Sustainable Living News
In the news section you can find out the latest on how we are putting our Sustainable Living Plan into action through projects and partnerships. You’ll also find out how we rate in a number of sustainability/corporate responsibility rankings and indexes and about the awards we've won.
Sustainable Living Lab: The big debate
Unilever’s second Sustainable Living Lab brought together experts from businesses, governments, NGOs and academia to discuss insights, promote best practice, develop ideas and help develop solutions on how we can all reduce our environmental impact in the home.
Sustainable Living newsletter (Apr 2013)
Apr 2013 - A digest of stories related to Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan targets, emailed to subscribers in April 2013.
Unilever’s Lifebuoy premieres film to launch pioneering health campaign in India
Feb 2013 - Unilever’s health soap, Lifebuoy, has launched the latest initiative in its quest to help reduce the deaths of two million children before their fifth birthday from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Unilever investing in fast-growing emerging markets
Feb 2013 - Unilever’s first aerosol manufacturing plant in Asia follows hard on the heels of new factories announced for Thailand and South Africa.
Sustainable Living newsletter (Feb 2013)
Feb 2013 - A digest of stories related to Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan targets, emailed to subscribers in February 2013.
Unilever puts spotlight on human and labour rights
Feb 2013 - Groundbreaking Oxfam report into global supply chain helps to fuel the debate on how business can improve human and labour rights.
Unilever reduces waste by one million household bins while growing business
Jan 2013 - Unilever today announced that more than 50% of all its factories have achieved the goal of sending no waste to landfill in 2012.
Unilever to invest €75 million in building capacity and capability in South Africa
Jan 2013 - Unilever has announced an investment of €75 million in South Africa to expand capacity with a new, state-of-the-art home care products factory, and upgrades to existing sites in Johannesburg and Durban.
Unilever named joint sector leader by the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project
Jan 2013 - Unilever leads the sector in the 2012 Annual Review of 100 companies by the Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) for the second year running.
Unilever tops Climate Counts table
Dec 2012 - Unilever is the top-rated company in the Climate Counts 2012-2013 Annual Company Scorecard Report for the second year running, scoring 91 points out of 100.
Unilever wins FTSE4Good award
Dec 2012 - Unilever has won an award from the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE), recognising the significant improvements we have made to the sustainability of our business.
Unilever named World Environment Center’s 2013 Gold Medal Winner
Dec 2012 - Unilever won the 29th Annual Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development from the World Environment Center.
Unilever’s hygiene brand Domestos to break taboo
Nov 2012 - Unilever, through its leading hygiene brand Domestos, today – World Toilet Day - announced new initiatives to raise awareness for the global sanitation crisis.
Unilever announces new initiative to help 1 billion people improve their health and wellbeing
Oct 2012 - Unilever has partnered with the Millennium Villages Project to improve handwashing habits in Africa.
Unilever joins Every Woman Every Child
Oct 2012 - Unilever has announced ambitious commitments to save millions of lives in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa after signing up to the UN-led initiative Every Woman Every Child.
Unilever and Save the Children launch global partnership
Sept 2012 - The Unilever Foundation and Save the Children launched a global partnership today which aims to save millions of lives in China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kenya.
Unilever leads DJSI sectors for 2012
Sept 2012 - Unilever is the top-scoring company in both the Food Producers sector and the Food and Beverage super-sector following the 2012 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) review.
Unilever partners with PSI and Facebook to launch Waterworks™
June 2012 - The Unilever Foundation, in partnership with PSI (Population Services International) announces the launch of Waterworks™, a not-for-profit programme that will provide safe clean drinking water to communities in need around the world.
Unilever’s Rio+20 manifesto: working together for a better world
Jun 2012 - Unilever is seeking to secure a commitment to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janiero.
Unilever joint sector leader in 2011 Forest Footprint Disclosure Annual Review
Feb 2012 - Unilever’s efforts towards creating sustainable supply chains for palm oil, paper and board, and soy have been recognised in the Forest Footprint Disclosure’s (FFD) third Annual Review.
Unilever leads Climate Counts Company Scorecard
Dec 2011 - Unilever has topped the Climate Counts Company Scorecard, a global league table ranking the climate performance of the world’s largest companies.
Inspiring Sustainable Living
Nov 2011 - Unilever has published a model of effective behaviour change called 5 levers for change.
Unilever response to report by SOMO into our tea plantation in Kericho, Kenya
Oct 2011 - Unilever has responded to SOMO’s report into our Kenyan tea plantations.
Leading the way in sustainability
Sept 2011 - Unilever has been named sustainability leader in the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the 13th consecutive year.
Unilever buys first batch of sustainable soy oil certificates
Jun 2011 - Unilever purchased sustainable soy oils marking the next steps in our commitment to sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials.
Unilever recognised for sustainability leadership
May 2011 - Unilever ranked first in global online sustainability survey and awarded Ethical Corporation’s top Responsible Business Award.
Unilever commits to no animal testing for tea
Jan 2011 - Unilever has committed to no animal testing for our tea and tea-based beverages, with immediate effect.
Unilever wins award for Allanblackia
Jan 2011 - Unilever has won a Biodiversity Innovation award from the Union for Ethical BioTrade, an organisation promoting sourcing with respect.
Unilever included in Carbon Disclosure Project’s Leadership Index for sixth consecutive year
Oct 2010 - Unilever’s climate change disclosure puts it in top 10% of FTSE 350 companies.
Unilever leads sector in Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
Sept 2010 - Unilever has been named sustainability leader in the Food & Beverage super-sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) for the twelfth consecutive year.
Business in the Community (BITC) names Unilever 'Company of the Year'
Jul 2010 - Unilever was named Company of the Year by Business in the Community for the positive impact it has on communities, environments, marketplaces and workplaces around the world.
Unilever tops new FTSE Carbon Strategy Index
Jun 2010 - Unilever has come top of the new FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy 350 Index which scores the top 350 companies in London’s FTSE Index according to their carbon management and performance.
Learn how Lifebuoy is stepping up its life-saving work
Apr 2010 - Lifebuoy is building on its life-saving social mission with the publication of its first annual report.
Enough sustainable palm oil bought for European, Australian and New Zealand businesses
Apr 2010 - Unilever has secured enough GreenPalm certificates of sustainable palm oil to cover the requirements of its European, Australian and New Zealand businesses.
Unilever and Coca-Cola produce climate change brochure
Dec 2009 - Unilever and The Coco–Cola Company have jointly published a brochure to demonstrate the vital role consumer goods companies play in tackling climate change.
Unilever publishes verification report checking the validity of Greenpeace's Burning Up Borneo report
Dec 2009 - Unilever has published an independent study into Greenpeace's claims that our palm oil suppliers are breaching Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil requirements.
Unilever takes stance against deforestation
Dec 2009 - Unilever today announced that it has decided to suspend all future purchases of palm oil from the Indonesian company PT SMART.
Unilever commended for climate change performance and disclosure
Oct 2009 - For the fifth consecutive year, Unilever is featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.
Unilever's impact on biodiversity voted "best in class"
Oct 2009 - Unilever has come out top in a recent study of more than 30 companies, measuring their impacts and dependency on the world’s ecosystems and biodiversity.
Treasuring biodiversity
Jul 2009 - Tea brand Lipton has signed a three-year partnership with a Tanzanian NGO to keep some of the country’s amazing wildlife safe.
Paul Polman calls for global deforestation moratorium
May 2009 - Unilever takes the stage at world climate summit in Copenhagen
Forbes magazine names Unilever in top 100 'World’s Most Reputable Companies'
May 2009 - Survey highlights Unilever's quality products
Unilever switches off for Earth Hour
Mar 2009 - Unilever joined more than 300 multinational companies in cutting lights to help raise awareness of the dangers of climate change.
Hands-on help with Swasthy Chetna
Feb 2009 - Lifebuoy's handwashing awareness programme, Swasthya Chetna, is now the largest private hygiene education initiative in the world.
A thirst for sustainability
Jan 2009 - Unilever has reached an important milestone in its quest for sustainable tea production as eight tea estates in India gain Rainforest Alliance Certified status.
Wal-Mart turns to Unilever for water sustainability advice
Jan 2009 - Tomato pilot provides insights to water conservation
Award-winning reporting
Dec 2008 - Unilever's Sustainable Development Report 2007 has taken one of the top accolades at the ACCA UK Awards.
Unilever buys first batch of certified sustainable palm oil
Nov 2008 - Unilever has secured palm oil from the first ever batch to be officially certified as 'sustainable'.
Ten years as industry leader in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Sept 2008 - Unilever tops the food sector with an 80% score.
Supporting African farmers
Sept 2008 - A Unilever-backed World Economic Forum (WEF) pilot, teaching Kenyan farmers sustainable business skills, looks set to be rolled out across Africa in a bid to help end chronic hunger.
Unilever achieves Platinum in BITC CR Index
May 2008 - The authoritative Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index published by Business in the Community (BITC) has ranked Unilever as a Platinum performing company.
Palm oil video
May 2008 - This short film discusses the background to our initiative on moving to sustainable palm oil which was launched on 1 May 2008.
INSEAD report launched at World Economic Forum
Jan 2008 - Unilever's economic footprint in South Africa has been measured in a report by INSEAD professor Ethan Kapstein.
Unilever announced as sustainability leader at World Economic Forum
Jan 2008 - Unilever received two accolades for its sustainability performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
