Unilever is committed to report in detail the progress in its Sustainable Living Plan
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan has received plenty of plaudits – not least from Ethical Corporation, which recognised it with a Responsible Business Award in 2011. Unilever’s approach is target based: the Sustainable Living Plan sets out goals in areas such as sustainable sourcing, waste reduction and greenhouse gas emissions.
The company’s reporting helps keep it on track. Unilever spokesman Flip Dötsch says: “Reporting is almost as important as the plan itself. Reporting allows us to track our progress, identify gaps and plan future actions and reach out to key external stakeholders to help us in delivering the plan.”
Dötsch adds: “We have the responsibility to our employees, consumers, stakeholders, governments, NGOs and others to share the progress of our plan. This is a key element in our transparent approach to transforming Unilever into a sustainable growth company and our ambition to make sustainable living commonplace.”
Consumer behaviour key
Regular review is particularly important because the consumer goods giant goes further than most companies, by extending its targets to the modification of consumer behaviour.
For example, Unilever says it wants to persuade 200 million people by 2015, and 400 million by 2020, to reduce the amount of water they use for washing and showering. Unilever has calculated that 44% of its water footprint comes from consumers keeping themselves clean, and thus “the largest gains will come from people modifying their showering and bathing habits”.
“Ultimately, the consumer needs to be empowered to drive change,” Dötsch says. We reach over 2 billion consumers every day. Their small actions, by drinking for example Rainforest Alliance certified tea or taking only a four-minute shower instead of eight, will add up to make a big difference.”
On greenhouse gas emissions, the consumer impact is even greater. “Over two-thirds of our greenhouse gas impact is in the consumer space when consumers wash their clothes, hair and so on. Consumer behaviour change is critical to achieve our plan,” says Dötsch.
Consumers, however, generally do not read sustainability reports. Unilever is so far finding its consumer-related targets hard to achieve. The goal of cutting water consumption by persuading 200 million people to change their behaviour is off track. In its online sustainability reporting, Unilever admits that it is “struggling to make a dent in this target”.
The company has set out five “levers for change” that will make its attempts to engineer consumer behaviour more effective. Changes to behavioural patterns first have to be understood, then perceived as easy, then desirable, then rewarding, and must finally become a habit. Unilever will use this model to underpin both the development of new products and consumer communication activities.
To further put sustainability at the core of its business, Unilever is considering a move to integrated reporting. “Overall we support transparency and a value chain-based approach,” Dötsch says. “Our emphasis has been on focusing on the priorities for our business and stakeholders and this is reflected in the Sustainable Living Plan.”