Unilever has pledged to invest €1bn (£900m) over the next decade in environmental projects that will improve the “health of the planet”.
Alan Jope, Unilever’s chief executive, said that while the world was rightly focused on the devastating coronavirus outbreak and serious issues of inequality raised by the Black Lives Matter protests, the climate emergency should not be overlooked. “We can’t let ourselves forget that the climate crisis is still a threat to all of us,” he said.
The consumer goods giant, which owns more than 400 brands including Marmite, Dove, Comfort and Sure, said that in response to the “scale and urgency of the climate crisis”, it was also setting a target of net-zero emissions from all its products by 2039.
The company has already promised to reduce the mountain of plastic rubbish that its products generate, but Jope said it was just as important to look at the “impact they have on the planet at the start of their life” – in the sourcing of materials, as well as in their manufacture and transport. Read more…
