Unilever is celebrating the
final year of its 10-year Unilever Sustainable Living
Plan
(USLP). Speaking at a global virtual event this week, CEO Alan Jope
reinforced the consumer goods giant’s commitment to making sustainable living
commonplace for 8 billion people, and called for collective action to ensure
that the crises of social inequality and climate change are not neglected in the
wake of COVID-19.
Jope called the USLP “a game-changer” for the company. He said that, while not
all goals were met, “we are a better business for trying.”
As the USLP journey concludes, Jope said Unilever will continue to build on
everything it’s learned along the way and set new challenges to build on it. He
added:
“Before the COVID-19 crisis, it was already clear that the current capitalist
model is in need of repair. Globalization and capitalism are good for a business
like ours, but globalization and capitalism at the expense of people and the
planet are not. While we don’t really know what the world will look like
post-COVID-19, I am convinced that there will be no future unless we double down
on our commitments to look after people and the planet. It’s therefore up to
businesses like us, working with partners — NGOs, government organizations,
academics, suppliers, customers — to drive a new model of capitalism, and build
a better future.”
Unilever’s growing stable of over 28 Sustainable Living Brands — which includes
Ben &
Jerry’s,
Domestos, Dove, Hellmann’s, Knorr,
Lifebuoy,
Love Beauty and
Planet,
and Seventh Generation — have consistently outperformed the average growth
rate
of the rest of the portfolio since the metric was introduced in 2014.
Implementing the USLP has helped the company avoid over €1bn in costs through,
for example, improvements in water and energy efficiency in factories; and
embracing circular packaging strategies through partnerships with platforms such
as
Algramo
and
Loop.
The company says the USLP has also been a key factor in attracting the best
talent; as well as forging strong partnerships with NGOs, government
organizations and other businesses.
Going forward, Unilever is committed to continuing its sustainability leadership
in every sense of the word — socially, environmentally and economically; to that
end, the company has unveiled a new strategy: the Unilever Compass, which
will guide it toward its goal to be the leader in sustainable business globally.
In a blog
post,
Jope explained that the Compass “is our new, fully integrated corporate strategy
which builds on the successes and the lessons learnt over the last ten years of
the USLP. It will have nine imperatives and 15 multi-year priorities that cover
the full spectrum of our business and our wider ecosystem, with a range of
ambitious targets that are more holistic, inclusive and far-reaching than ever
before.”
The Unilever Compass is based on three core beliefs: that brands with purpose
grow, companies with purpose last, and people with purpose thrive. The 15
priorities will each have ambitious targets for tackling key challenges such as
packaging and
waste,
gender equality, human rights and fair value — as well as climate
change and social inclusion. The company says the Compass will be just as
rigorous as the USLP, and will be more holistic, inclusive, and far-reaching
than ever. More details will be unveiled in due course.
Jope concluded, “The USLP is drawing to a close, but the journey towards
achieving our purpose of making sustainable living commonplace certainly isn’t.
In fact, as the world is changing increasingly quickly, our employees, our
consumers, our customers, our suppliers, our partners expect more from us. We
know that we can continue to lead the charge, but we need to be better, bolder
and faster."
Read more
here
…
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published May 7, 2020 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST