UNGC index
As a founding signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, we are committed to living out the Compact's ten principles on human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption in our everyday business operations.
Message from our Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
"Unilever supports the principles of the UN Global Compact and welcomes its recognition of the positive contribution that business has to make a more prosperous and sustainable world…" Read the full message from our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (PDF 57KB).
Communication on Progress
Our activity around human and labour rights, environmental responsibility and business integrity is described in detail in our online Sustainable Development Report 2008 and summarised in our printed Sustainable Development Overview 2008. On this page we provide an index against the ten principles, illustrating our approach and giving progress highlights from 2008.
This index below explains how our own principles reflect those of the Global Compact and provides links to the Sustainable Development Report pages that describe how we implement these principles in our business.
UNGC principles | Unilever approach | Where to find out more | Cross-reference to GRI indicators | |
Human rights | ||||
1. | Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and | Our Code of Business Principles states: “We conduct our operations with honesty, integrity and openness, and with respect for the human rights and interests of our employees.” We ensure that this commitment is lived out in our operations by asking our company chairmen to provide positive assurance each year that their business adheres to the Code. We are reviewing our approach to human rights to ensure that we continue to live up to the standards in our Code of Business Principles and that we have effective communications and compliance mechanisms in place. | HR1, HR2, HR3, HR5, HR6, HR7 | |
2. | make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. | HR1, HR2, HR5, HR6, HR7 | ||
Labour standards | ||||
3. | Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; | Our Code of Business Principles states: “Unilever is committed to diversity in a working environment where there is mutual trust and respect. We will not use any form of forced, compulsory or child labour. We respect the dignity of the individual and the right of employees to freedom of association.” A review of our approach to human rights has shown that employees would benefit from clearer definitions of elements such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, forced/bonded labour and child labour. We are in the process of upgrading these definitions in the detailed employee guidelines that explain our Code of Business Principles. In 2008 we surveyed our largest businesses to enhance our understanding of how these commitments were being lived out in our operations. The results are included on the Employees page. | HR5 | |
4. | the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; | HR7 | ||
5. | the effective abolition of child labour; and | HR6 | ||
6. | the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. | HR4 | ||
Environment | ||||
7. | Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; | Our Code of Business Principles states: “Unilever is committed to making continuous improvements in the management of our environmental impact and to the longer-term goal of developing a sustainable business.” In 2008 we improved our manufacturing eco-efficiency performance and met our 2008 targets in all areas apart from COD and waste. We are on track to meet our 2010 targets in all areas apart from hazardous waste and to meet our target to reduce CO2 emissions from energy in manufacturing operations per tonne of production by 25% by 2012 (against a 2004 baseline). For greenhouse gas emissions beyond our own direct emissions, we seek to improve the footprint of our existing product portfolio using our new vitality metric. We have also developed a ‘greenhouse gas profiling tool’ to assess product innovations and thirdly, we are exploring ways to work with others, in particular with our suppliers and customers. We also seek to address environmental impacts from the sourcing of raw materials through to consumer use of our products by continuing to explore ways of improving the sustainability of our brands. Through our sustainability initiatives on agriculture and water, our lifecycle approach, Brand Imprint methodology and more recently, Vitality Framework, we aim to grow our business in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way. We have developed a set of ‘vitality metrics’ to measure the environmental impacts of our brands when used by consumers. Piloted in 2008 and being refined in 2009, these four indicators cover our priority issues of greenhouse gas emissions, water, waste and sustainable sourcing. Our safety methods inherently take a precautionary approach. If we are not confident about the safety of an ingredient or product – for people, animals or the environment – we will not put the product onto the market. We apply the principle of precaution. We encourage environmentally friendly technologies such as hydrocarbon refrigeration. To date we have replaced over 400,000 ice cream freezer cabinets with climate-friendly ones. | Sustainable agricultural sourcing | 4.11 |
8. | undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and | EN1 to EN29 | ||
9. | encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. | EN6, EN26 | ||
Anti-corruption | ||||
10. | Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. | Our Code of Business Principles states: “Unilever does not give or receive, whether directly or indirectly, bribes or other improper advantages for business or financial gain.” As part of our Code, this principle is communicated to all managers and employees, and available in more than 40 languages. We also have a confidential ethics hotline for employees to raise concerns. In 2008, 54 employees were dismissed as a result of breaches of the Code. | SO2, SO3, SO4 | |
