Unilever Sustainable Living Plan Progress Report 2011

18 Unilever Sustainable Living Plan Progress Report 2011
3.0
OUR COMMITMENT
l 0 AcHIEVED l 8 on-PLAn l 1 oFF-PLAn l 0 MISSED
Source for Footprint and pie charts: Unilever 2008 baseline study across 14 countries.
Total in tonnes.
oUr aPProach
climate change will have a growing impact
on Unilever’s business. our suppliers of
agricultural raw materials will be affected by
changing weather patterns. our consumers
will have to adapt to a world of rising food and
energy prices and communities risk being
displaced by extreme weather events such
as floods and droughts.
It is a particularly urgent issue for Unilever since
the countries that are expected to feel the effects
most severely are the developing economies that
generate more than half our sales.
We have calculated the greenhouse gas
emissions across the lifecycle of over 1,600
representative products in 14 countries.
The calculation covers 70% of our volumes.
From this we know that our largest greenhouse
gas impacts are beyond our factory gates. The
sourcing of raw materials and the use of our
products by people at home account for more
than 90%.
We have set greenhouse gas reduction targets
across our value chain – from sourcing,
manufacturing, transport and refrigeration
all the way through to consumer use of our
products. To achieve these targets we need to
work with our suppliers as well as offer new
products that can help people reduce their
own impacts.
Halve the greenhouse gas impact of our products across the lifecycle by 2020.*
OUR PERFORMANCE
Given the complexity of calculating the lifecycle
impacts of our product portfolio, we are investing
in an automated process to allow us to measure
progress regularly.
An interim sample of 2010 data shows that
our greenhouse gas footprint has remained
broadly unchanged.
OUR FOOTPRINT
WHAT MATTERS MOST
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heated
water for showering and washing hair.
26% 3%
2% 68% 1%
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Raw materials Manufacture Transport Consumer use Disposal
* Throughout this document our environmental targets are expressed against a baseline
of 2008 and on a ‘per consumer use’ basis. This means a single use, portion or serving
of a product (see page 41).
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