Awards & recognition

Specialist agencies and organisations, including environmental groups, responsible investment analysts, academics and institutes, publish a variety of ratings and rankings of our global performance. Sometimes this is a result of our engagement with them through questionnaires and in-depth discussions, sometimes it is the agencies' own research, in part analysing the data and information we disclose on our website.

These are some highlights of recognition we have received from external bodies on our social, economic and environmental performance since 2009:

  • Unilever retains its top ranking in the latest 2013 Sustainability Leaders survey from GlobeScan/SustainAbility for the third consecutive year.
  • Access to Nutrition Index logoUnilever was rated second overall in the first Access to Nutrition Index (ATNI) Global Index 2013, with top rankings for undernutrition and also the Products, Llifestyles and Engagement categories. ATNI publicly rates the world's largest food and beverage manufacturers on their nutrition-related policies, practices and performance.
  • forest footprint disclosure logoUnilever was named joint sector leader by the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project for the second consecutive year. We also disclosed our forest footprint for its Annual Review in 2009 and 2010.

  • In 2013 Unilever retained the RobecoSAM Sector Leader and Gold Class distinctions for sustainable business.

    RobecoSAM Suatainability Award Sector Leader 2013 and Gold Class 2013 logos

  • World Environment CenterIn December the World Environment Center awarded Unilever its 2013 Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development.
  • CDP logoIn 2012 the Carbon Disclosure Project recognised our climate change disclosure and carbon performance for the eighth consecutive year. We scored 84 out of 100 for Disclosure - an increase of five points on our 2011 score - and entered Performance band A.
  • Unilever won the first FTSE4Good Sir Mervyn Pedelty Award in 2012 which recognises companies that integrate environmental and social performance into business strategy.
  • Climate Counts logo In 2012, Unilever topped the Climate Counts Scorecard(Link opens in a new window) for the second consecutive year. Climate Counts ranks the largest 145 companies worldwide on their actions to address climate change. Unilever was awarded 91 out of 100 points - an increase of three points on our 2011, and eight points on our 2010 scores. 
  • Building public trust awardsUnilever was recognised for its transparent sustainability reporting at PwC's Building Public Trust Awards in November 2012.
  • In 2012, Unilever and our CEO Paul Polman received the C K Prahalad Award from the Corporate Economic Forum (CEF) for matching a bold vision of long term capitalism with impressive action on sustainability through our Sustainable Living Plan.

  • At the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Unilever was a winner of the 2012 World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) for our efforts to improve living standards in some of the world's most disadvantaged communities.

  • djsi member logo 2013Unilever remained the top-scoring company in the Food Producers sector of the 2012 Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) for the 14th consecutive year and was named the Food and Beverage super-sector leader.
  • Unilever was named the Corporate Responsibility category winner at the FT's Boldness in Business Awards.
  • CR Index Platinum Plus 2012 logo  Unilever retains Platinum Plus status in Business in the Community's 10th Corporate Responsibility Index, published in March 2012.
  • WWF logoIn 2011, we scored eight out of nine points in the second WWF Palm Oil Buyers' Scorecard which assesses the palm oil buying practices of 132 European, Australian and Japanese companies. We were also top of the 2010 Australian Palm Oil Buyers' scorecard.
  • Greenaward logoIn 2011 Unilever was announced as the overall Grand Prix winner across 20 categories for our work on behaviour change. We were also the Gold winner in the Best Green International Large Business category which recognises organisations that have demonstrated true innovation, thought leadership and a commitment to sustainability. 
  • Tomorrows Value RatingWe scored the top Aaa grade in the Two Tomorrow's Value Rating 2011 assessment of corporate sustainability practices. 
  • Unilever was named most advanced company for responsible governance in the Stoxx Europe 50 index of companies by the French Social Investment Forum (FIR) and corporate responsibility ratings agency, Vigeo.
  • Company of the year logo 2010Unilever won a Biodiversity Innovation 2010 award from the Union for Ethical BioTrade. This recognised our work on improving allanblackia supply for smallholder farmers in Africa.
  • Committed to the Environment AwardReceived the International Charter's 'Committed to the Environment 2010' award for environmental management and performance
  • Awards & recognition FTSE logoIncluded in the FTSE4Good Index Series since its inception in 2001 and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index

 

  • Top of the foods sector in a benchmarking study carried out by Ceres, UBS and Bloomberg on companies' disclosure of water use

  • Presented with the highest international level of recognition – the Level II International Corporate Health and Productivity Management Award by the Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) for our Lamplighter programme