Unilever making sustainable living commonplace

MANILA, Philippines - Unilever has broadened and deepened its commitment to deliver sustainable growth for the business and drive transformational change. It believes that sustainable and equitable growth is the only acceptable business model.

For the past three years, Unilever has been working hard to fulfill its commitment of doubling the size of the business while reducing environmental impact and increasing positive social impact in the communities it serves.

This vision is laid out in its Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that focuses on measuring its achievements among three key pillars — Health and Well-Being, Environmental Impact, and Enhancing Livelihoods.

In addressing sustainability experts, NGOs, and media partners who attended a recent sustainability forum hosted by the company in Makati, Unilever Phils. chairman and CEO Rohit Jawa presented the business’ progress since the launch of the plan.

“We have learned a lot in the past three years. We are seeing how sustainability saves money, reduces risks, fuels innovation and drives sales of our brands, creating a virtuous circle of growth,” Jawa said.

Now three years in, momentum is building as the company drives sustainability into every corner of the business. It is proud of its “brands with purpose” such as Knorr, Dove, Creamsilk, Surf and Domex, which are creating opportunities and facilitating a movement for change — by connecting meaningful solutions with the needs of everyday consumers.

Jawa said the company would continue to focus its scale, influence, expertise, and resources on making a fundamental change to entire systems, not just incremental improvements. 

This has led to including new goals to its sustainability framework, particularly in the area of Enhancing Livelihoods. This pillar has been expanded with a more substantive program focusing on: 

• Fairness in the workplace;

• Opportunities for women; and

• Developing inclusive business models.

In addition, Unilever has decided to step up plans on making transformational difference to three global issues — Climate Change, Food Security, and Health and Hygiene.

In announcing the expanded plan, Jawa said, “We are making good progress in following a blueprint for sustainable, equitable growth. However, we need to do more, and we cannot do it alone. There needs to be a transformative shift toward a new spirit of solidarity, cooperation and mutual accountability among like-minded partners in business, government, non-government agencies and other relevant spaces for this to take full shape.”

A detailed report on the progress made against the targets set out in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan and Unilever’s approach to transformational change is available online at unilever.com/sustainable-living.