Commercial, GHG Emissions  -  September 27, 2021

Unilever Launches Program to Tackle Supplier Emissions

Unilever launched Sept. 21 the Unilever Climate Promise in the hope of encouraging its 56,000 suppliers to demonstrate their commitment to reducing their own carbon footprint.

Suppliers participating in the consumer product company’s Climate Promise will be asked to set a public greenhouse gas emissions target by 2030 and openly report on their progress by sharing emissions and footprint data with Unilever. The program will focus mainly on engaging the 300 suppliers that Unilever identified as having the highest environmental impact.

To support the program, the company also released the Unilever Climate Programme, which will provide participating suppliers with hands-on guidance and access to tools and resources. The program will launch this year with a small group of suppliers and expand to a pilot with about 40 companies in 2022. The rest of the 300 targeted suppliers will be brought into the program starting in 2023.

“More and more climate-conscious companies are recognising that the majority of GHG emissions in their value chains come from outside their own operations,” Dave Ingram, Unilever’s chief procurement officer, said in a statement. “Through our Climate Promise, we’re finding new ways to support our partners to measure, reduce and report on emissions in their own value chains, so that together, we may scale and accelerate our progress for the climate and help make sustainable living commonplace.”

The company also plans to establish partnerships with tech companies innovating waste to reduce or replace harmful aspects of production like plastic or carbon. One such project involves capturing waste CO2 from a factory and using it in the creation of its OMO detergent.

Unilever will also continue its pursuit of net-zero emissions across its own operations by 2030 and net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2039. The company has already achieved 100% renewable electricity use in all its factories, offices, R&D facilities, data centers, warehouses and distribution centers globally.

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