Sustainability news
In the news section you can find out about awards we've won and how we rate in a number of corporate responsibility rankings and indexes. You'll also find recent information on environmental and social projects.
December 2011: Unilever leads Climate Counts Company Scorecard
Unilever has topped the 5th Climate Counts Company Scorecard, a global league table ranking the climate performance of the world’s largest companies.
November 2011: Inspiring Sustainable Living
Unilever has a long history in sustainability and the use of marketing and market research to promote behaviour change. In November 2011, for the first time, we published our own model of effective behaviour change.
October 2011: Unilever response to report by SOMO into our tea plantation in Kericho, Kenya
We are fully committed to sourcing all of our tea sustainably by 2020. As we hope you appreciate, this comes with complex and difficult challenges.
September 2011: Leading the way in sustainability
Unilever has been named sustainability leader in the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the 13th consecutive year.
June 2011: Unilever buys first batch of sustainable soy oil certificates
Purchase marks next step in sustainable sourcing of agricultural raw materials.
May 2011: Unilever recognised for sustainability leadership
Unilever ranked first in global online sustainability survey and awarded Ethical Corporation’s top Responsible Business Award.
January 2011: Unilever commits to no animal testing for tea
Unilever is committing to no animal testing for our tea and tea-based beverages, with immediate effect.
January 2011: Unilever wins award for Allanblackia
Unilever has won a Biodiversity Innovation award from the Union for Ethical BioTrade, an organisation promoting sourcing with respect.
October 2010: Unilever included in Carbon Disclosure Project’s Leadership Index for sixth consecutive year
Unilever’s climate change disclosure puts it in top 10% of FTSE 350 companies.
September 2010: Unilever leads sector in Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
Unilever has been named sustainability leader in the Food & Beverage super-sector of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) for the twelfth consecutive year.
July 2010: BITC names Unilever 'Company of the Year'
Award recognises Unilever's sustainability leadership
June 2010: Unilever tops new FTSE Carbon Strategy Index
Unilever has come top of the new FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy 350 Index. Launched in June 2010, the index scores the top 350 companies in London’s FTSE Index according to their carbon management and performance.
April 2010: Get involved in our film making competition
A worldwide competition aims to get consumers involved in the marketing process.
April 2010: Learn how Lifebuoy is stepping up its life-saving work
Lifebuoy is building on its life-saving social mission with the publication of its first annual report. The report documents the brand’s groundbreaking work and sets even tougher goals to improve millions of people’s everyday lives.
April 2010: Enough sustainable palm oil bought for European, Australian and New Zealand businesses
April 2010: Enough sustainable palm oil bought for European, Australian and New Zealand businesses.
December 2009: Unilever and Coca-Cola produce climate change brochure
Guide offers sustainability advice across value chain.
December 2009: Unilever publishes verification report checking the validity of Greenpeace's Burning Up Borneo report
Unilever has published an independent study into claims made by Greenpeace that Unilever palm oil suppliers are breaching Unilever’s Business Partner Code and mandatory Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil requirements.
December 2009: Unilever takes stance against deforestation
Unilever today announced that it has decided to suspend all future purchases of palm oil from the Indonesian company PT SMART.
October 2009: Unilever commended for climate change performance and disclosure
For the fifth consecutive year, Unilever is featured in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.
October 2009: Unilever's impact on biodiversity voted 'best in class'
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.
July 2009: Treasuring biodiversity
Tea brand Lipton has signed a three-year partnership with a Tanzanian NGO to keep some of the country’s amazing wildlife safe.
May 2009: Paul Polman calls for global deforestation moratorium
Unilever takes the stage at world climate summit in Copenhagen
May 2009: Forbes magazine names Unilever in top 100 'World’s Most Reputable Companies'
Survey highlights Unilever's quality products
March 2009: Unilever switches off for Earth Hour
Unilever joined more than 300 multinational companies in cutting lights to help raise awareness of the dangers of climate change.
Hands-on help
Lifebuoy's handwashing awareness programme, Swasthya Chetna, is now the largest private hygiene education initiative in the world.
January 2009: A thirst for sustainability
Unilever reaches an important milestone in its quest for sustainable tea production as eight tea estates in India gain Rainforest Alliance Certified status.
January 2009: Wal-Mart turns to Unilever for water sustainability advice
Tomato pilot provides insights to water conservation
December 2008: Award-winning reporting
Unilever's Sustainable Development Report 2007 has taken one of the top accolades at the ACCA UK Awards.
November 2008: Unilever buys first batch of certified sustainable palm oil
Unilever has secured palm oil from the first ever batch to be officially certified as 'sustainable'.
September 2008: Ten years as industry leader in Dow Jones Sustainability Index
Unilever tops the food sector with an 80% score.
September 2008: Supporting African farmers
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.
May 2008: Unilever achieves Platinum in BITC CR Index
The authoritative Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index published by Business in the Community (BITC) has ranked Unilever as a Platinum performing company.
May 2008: Palm oil video
This short film discusses the background to our initiative on moving to sustainable palm oil which was launched on 1 May 2008.
January 2008: INSEAD report launched at World Economic Forum
Unilever's economic footprint in South Africa has been measured in a report by INSEAD professor Ethan Kapstein.
January 2008: Unilever announced as sustainability leader at World Economic Forum
Unilever received two accolades for its sustainability performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
