starting with Sunlight, the no.1 best-selling dishwashing liquid has moved from HDPE to PET in 2017, which reduced plastic use by 274 ton/year. In January 2019, we made further upgrade to the Sunlight bottles from PET to 100% rPET last year, making Sunlight’s bottle 100% PCR, reducing plastic use by 551 ton/year and GHG by 56%. In addition, the production sites in Thailand have implemented zero waste to landfill since 2014, and taking a step further to using renewable resources for grid electricity with installation of biomass boiler leading and water is treated then reuse, saving electricity and saving water. 

Robert Candelino, Unilever Thailand CEO, added: “We are enormously proud of our long and distinguished 87-year history in Thailand. The commitments we announced today to help our planet are entirely consistent with our stated purpose in Thailand: “To improve the lives of every Thai, every day”. As Alan mentions, while the world has understandably been focused on the Covid crisis, the previous challenges we faced on climate have not gone away.  Pollution, plastic waste, poor air quality, water scarcity and deforestation are just some of the myriad environmental challenges the world and Thailand specifically still need to deal with. We are hopeful that our very ambitious commitments announced today will inspire others to join us and take similar actions to help preserve our planet for future generations.”

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