Climate change

Consequences for our business include threats to our agricultural supply chain and to the availability of water in some markets. We have joined business coalitions endorsing the need for immediate action.

Our approach

In 2007, the Unilever Executive agreed a greenhouse gas strategy, covering both our direct and indirect impacts, and setting out that we will seek to:

• build on existing reductions to cut CO2 from energy in our manufacturing operations by 25% by 2012

• improve the footprint of our existing product portfolio using our new vitality metric

• assess innovations using our greenhouse gas profiling tool

• work with our customers and suppliers to address our wider impacts.

Our carbon footprint

We estimate total emissions of greenhouse gases from our immediate operations to be around 4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year. Include Supply Chain, and that may amount to 10 times as much. Include consumer use and disposal of our products, and that may amount to between 30 and 60 times as much.

Our direct impacts

Greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing

Since 1995 we have achieved a 39% reduction in CO2 from energy per tonne of production, while in 2008, we reduced our CO2 emissions by 1.6% per tonne of production compared to 2007 – keeping us on track to meet our 2012 target.

We are now investing in more efficient power and steam generation technology, and less energy-intensive manufacturing processes, targeting sites which emit the most CO2.

In Europe we now have three efficient combined heat and power plants in Caivano and Cisterna, Italy, and Stavenhagen, Germany, and are planning to install more. We are also exploring alternative energy sources – for instance, we have installed solar panels at our Cu Chi factory in Vietnam.

Another focus is instilling behaviour change, such as turning off lights, heating and equipment where possible. In 2008, we conducted workshops to share good practice and raise technical capabilities in each region.

Non-manufacturing impacts

In 2008 our UK marketing and sales organisation, followed by other parts of the business, set target reductions for employee commuting, business travel and distribution.

We have also adopted IT-related measures such as consolidation of data centres, energy reduction targets, new procurement guidelines, and recycling and reuse of equipment, helping us save over €6 million a year in Europe by 2010. Recently-installed advanced video-conferencing facilities have already reduced our footprint by an estimated 1 700 tonnes of CO2, saving €5 million in travel costs.

Climate-friendly refrigerants

Refrigerants Naturally!, our alliance with Greenpeace, has seen us work to promote HFC (hydrofluorocarbon)-free refrigeration technologies.

Since 2004, we have been replacing our stock of over 2 million point-of-sale ice cream freezer cabinets with more energy-efficient and climate-friendly alternatives that use a hydrocarbon refrigerant. Although for technical and legislative reasons it is not possible to replace all cabinets, we have made good progress: by early 2009, we had over 400 000 hydrocarbon refrigerant cabinets in use. We publicise our climate-friendly cabinets through trade shows and seminars around the world.

US activity

The introduction of new refrigerants in the US is highly regulated, requiring formal application for their use through the Environmental Protection Agency's SNAP programme. Ben & Jerry's has now been granted permission to pilot test 50 hydrocarbon freezer cabinets, paving the way for the introduction of hydrocarbon refrigeration in the United States.

Our indirect impacts

The sourcing, distribution, consumption and disposal of our products also produce greenhouse gas emissions.

Use by consumers

For many of our products, the largest emissions of CO2 occur during their use by consumers – especially if, like shampoo or laundry powder, they require heated water.

One way we cut these emissions is by reformulating our products. For instance, our concentrated Omo/Persil detergents now use fewer raw materials, less packaging, cost less to transport and are effective at lower wash temperatures.

We also raise awareness with consumers – for example, encouraging them to wash clothes at lower temperatures.

Sourcing

Greenhouse gas emissions in our supply chain are approximately ten times those in our own manufacturing activities.

We are founding members of the Carbon Disclosure Project's Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration, which encourages suppliers to disclose greenhouse gas emissions, and have tested a questionnaire with a selection of our suppliers.

Distribution

We estimate that the impact of transporting and distributing our products is around 4 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

Working with customers and distributors, we are making a start on reducing our impacts. For example, in the UK, Unilever and Tesco co-chaired an initiative to cut transport emissions by sharing vehicles and implementing more efficient warehousing, saving 53 million miles of travel.

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Unilever participates in the annual survey conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit organisation. This initiative seeks information on behalf of 475 institutional investors on the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. In 2008, we scored 88% in the survey (CDP6) narrowly missing the 90% threshold for inclusion in the global Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.