# Get inspired: Unilever

Featured case studies


### Action Plan and Target Setting

Unilever’s Climate Transition Action Plan outlines its actions towards achieving net zero emissions across its value chain by 2039. In the 2020s and 2030s, Unilever’s primary focus is emissions reduction. The company has set short and medium-term science-based targets to drive this trajectory across its operations and wider value chain. From 2039 onwards, Unilever will ensure that any residual emissions are balanced with high-quality, third-party verified carbon removals. For more information on Unilever’s Climate Transition Action Plan, please click here.


### Supplier Assessment

Unilever’s Responsible Partner Policy (RPP) sets out requirements of its business partners to ensure they can do business responsibly. To “Assess Supplier Sustainability Maturity and Risk Exposure,” suppliers first complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) to provide more information about their business and relationship with Unilever. Risk assessment is based on business size, the types of goods or services supplied, and the country of operations. For more information, please reference the Unilever RPP here.


### Supplier Engagement

An important part of Unilever’s Climate Transition Action plan is supplier engagement on climate. Unilever’s procurement team launched the Unilever Climate Promise to showcase climate leadership amongst its supplier base. Suppliers that sign the Climate Promise commit to set an SBTi-aligned target, publicly report on their progress towards meeting this target, and share their product level GHG emissions footprint data with Unilever.In addition, Unilever’s Supplier Climate Programme focuses on a subset of key suppliers who contribute most to Unilever’s carbon footprint. This is a collaborative programme that aims to build climate capabilities, providing tailored guidance and tools to help suppliers to measure, report, and reduce their emissions. Following a successful pilot in 2022, Unilever scaled up the programme in 2023, and aims to reach 300 suppliers by the end of 2024. Product-level carbon footprint data points shared by suppliers to date are already improving transparency and helping to inform where action is needed most.In its supplier engagement pilot, Unilever found that early-stage suppliers wanted to move beyond e-learning into actual data gathering and analysis, as well as target setting, and so Unilever provided a platform to help them develop their greenhouse gas emissions baseline and an emissions reduction plan. The more advanced suppliers asked for a more automated and industry-aligned way to share their product carbon footprint data. Unilever now mandates suppliers to follow WBCSD PACTv2 methodology to calculate and share their data.