Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company that is based in the UK. The company’s product range includes nutrition, personal care and hygiene products. Unilever aims to achieve zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2030 through significant emission reduction and offsetting through carbon credits.
Carbon labelling
Unilever is aiming to increase the transparency of the environmental impact of its products. The company aims to include carbon footprint labels on around two dozen of its products by the end of 2021, in either North American or Europe. A carbon label is a label on a product that describes the carbon dioxide emissions generated as a by-product of producing and transporting the product. The label also includes the emissions that would be given off from disposing of the product. It is possible that Unilever will adopt a traffic light style label that grades products based on their environmental friendliness. Unilever has said that it aims to put carbon labels on its entire 30,000 product range in the next 2-5 years. It is also the largest company to test the use of carbon footprint labelling.
Decarbonising efforts
Unilever is also aiming to reduce its carbon footprint in its operations. The company has sourced 100% renewable grid energy across all of its operations globally since the start of 2020. Unilever was also a founding signatory of the RE100 global campaign. RE100 is an initiative that brings together businesses that are committed to using 100% renewable energy. Also, Unilever facilities use solar energy and have on-site solar installations in over 20 countries.
Unilever’s environmental goals
Unilever has many ambitious goals with respect to its environmental footprint. The company is committed to the goal of generating net zero emissions from all its products by 2039. The company also aims to halve the greenhouse gas impact of its products across the lifecycle by 2030. In all of its cleaning and laundry products, Unilever aims to replace fossil-fuel driven carbon with renewable or recycled carbon by 2030.
Unilever is on a mission to reduce its environmental impact and create a shift in its practices to prioritise the environment. The company is one to watch out for, as it is contributing to carbon labelling, which will be a new way for consumers to truly understand the environmental impact of their purchasing options.
If a huge multinational like Unilever can get on board with the green mission, so you can you! DGB is happy to be joined on our tree planting mission by everyone from the individual to the biggest company!
