Sustainable Development Overview 2009 Creating a better future every day Contents Highlights 1 Introduction 2 Our business and brands 4 An overview of our impacts 6 Creating a better future every day 9 Progress on our commitments 10 Health and well- being 11 Nutrition Launched ambitious new vision to double the 14 Hygiene and well- being size of our business while reducing our overall environmental impacts across the entire value chain 17 Sustainable living 18 Sustainable agriculture % 21 Climate change 15 of our palm oil now sourced 24 Water sustainably via GreenPalm certifcates 27 Packaging % 30 Supporting economic 15 of the tea we use globally development now sourced from Rainforest ™ Alliance Certifed farms 34 External commentary 36 Our Sustainable Development Report Reduced environmental impacts of 37 Awards and recognition our manufacturing operations by 41%* for CO2 from energy, 65%* for water use and %* 73 for total waste, measured per tonne of production over 1995-2009 This Overview summarises our most signifcant impacts. Our online Sustainable Lifebuoy promoted Development Report is our principal means of reporting: Global Handwashing Day it sets out our policies and performance on the issues in 23 countries, covered in this Overview reaching millions of people as well as many others. See page 36 44% of our food portfolio now in line www.unilever.com/ sustainability with internationally accepted guidelines for saturated and trans fat, sugar and salt Launched global ‘Brush Day and Night’ campaign with FDI World Dental Federation Food industry sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for the 11th year running – the only company ever to have achieved this *2009 data is preliminary – see Footnote, page 35 Introduction 2009 was a good year for Unilever. Despite diffcult economic conditions our growth momentum was strong and we laid many of the foundations needed for the long term. At the same time we continued to serve billions of consumers across the world with products and innovations that help them feel good, look good and get more out of life. A new vision of our volumes. And as a founder member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil 2009 saw the launch of a new vision (RSPO) we are helping to move the industry for Unilever – to double the size of the to sustainable palm oil. We have set our company while reducing our overall impact own target to be 100% sustainably sourced on the environment. The commitment by 2015. presents Unilever with a major challenge. The reduction we are talking about is an It is a similar story in tea. Around 15% of absolute one. It incorporates all our impacts our global volumes of tea now comes from right across the value chain – from the certifed sustainable sources. Commitments sourcing of our raw materials through to like these not only help the environment, but consumer use and disposal of our products. also have a positive impact on the lives of In short, we intend to decouple growth from millions of people. In Kenya alone, 38,000 environmental impact. smallholder tea farmers have achieved Rainforest Alliance certifcation. Again, our target is to be fully sourced with sustainable The starting point tea for our Lipton tea bags by 2015. Where do we start in addressing such In ice cream the challenge is different. a challenge? Here the task is to move to climate-friendly HC refrigerants in the point-of-sale freezer Shared value First, we have to put our own house in cabinets that we own around the world. order. And we are. Over the last 15 years This way of working, which has been the company has signifcantly improved the Ultimately, however, we will not achieve our described as ‘shared value creation’, has eco-effciency of its network of factories. CO2 environmental goals without persuading been at the heart of Unilever’s approach from energy has gone down by 41%*, water consumers to change their behaviour. For since the inception of the business. Today, we by 65%* and total waste by 73%* per tonne many of our products consumers generate are applying it to the challenges of the early of production. We recognise that we have around 70% of the environmental impact. 