Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer products company whose brands include Dove soap and Knorr soup, said it was responding to the"scale and urgency" of the climate change crisis.Unilever Plc said on Monday it will invest $1.1 billion in a fund to invest in climate change projects and reduce to net zero greenhouse gas emissions from all its products by 2039, 11 years ahead of the Paris Agreement deadline.
The fund will invest in projects including reforestation, water preservation and carbon sequestration over the next ten years, it said. Unilever's total greenhouse gas footprint was around 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019 according to its website. Unilever, which has an annual turnover of $58.5 billion, said it would prioritise partnerships with suppliers who have set emission reduction targets and has set up a system where suppliers must declare the carbon footprint of goods and services provided. All packaging from 2039 will show the carbon footprint of the product, the company said.Unilever joins a handful of companies in promising net zero emissions from their supply chain.