Our biggest
challenges
Poverty, malnutrition, climate change and water scarcity: these are some of the big challenges facing the world and our business today. Find out more about how we are addressing these and other sustainability issues.
Unilever Sustainable Living Plan
Inspiring billions of people to take small, everyday actions that add up to a big difference.
By 2020, we will halve the environmental footprint of our products, help more than 1 billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, and source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably.
Some performance highlights
Nutrition
44%
Of products in line with internationally accepted guidelines for saturated and trans fat, sugar and salt.
Sustainable sourcing
15%
Of our global purchases of tea and palm oil from sustainable sources.
Greenhouse gases
44%
Reduction in CO2 from energy per tonne of production by our factories from 1995–2010 (preliminary data).
Water
66%
Reduction in water use per tonne of production by our factories from 1995–2010 (preliminary data).
Community
€89m
invested in community programmes worldwide in 2009.
Employee safety
15.7% reduction in our total recordable frequency rate in 2010 (preliminary data).
Our Sustainability reporting
Our online Sustainable Development Report 2009 is available to download.
Our people
Sylvia Rutatina Estate Manager, Unilever Tea Tanzania
Achieving Rainforest Alliance certification for Unilever's tea brands depends on people like Sylvia.
Case studies
Australia: Bushells Driver Reviver
Road safety experts regard driver fatigue as one of the biggest killers on Australia's roads.
Our world in stories
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Europe
Unilever agronomists are working to make agriculture more sustainable in the UK.
View all case studies -
North America
Unilever Canada's Go Blue campaign is encouraging consumers to cut their water consumption by 50%.
View all case studies -
South America
We have teamed up with Wal-Mart to show Brazilian consumers how to live in an environmentally friendly way.
View all case studies -
Africa
We are one of 30 companies helping the Kenyan government tackle hunger in rural areas.
View all case studies -
Asia
Project Shakti has created a livelihood for 45 000 women entrepreneurs in rural India.
View all case studies -
Australasia
Omo and Persil Small & Mighty is a new generation of concentrated detergents.
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Australia
Lipton Black Tea receives Rainforest Alliance certification in Australia.
Our brands in society
By addressing social and sustainability issues, our brands can make a real difference and create growth opportunities for our business.
