Unilever has been identified as a global leader in corporate sustainability and awarded a position on this year’s A List for climate, water and forests by CDP, the non-profit global environmental disclosure platform.
Our goal is to be carbon positive
Unilever is one of only two companies to score an A for all three of CDP’s programmes. This is in recognition of our actions in the last year to tackle climate change and the associated challenges of water scarcity, sustainable agriculture and energy production. For Unilever, this has meant cutting carbon emissions and enhancing water stewardship across our value chain, tackling deforestation associated with palm oil in our supply chain and leading the transformation towards a new sustainable economy.
Unilever Chief Financial Officer, Graeme Pitkethly, says: “Climate change is already affecting companies – both through the direct impacts of steadily rising global temperatures and through the policies that governments around the world adopt in response.
“At Unilever, we reduced CO2 from energy in manufacturing by almost two thirds over the past two decades and have set a bold target of being carbon positive by 2030, committed to sourcing 100% of our energy from renewable sources.
“Disclosure through the CDP platform is an important tool for Unilever to measure how we are performing against our sustainability plans and making progress to reduce our footprint. We are delighted to have been recognised as one of only two companies to achieve straight ‘A’ scores across the rankings.
“Being a sustainable business goes hand-in-hand with being a successful business, as we drive profitable growth for our brands, save costs, reduce risk and fuel innovation.
“Transparency and reporting are more important than ever before, not only to ensure trust among employees and consumers, but also for our investors. Unilever is one of the first companies to commit to implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. If markets are to operate efficiently, we must be transparent to help them evaluate companies’ risks and opportunities and make better decisions for the long term.”
The world is approaching a tipping point
The 2017 A List is comprised of 156 global companies, and has been produced at the request of more than 800 investors with assets of over US$100 trillion. Thousands of companies submit annual environmental disclosures to CDP for independent assessment against its scoring methodology.
CDP’s Executive Chair, Paul Dickinson, said: “Congratulations to all the companies that made it onto the A List this year. It’s inspiring to see so many taking bold action to mitigate environmental risks and grasp the opportunities that come with the transition to a sustainable economy. These companies are driving the transition as we approach a tipping point on environmental action”.
A rich source of information
CDP drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Over 6,300 companies with some 55% of global market capitalisation disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2017. This is in addition to over 500 cities and 100 states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change.