Unilever United States Inc.

11/07/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/08/2024 00:48

Supporting our suppliers to take bolder climate action

Supporting our suppliers to take bolder climate action

Published: November 7, 2024

We're helping a growing number of key suppliers to build their capacity to reduce emissions. Leaders from two packaging businesses, one plastic, one aluminum, share their experiences of our Supplier Climate Program.

  • We aim to have around 300 suppliers in our Supplier Climate Program by the end of 2024
  • Partners will have shared their Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data points with Unilever by the end of September
  • Emissions from raw materials, ingredients and packaging contributed approximately 63% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023

Three years after the launch of our Supplier Climate Program, a growing number of businesses within our supply chain are accelerating their climate action.

We are focusing our support on a subset of key suppliers whose materials contribute the most to our climate impact: around 300 suppliers that are equal to approximately 44% of our 'Scope 3' GHG emissions (outside our operations and within scope of our net zero ambition) that are related to raw materials, ingredients and packaging.[a] These suppliers come from a range of industries including palm/oleochemicals, fine chemicals, soft commodities, food ingredients, packaging and petrochemicals, as well as collaborative manufacturers who produce some Unilever products on our behalf.

Our updated Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP)estimates that our Supplier Climate Program could deliver the biggest step towards reaching our new science-based targets for reducing our Scope 3 GHG emissions by 2030.

With 63% of our total emissions within scope of our net zero ambition estimated to come from our raw materials, ingredients and packaging,[b] helping suppliers to calculate and share the footprint of the materials they're selling to us is key - we each need it to better understand our climate impact, collaborate over effective action and track progress over the next few years.

Our Supplier Climate Program in action

Weener Plastics and Ball Corporation are among the companies taking part in our Supplier Climate Program. Both supply Unilever with packaging solutions.

Last year, we provided guidance and tools to Weener Plastics to start calculating PCF data for the first time, and it shared this with Unilever. Ball Corporation also shared its PCF data via a joint decarbonization workshop. This year, we have engaged both companies again to share their updated PCF data, enabling us to track the progress they are making with reducing the climate impact of their materials.

Here, they explain how taking part in the Program and recognizing the business case for climate action is helping them to accelerate efforts in their own supply chains.

Weener Plastics

"Sustainability was already high on our agenda when we joined the Program, but we didn't have much experience of making footprint calculations ourselves, so being offered a pre-selected tool to use was helpful.

Now we're training our teams using the PCF calculations we've made. It helps our developers design products in the best way and enables our operational teams to focus on the most relevant emission-reduction plans.

We know some changes will require more time or larger investments because the biggest reductions can often only be achieved by redesigning the entire product and its processes. However, we've already made operational savings since the start of the Supplier Climate Program, from reducing scrap rates to optimizing our cooling systems and processes.

We've also used the Program as leverage to engage our own suppliers regarding missing emissions data. Large customers wanting to see progress on emissions helps to emphasize the importance of data availability."

Lenny Ellenkamp-van Olst, Director of Sustainability at Weener Plastics

Ball Corporation

"Ball is happy to be collaborating with Unilever on decarbonization efforts and jointly driving action to reduce the environmental impact of our packaging.

Working together with other businesses is paramount in addressing this challenge. We must foster consensus, alignment and joint action across shared value chains.

It's essential to explore and explain the business case for climate action. Understanding the costs of action versus inaction is imperative. Embracing an ambitious climate approach now will safeguard all our businesses in the long run."

Predrag Ozmo, Sustainability Director at Ball Corporation

This year and beyond: where we go from here

In recent months, Unilever has equipped our Procurement team with knowledge of how to interpret and meaningfully integrate emissions reduction into their commercial strategies.

Looking to the future, our focus will be on the development of partnerships coming out of workshops we're holding with select suppliers, as well as shaping roadmaps for priority materials with the biggest GHG reduction opportunities.

"We're seeing more suppliers accelerating their climate actions," says Stella Constantatos, Unilever's Supplier Climate Program Lead.

"By collaborating with us in the Program, our partners are not only better equipped to reduce emissions, they are also helping us build a more accurate picture of the climate impact in our supply chain. This allows us to focus on the best emission-reduction opportunities and paves the way for our future partnership."

To find out about the suppliers who have gone public with their climate leadership through the Unilever Climate Promise, click here.

To read more about our updated commitments on climate, nature, plastics and livelihoods, visit our Sustainability Hub.