Summary

Unilever has clarified its three-lines approach to achieving over 100 sustainability commitments: who owns them, precisely how they are defined, the roadmap to accomplishing them and who will provide assurance on progress.

Challenge

In seeking a positive impact on the environment and society, Unilever has made many sustainability commitments. Some of these are formal, through company reporting and signing up to the World Economic Forum (WEF) commitments on climate change. Other commitments are less formal, and are made through media outlets and via global brands.

There was previously no consolidated view of these commitments and how Unilever could demonstrate progress to stakeholders seeking to hold the company to account, leading to potential reputational damage.

Solution

Unilever appointed an executive vice president (EVP) for sustainable business and reporting, dedicated to the sustainability agenda, with access to the board. The EVP assimilated a database of all commitments made and from where they originated. Each was assigned an executive sponsor and a business owner. Key stakeholders defined each commitment precisely.

Once defined, the process for collecting, summarising and signing off the required data to produce relevant metrics was described. A roadmap of activities was developed, and an assurance provider assigned, either external or internal audit.

Having one source of truth for the sustainability commitments made, and better control over making new ones, has provided clarity. There is a common understanding of what is expected, and defined ownership to drive success with coordinated oversight, monitoring and assurance.