Unilever announced today that it would seek shareholder approval of its plans to tackle climate change, making it the world’s largest company to put such a move up for a vote.
The plan sets out the consumer goods giant’s climate strategy to reduce emissions within its operations, through its value chain, as well as describe how it is managing risks and meeting consumer needs connected with climate change and societal responses to it.
Unilever said it believes that the economy-wide shift to net zero emissions will require a greater and deeper level of engagement between companies and their investors about their climate transition plans. In setting out its plan, the British firm stated that it hoped this increased level of transparency and accountability will strengthen the dialogue with its shareholders and encourage other companies to follow suit.
Unilever’s targets include zero emissions from its own operations by 2030 and a 50% reduction in the average footprint of its products over the same period. It also announced an ambitious plan in June to cut all emissions from sourcing to point of sale by 2039.
Alan Jope, Unilever CEO said: “Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time and we are determined to play a leadership role in accelerating the transition to a zero carbon economy.
“We have a wide ranging and ambitious set of climate commitments – but we know they are only as good as our delivery against them. That’s why we will be sharing more detail with our shareholders who are increasingly wanting to understand more about our strategy and plans.
“We welcome this increased transparency and in the plan we present, we will be clear both about the areas in our direct control where we have a high degree of certainty of our route to net zero, as well as more challenging areas across our value chain where systemic solutions will be required to achieve our targets.”
Unilever plans to share its climate transition action plan in the first quarter of next year. The plan will be updated on a rolling basis and Unilever will seek an advisory vote every three years on any material changes.
