Unilever has broken through the barrier of a million tonnes of CO2 saved globally as part of long-term plans to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its use of renewable energy.
The global brands manufacturer has marked the start of Climate Week Paris today with the news that it has reduced its energy consumption by 20% since 2008 - since when it has saved over one million tonnes of CO2 - and is on course to achieve its target of using 40% renewable energy by 2020. Currently 28% of the energy used to supply Unilever factories comes from renewable sources.
Commenting ahead of the summit in Paris, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman said that businesses were becoming “more aware of the costs of climate change”, and urged politicians to prioritise the challenges of reducing its effect on the global environment.
He added: “There was a belief among some politicians that the main challenge is job creation and economic growth, and if we get side-tracked with climate we might not achieve the economic growth. The reality is, if we don’t tackle climate change we won’t achieve economic growth.”
The company is citing key initiatives as part of the wider shift towards renewables. These include a scheme at its Marmite factory in the UK, where 30% of the thermal energy is provided by methane yielded from the conversion of 18,000 tonnes of solid waste by an anaerobic digester.
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