Reporting

Our approach

Our approach is to report on the values and standards we have set out in our Vitality Mission and Corporate Purpose, our Code of Business Principles and our Business Partner Code. These are the core principles by which we expect to be judged.

We seek to provide a transparent account of our progress each year via our online Sustainable Development Report. Communicating via our website means our reporting is easily accessible to a wide range stakeholders and provides a channel for dialogue with them. Our website is updated throughout the year and accommodates a wealth of data – both top-line and detailed - to address the needs of general and specialist audiences.

However, we recognise that for some purposes a printed publication is still the best way to communicate so we also produce a short printed document – our Sustainable Development Overview - to complement our website report. The Overview covers our strategic direction and most material impacts.

Internationally, we have been reporting on our environmental performance since 1996, and on our social performance since 2000. Some of our companies also produce their own sustainability reports, such as Unilever Brazil and Unilever Turkey.

Stakeholder feedback on our reporting

Embedded in the development of our reporting are the perspectives of our board-level Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Committee, the Unilever Sustainable Development Group of external advisers, our employees and specialist opinion formers.

We run regular stakeholder consultations to gather feedback on our reporting. The latest consultation was held in February 2009 when we invited stakeholders from a selection of academia, NGOs, consumer organisations and industry analysts to a dialogue. Facilitated by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a corporate responsibility organisation developing sustainable business strategies and solutions, this dialogue gained feedback and insight into:

• Unilever's current approach to sustainability reporting;

• the company business processes to align sustainability goals; and

• areas of interest or concern regarding sustainability in the United States.

See Downloads for more information.

Feedback is also gathered through our participation in awards. For example, our 2006 and 2007 Reports came runner-up in the Best Report category of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK Awards for Sustainability Reporting. Our 2005 Report was ranked sixth in the world in the UNEP/Standard & Poor's/SustainAbility Tomorrow's Value global reporters survey.

In compiling our reports, we review external standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines and the Accountability 1000 Assurance Standard's practice of 'inclusivity'.

2008 reporting

In March 2009, we published our online Sustainable Development Report 2008 (containing preliminary environmental and occupational safety performance data) and our Sustainable Development Overview 2008 alongside our Annual Review and Annual Report and Accounts. Following stakeholder feedback, we aligned the non-financial reporting schedule with that of financial reporting.

The environmental and occupational safety performance data were finalised in May 2009 and are presented in the eco-efficiency in manufacturing and health, safety & well-being sections. See the Assurance link for Deloitte's independent assurance report.

A pdf version of the Sustainable Development Overview can be downloaded from Publications. A pdf version of the complete Sustainable Development Report (now available in html) will become available in summer 2009.

Sustainable Development Overview

Our Sustainable Development Overview 2008 focuses on the topics we have defined as our most material issues. This includes:

• how we are integrating sustainability into our business and brands and through them contributing to improved health, nutrition and hygiene

• how we are addressing critical sustainability challenges such as sustainable farming, climate change, water stress and resource use

• how we are creating wealth and contributing to economic development in the communities where we operate.

Sustainable Development Report

In our online Sustainable Development Report 2008, we cover all these important topics in more detail and also cover a range of other issues of concern to our stakeholders. This includes important aspects of responsible business behaviour, such as how we respond to consumer concerns, treat our employees, work in partnership with customers and suppliers, and take part in the life of our local communities.

Our audiences

Both our Sustainable Development Overview and online Sustainable Development Report 2008 are aimed at a broad range of audiences, including employees, customers, consumers, investors, governments and opinion formers in the fields of sustainability and business responsibility.

Addressing our material issues

Our sustainability strategy and reporting are increasingly focused on our most significant or 'material' issues. We define materiality by:

• the degree to which an issue is aligned with our business, brand portfolio and geography

• the extent of Unilever's influence on the issue

• the potential impact on our operations, sourcing or consumers

• the importance of an issue to our key stakeholders.

We keep these material issues under review as their effective management is critical to the success of our business and our reputation. We use a process we call 'issues management' to do this, which complements our business risk assessment process. Issues management brings together senior business leaders and experts from different functions and regions. It enables us to develop appropriate strategies and policies based on our tracking of current and emerging trends.

Sustainable sourcing is one of the many issues we keep under review. The deforestation caused by palm oil cultivation, and its potential to limit our supplies and harm our reputation, drove us to seek more sustainable options. In 2008 this resulted in our commitment to source all our palm oil from sustainable sources by 2015.

Completeness & responsiveness

To ensure 'completeness' we take into account our impacts on society and the concerns of stakeholders. To do this requires detailed mapping and tracking of issues; ongoing stakeholder input and feedback; and the help of partners to guide our direction. Issues are often complex and we continue to work on those areas where we do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of our impacts.

As a consumer-focused company, 'responsiveness' is built into our everyday approach to understanding and responding to our consumers' aspirations and concerns. It is by greater integration of social, economic and environmental concerns across our business and brands that we will ensure our future success, and also improve our reporting to stakeholders.

Reviewing our progress

We have assessed our 2008 Report against the Global Reporting Initiative's G3 guidelines and have declared an application level of B+ for our reporting. Corporate Citizenship, the agency that works with us on sustainability reporting, has provided third-party verification. The full index is now available.

We are a signatory to the UN Global Compact principles. We provide an annual update in our Communications on Progress on how we are living out the Compact's ten principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption in our everyday business operations. This information is now available.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out eight global targets for governments to reach by 2015, ranging from halving world poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS. We can contribute to these goals through the wealth and jobs we create in our business and our value chain and through our partnership.

We provide an annual update on our contribution towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and this information is now available.

Boundaries & scope

In our reporting we aim to cover our economic, social and environmental impacts. We include performance data for our direct operations and a discussion of issues arising in our extended value chain, which encompasses both our supply chain and how our products reach our consumers.

In the issues we cover and the way we address them, we seek to apply recognised international principles for non-financial reporting, notably those adopted by the Global Reporting Initiative. Our 2008 Report uses the AA1000 Assurance Standard's (2003) principles of materiality, completeness and responsiveness to help our stakeholders assess our performance.

As is usual for reports of this sort, our performance indicators, such as our eco-efficiency in manufacturing data, mirror the scope adopted by our statutory Annual Report and Accounts. Therefore they do not include contract production or outsourced support services.

Assurance

To allow our sustainability reporting to be published at the same time as our Annual Review and Annual Report and Accounts, we presented preliminary data for some of our environmental and occupational safety performance indicators at the end of March 2009. This data has since been independently assured by Deloitte LLP, and their qualified report is available as part of our online Sustainable Development Report 2008. Deloitte's report sets out the scope of the assurance work performed on ten of our environmental and occupational safety performance indicators and their conclusion.

Basis of reporting

The basis of reporting for our 2008 environmental and occupational safety performance indicators is described in the downloadable document (see Basis of reporting).

Contact us

Please tell us what you think about our sustainability reporting via Contact Us on www.unilever.com – we value your feedback.