How Unilever is Using its Supply Chain to Protect Nature

Unilever is supporting resilient ecosystems in the places it works and has stressed the importance of protecting and regenerating nature for people, the planet, and the business. The global consumer goods company has updated its sustainability goals to strengthen its commitment to this pledge.

With the loss of nature and the impact of climate change causing significant risk to communities, businesses, and economies across the globe, an estimated 3.2 billion people across the world are being adversely affected by land degradation, and around 1 million plant and animal species are thought to be at risk of extinction. Plus, one in five people globally directly rely on wild species for their income and food, which poses a real problem, says Unilever.

At Unilever, the company believes that with better stewardship, there is the potential for nature to become one of its most powerful allies in addressing climate change, reducing inequalities, and improving livelihoods. Unilever has been working on the nature agenda for a long time, seeing significant success. For example, by the end of 2023, it was independently verified as being 97.5% deforestation-free in its sourcing of five key commodities – but it knows it needs to do more.

Updated sustainability plan

With the company updating its sustainability plan, it has developed stretching targets for its work to preserve nature. It has committed to act with urgency, by delivering tangible results and concentrating its advocacy on creating real change.

The updated goals focus on areas where Unilever believes a significant impact can be made, while still stretching itself to deliver the best possible outcome for nature. The key to the strategy is helping create resilient and regenerative natural and agricultural ecosystems.

By significantly increasing the amount of land it hopes to protect and restore, Unilever aims to implement regenerative agricultural practices across 1 million hectares of farmland and restore 1 million hectares through landscape work.

The company has also renewed its commitment to ensuring that its primary deforestation-linked commodity supply chains remain free from deforestation and pledged to verify 95% of key crop volumes as sustainably sourced by 2030.

Unilever is committed to preserving water resources by addressing shared water challenges within and beyond its operations, setting up programmes in 100 locations in water-stressed areas by 2030.

The company has already shown its support for sustainability, through its Climate Transition Action Plan outlines the company's commitment to combatting climate change.

In a joint statement included in the plan, Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher and Chairman Ian Meakins say: “Unilever played a prominent role in advocating for the Paris Agreement on climate change – a global treaty designed to catalyse action from governments and other actors – and announced new science-based targets for our operations and value chain.

"Moving forward, we want to be even clearer about the importance of sustainability to our business strategy.

“As a company dependent on agricultural and energy-intensive chemical ingredients, we believe transitioning to become a lower-emission business has many benefits. It increases resilience, improves efficiency and future-proofs our value chain against transition risks such as carbon prices, while sparking innovation and helping to attract the best talent.”

Interlinked solutions to help maximise impact

Delivering on each of these goals demands a multi-pronged and often interlinked approach. For example, it's using a mix of solutions to tackle deforestation.

These range from making fundamental transformations within the supply chain and that of suppliers to directly investing in infrastructure, technology, and innovation to ensure better traceability and improve land use.

As well as working with farmers and smallholders in the communities and areas it sources from, to increase local support for deforestation-free practices and help provide alternative income streams. Unilever is also engaging with other businesses and the government to lobby for wider change.

Willem Uijen, Chief Procurement Officer, adds, “Our updated goals focus on areas where we know we can deliver a significant impact, while still stretching ourselves to deliver the best possible outcome for nature.”

Unilever has announced ambitious new sustainability targets focused on protecting and regenerating natural ecosystems. A landscape-focused approach to deforestation, for example, will aid in achieving the company's goal of protecting and restoring 1 million hectares of natural ecosystems.

Existing landscape programmes in Indonesia and Malaysia have already safeguarded 290,000 hectares of forests and land, a model Unilever aims to replicate globally. The company’s regenerative agriculture programme aims to implement sustainable farming practices across 1 million hectares of farmland, contributing to its goal of verifying 95% of key crops as sustainably sourced by 2030.

Collaboration with smallholders and local communities is crucial to these efforts. Unilever supports these groups through certification and income growth programmes, helping diversify income streams and improve crop yields.

Partnerships with suppliers, governments, NGOs, and other businesses are also essential for driving industry-wide change and developing scalable solutions.

Unilever recognises the vital role of nature in economic value, with over half of the world's GDP dependent on natural systems. The company’s updated nature goals reflect its commitment to rebalancing ecosystems and making sustainability a standard practice.

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