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Green Supply Chain News: Unilever to Focus on Absolute CO2 Emissions of Suppliers, not “Intensity”

 


Company Plans on Achieving Net Zero Status in 2039

 
March 19, 2024
SCDigest Editorial Staff

Consumer products giant Unilever, long known as being out in front in terms of sustainability, is taking efforts to reduce CO2 emissions to a new level with additional mandates for its suppliers.

Supply Chain Digest Says...

As part of its program, in its announcement Unilever gave specifics about where it saw its supplier emissions cuts would come from.

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Unilever, known for brands such as Hellmann’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Vaseline and almost 30 more, is getting tough as it continues on its quest to achieve net-zero CO2 status by 2039.

In a parallel change, Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher has moved away from an emphasis on goals and plans on the environment to focus on operational specifics - what Unilever and its suppliers are actually doing to drive outcomes.

 

Unilever, a global company based in the UK, is committed to cut its total CO2 emissions by 42% in energy consumption and emissions created in making ingredients, packaging, transportation and distribution, by 2030. The company is setting another 2030 goal of a 30.3% reduction in forest, land and agriculture emissions.

Unilever has not before this news focused on absolute cuts in CO2 from its supply chain, which with consumer usage represent about 98% of the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Rather, it has promulgated goals around the “emissions intensity” of its products and operations, meaning how much CO2 is emitted per unit of output, as one example.

The problem: with growth, the company’s emissions intensity could be going down, while absolute emissions are rising or flatlining.

According to the GreenBiz.com web site, Unilever’s targets was in relation to a revised baseline of what was seen in 2021, when an estimated 56 million metric tons of CO2 wad emitted.

Unilever says its total extended emissions are 121 million metric tons if you add in the estimated 65 million metric tons causes by "indirect consumer use."

GreenBiz cited an example of this as the hot water used with washing hands in combination with Dove soap. But Unilever for now is not using this CO2 metric as part of its goals, which very few companies are doing.


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As part of its program, in its announcement Unilever gave specifics about where it saw its supplier emissions cuts would come from, as listed below:

19 % — energy efficiencies from 3 million-plus ice cream freezers, a measure that will include raising the base temperatures and using renewable energy.

14 % — partnerships with 300 of its most emissions-intensive suppliers, to be in place by the end of 2024; detailed carbon footprints are already being gathered from about 100 of them.

13 % — product reformulations that increase the use of plant-based ingredients and decrease dependence on commodities such as palm oil; the company's joint venture with Genomatica, supported by the $1.09 billion in the Unilever Climate & Nature Fund is one example of the innovation necessary

7 % — developing alternatives for aerosol propellants in the U.S. and Canada.

6 % — changes in production processes for two chemicals used in cleansers and laundry detergent, soda ash and linear alkylbenzene sulphonate.

4 % — moving 1.6 million acres of the company’s land footprint to regenerative agriculture by 2027.

3 % — reducing packaging and transitioning to recycled and renewable sources instead of virgin plastic.

2 % — redesigns to Unilever’s logistics network to improve freight efficiency; and the purchase of electric and alternative vehicles.

Shareholders will have an opportunity to vote on the plan at the company’s next annual meeting, expected to be held in May.


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