21st century: climate change, water scarcity, more to do and have the plans to get there. Laundry detergents are a case in point. poverty alleviation and malnutrition to name The temperature and cycle at which the but a few. wash is done have a huge impact on the Of course we have had our share of setbacks Working across the energy and water used. The Cleaner Planet with which we have had to deal. Whether value chain Plan, which is being rolled out across our these were issues with contract labour in Omo, Persil and Surf brands, is a behaviour Pakistan or accusations levelled against some Unilever’s biggest impacts do not come from change programme that educates consumers of our palm oil suppliers, we have tried its own operations. Our 264 factories account on how to do their washing in a resource- to respond to these criticisms quickly and for only a small proportion of our emissions. effcient fashion. transparently. Our biggest effects on the world around us come from the sourcing of raw materials at We report on these matters in this document. one end of the value chain and consumer use Tackling social as well We hope that it provides a balanced account of our products at the other. as environmental issues of how Unilever is addressing the central issue facing companies everywhere – namely how These are issues which we cannot tackle On the social dimension we are also to grow in a genuinely sustainable manner. alone. Together with NGOs, customers making progress. Lifebuoy’s programme to and other partner organisations we have teach children and their families about the programmes and commitments in place importance of handwashing has reached to address them at each stage of the over 133 million people since 2002. Ben and value chain. Jerry’s has announced that it will go Fairtrade. As a food company half our raw materials In India our Shakti distribution network now come from agriculture and forestry. Our employs 45,000 women. They are not only ambition is to purchase all our key crops from making our products more accessible to some sustainable sources. We have already taken of the 800 million people who live in Indian the lead in many areas. In palm oil, we have villages but they provide a livelihood, dignity Paul Polman bought GreenPalm certifcates covering 15% and respect to many families along the way. Chief Executive Offcer 1 Our business and brands On any given day, 2 billion people use our products. This gives us a unique opportunity to help improve their everyday lives. Turnover (millions) Unilever is one of the leading suppliers of With consumers, customers, suppliers and E fast-moving consumer goods with products shareholders on every continent, we describe on sale in over 170 countries. Our strong ourselves as a ‘multi-local multinational’. 39,823 portfolio of foods, home and personal care An important part of the local communities in brands is trusted by consumers the world over. which we operate, we bring our international 32% 30% 38% expertise to the service of people everywhere. Our top 13 brands account for total sales of over €23 billion and our top 25 brands account for nearly 75% of our sales. * Our top 13 brands Leading category positions Savoury Spreads l Axe/Lynx l Hellmann’s l Rexona World Dressings Tea l l l Number 1 Blue Band Knorr Sunsilk Ice cream Mass skin care l l l Deodorants Dove Lipton Surf l l Flora/Becel Lux *Some of our brands World Laundry detergents l l may be marketed under Daily hair care Heartbrand Omo alternative names in Number 2 ice creams certain countries Local Household care strength Oral care 2 UNILEVER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW 2009 Operating proft Purchase of goods Employees (millions) and services (millions) (year end) E5,020 E28,549 163,000 37% 25% 38% 32% 31% 37% 25% 17% 58% 2009 l The Americas l Western Europe l Asia, Africa and Central & Eastern Europe Category highlights Savoury, dressings and spreads Personal care E million % underlying E million % underlying 13,256 turnover (0.1 ) sales growth 11,846 turnover 5.3 sales growth Ice cream and beverages Home care E million % underlying E million % underlying 7,753 turnover 4.0 sales growth 6,968 turnover 7.1 sales growth 3 An overview of our impacts Our business and brands have impacts at every stage of their lifecycle: in sourcing raw materials, packaging, manufacture, distribution, consumer use and disposal. Raw materials Operations E15.3 billion spent with 264 Unilever manufacturing over 10,000 suppliers sites globally of raw materials, packaging Consistent improvements in eco -effciency and goods for re -sale performance since 1995, per tonne of production −41%* CO2 from energy We buy 12% of the world’ s black tea and −65%* water use 3% of the world’ s palm oil −73%* total waste Our carbon footprint (estimate) Consumer use of our products accounts for by far the largest proportion of our impact. Raw materials and packaging x10 x1 x1 Raw materials Packaging Ben & Jerry’s Caring Unilever Distribution Sourcing our Primary and secondary Dairy programme operations Distribution of products helps farmers reduce agricultural and packaging, eg paper, Factories (including from factories to point their energy and chemical raw materials plastic, glass and metal third-party of sale via a network water use largely accounts for our manufacturing), including road, rail ‘upstream’ CO2 impacts travel and buildings and sea Our water footprint (estimate) Our impacts occur mainly in the growing of raw materials and in consumer use of our products.