Unilever, the consumer goods giant with revenues of nearly €60 billion, will partner with its top 10 retail customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize waste throughout its supply chain.
Unilever’s website says its sustainability goals are: climate, nature, plastics and livelihoods.
Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher revealed the sustainability strategy and plans during an interview at the Reuters IMPACT conference in London.
The initiative aims to build sustainability partnerships with retailers, focusing on reducing “Scope 3” emissions, which encompass the indirect environmental impact across a company’s entire supply and distribution chain. Hein Schumacher emphasized that these collaborations are expected to play a significant role in Unilever’s efforts to combat climate change in the coming years.
“We have a sustainability collaboration agreement with Walmart, for example, focused on greenhouse gas emission reduction,” Hein Schumacher said, adding that Unilever is considered part of Walmart’s Scope 3 emissions.
One of the retail partners of Unilever includes Walmart. US-based Walmart, which aims to eliminate one gigaton of emissions from its global supply chain by 2030, has already seen a reduction or avoidance of 574 million metric tons since launching the initiative in 2017.
The move comes as Unilever, once a sustainability leader following the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, has faced criticism from some investors who feared that its climate strategy might hinder profit growth. In response, Hein Schumacher altered some of Unilever’s sustainability goals in April, garnering both praise from certain investors and backlash from environmental advocates.
In addition to Walmart, Unilever has also signed a deal with A.S. Watson, a major health and beauty retailer, to develop sustainable products like body wash and toothpaste. The company is further using climate-modelling techniques to reduce supply chain emissions and make its operations more resilient to challenges such as droughts.
Hein Schumacher’s renewed focus on collaborative sustainability agreements reflects Unilever’s effort to align profit growth with its environmental goals while addressing growing pressure from both investors and climate-conscious consumers.