Unilever: Corporate Sustainability Report

Thèmes abordés

Unilever, sustainability, palm oil, huile de palme, développement durable, écologie, multinational, greenpeace, RSPO

Résumé du document

Sustainability has become the buzz word in many companies and industries in recent years. All major organizations operate some form of sustainability program, as there will be certification of the amount of documentation on their website. But most of them also publish their responsible attitude to a certain degree of transparency to their stakeholders.

Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands, from food and beverage to home and personal care products. The company has always claimed to be driven by a strong set of values and has done a lot in terms of sustainability during the last decade. However, in 2008, the multinational corporation has been accused by Greenpeace UK for causing deforestation. Even if Unilever has already chaired the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the NGO claims that Unilever has been buying palm oil from suppliers that are damaging Indonesia's rainforests and causing the extermination of orangutans.

Shortly after these allegations, Unilever suspended future purchases of palm oil and claimed that, it will use certified palm oil as it becomes available. In addition, the corporation decided to take a collaborative approach with Greenpeace, and both organizations agreed to form a coalition that will also include multinational companies such as Nestle, Cadbury, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and other diverse partners. This collaboration is supposed to tackle the issue of sustainable palm oil production and is run alongside the Roundtable for "Sustainable Palm Oil".

Today, less than 4% of the annual production of palm oil is certified sustainable and the RSPO demands some serious reforms. Moreover, with an appropriate communication strategy about the palm oil issue, corporations such as Unilever could have been more efficient in finding a solution that would also add value to its corporation. I believe that Unilever has not been proactive enough to resolve the palm oil issue in a way that would have maximized its value economically, environmentally and socially.

All multinational companies are now involved in sustainability measures to a certain extent. Larger companies clearly have to work harder to keep their business sustainable, as they consume more raw materials, produce more packaging wastes, employ more people, rely on a greater number of suppliers, operate more production facilities and need to convince more people of their sustainability involvement.

This global corporation sustainability report will cover the case of Unilever, one of the leaders of the food and consumer goods industry in Europe and throughout the world. The international corporation recently claimed that, corporate social responsibility is at the heart of its business. However, it seems that the transition to a responsible and sustainable company is still ongoing as Unilever has attracted a variety of criticisms from environmental, political and human rights activists on not achieving the aims it is trying to communicate on a certain number of topics.

Extraits

[...] However, being part of this Roundtable is not the only thing Unilever should do to be truly effective in resolving the palm oil issue. Its involvement and motivation are also key facts that will help us determine how effective the corporation's current efforts are in its palm oil sustainability plans. The RSPO has considerable potential to improve the way producers and users of palm oil are dealing with the destruction of valuable forests in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Roundtable has already developed 39 sustainability criteria, organized under eight general principles, which are designed to limit environmental impacts of growing palm oil. [...]

[...] Nevertheless, we remain absolutely committed to finding a solution." Thus, Patrick Cescau, Unilever's CEO, publicly announced his intention to collaborate with Greenpeace in order to find an adequate solution for both parties. He also pledged to buy palm oil only from certified sustainable sources by 2015. ii. Externally Shortly after Greenpeace allegations about the firm's environmental practices, Unilever suspended future purchases of palm oil from one of its main Indonesian suppliers, PT Smart, until the company can prove its plantations are not contributing to the destruction of high conservation value forests. [...]

[...] Products and services offered Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation created in 1930 and employing today more than 163,000 people. The organization owns a vast portfolio of packaged consumer goods including more than 400 brands that brought in more than $55,000 million of revenue in 2009. However, the company focuses on 13 brands, each of which achieves annual sales in excess of billion. The corporation's offering span several categories, including food and beverages, personal care and home care. Unilever's main brands are Axe/Lynx, Dove, Heartbrand ice creams, Lipton, Knorr, Sunsilk, Surf, Sunsilk, Rexona, Lux, Flora, Hellmann's and Aviance.[1] (Exhibit Unilever's main competitors include Danone, Kraft Foods, Henkel, Mars, Nestlé, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, Reckitt Benckiser and S. [...]

[...] Any multinational company is now involved in sustainability efforts to a certain extent. Larger companies clearly have to work harder to keep their business sustainable, as they consume more raw materials, produce more packaging waste, employ more people, rely on a greater number of suppliers, operate more production facilities and need to convince more people of their sustainability involvement. This global corporation sustainability report will cover the case of Unilever, one of the leaders of the food and consumer goods industry in Europe and throughout the world. [...]

[...] The other third took the form of charitable donations Sustainability issue and corporate approach a. The issue In November 2007, the Non-Governmental Organization Greenpeace released a report called “Cooking the Climate”, summarizing the findings of a two-year investigation that revealed how the world's largest food, cosmetics and biofuel firms were driving the destruction of Indonesian's rainforests, orangutan habitat and peatlands through growing palm oil consumption. The NGO clearly accused Unilever, as the largest palm oil corporate consumer in the world, to trade with suppliers that destroy rainforests, and therefore to operate its business with unethical practices.[13] A few days after the report was released, Greenpeace activists, some dressed as orangutans, protested in front of Unilever's offices in several countries. [...]