Unilever 2015 Annual Report Download - page 70

UNILEVER SUSTAINABLE LIVIN PLAN (USLP)
Unlever’s Purpose s to make sustanable lvng commonplace and
the USLP s at the heart of Unlever’s vson to accelerate growth n
the busness whlst reducng ts envronmental footprnt and
ncreasng ts postve socal mpact
But Unlever recognses that change needs to be drven on
a wder scale to tackle the world’s maor socal, envronmental
and economc ssues – what s needed s fundamental
‘transformatonal’ change to broader systems To ths end,
Unlever s combnng ts own actons wth external advocacy on
publc polcy and ont workng wth partners, focusng on three
areas where t has the scale, nfluence and resources to make a
dfference elmnatng deforestaton sustanable agrculture and
smallholder farmers and water, santaton and hygene In all
these areas, empowerng women s crucal to eradcatng poverty
and acceleratng development
ven ts strategc mportance, the ommttee montors progress
aganst the USLP and any potental rsks arsng from t and the
roup’s transformatonal change agenda that could affect
Unlever’s reputaton
EMBEDDIN SUSTAINABLE LIVIN INTO THE BUSINESS
In July the ommttee was brefed on two mportant workstreams
to further embed sustanable lvng nto the busness to drve
growth The frst s the development and plotng of a structured
approach to defnng the busness case for sustanablty Ths
smple framework seeks to quantfy four prmary value drvers for
the busness – more growth, lower costs, less rsk, more trust
– and s ntended to provde strategc nput nto busness plannng
across categores and functons The second s a methodology for
defnng ‘Sustanable Lvng brands’ whch enables brands to
generate a systematc vew of ther progress across socal and
envronmental factors
FIRST HUMAN RIHTS REPORT
In 2014, the Enhancng Lvelhoods pllar of the USLP was
expanded wth new commtments coverng farness n the
workplace, opportuntes for women and nclusve busness
The promoton of human rghts across Unlever’s value chan
s an mportant component n these commtments and the
ommttee welcomed the publcaton of Unlever’s naugural
human rghts report n June
The new UN udng Prncples Reportng Framework provdes
comprehensve gudance for busnesses to report how they are
mplementng the UN udng Prncples on Busness and Human
Rghts Unlever was the frst to adopt the new prncples and the
frst to produce a detaled, stand-alone report usng the
framework ‘Enhancng Lvelhoods, Advancng Human Rghts’
outlnes Unlever’s obectves to respect human rghts and to
actvely promote them across all areas of the busness
The report hghlghts Unlever’s work to empower women,
progress n the fght aganst sexual harassment, and the steps to
address health and safety ssues across the supply chan It also
descrbes key areas of focus for the future, whch nclude human
rghts ssues beyond frst-ter supplers and contnung
collaboraton wth other organsatons n order to nfluence
systemc change
MONITORIN REPUTATION
A global busness workng n many countres comes across
numerous ssues n ts everyday operatons It s crucal therefore
that the ommttee seeks regular brefngs on the systems and
processes n place for managng ssues The ommttee requests
an annual summary of the most materal ssues Unlever s dealng
wth, whch n 2015 ncluded ssues such as clmate change, food
and beverage taxes, the responsble use of technology and human
and labour rghts omplance wth Unlever standards, ncludng
socal complance by thrd partes, and vglance on Unlever’s
standng n socety wll contnue to be a prorty for the ommttee
n 2016
ven the ommttee’s role n ensurng Unlever’s reputaton s
well managed, t can also seek ndependent vews on how Unlever
s perceved n socety One of the maor annual surveys of
reputaton n sustanablty s conducted by the research agency
lobescan Its methodology draws on the vews of over 800
sustanablty experts across more than 80 countres It reveals
that an ncreasng number of them see that corporate leadershp
n sustanable development s manly drven by makng
sustanablty part of the company’s core busness model 38% of
respondents sad that Unlever s ‘ntegratng sustanablty nto ts
busness strategy’, puttng t well ahead of others n ths respect
LITIATION REVIEW
The hef Legal Offcer reports to the ommttee on ltgaton and
regulatory matters whch may have a reputatonal mpact ncludng
envronmental ssues, brbery and corrupton complance and
competton law complance For further nformaton on ‘legal
proceedngs’ please see note 20 on page 131
EVALUATION OF THE ORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
OMMITTEE
As part of the nternal Board evaluaton carred out n 2015,
the Boards evaluated the performance of the ommttee
The ommttee also carred out an assessment of ts own
performance n 2015 Whlst overall the ommttee members
concluded that the ommttee s performng effectvely, the
ommttee has agreed to further enhance ts effectveness by
holdng further knowledge sessons on topcs such as assessng
the mpacts of the USLP The orporate Responsblty ommttee
wll mantan ts ndependent vew of Unlever, and wll keep ths
vew centre-stage n ts crtque of the roup’s reputaton and
standng n socety
Louse Fresco
har of the orporate Responsblty ommttee
Laura ha
Feke Sbesma
Further detals on the USLP can be found n Unlever’s onlne Sustanable
Lvng Report 2015, to be publshed n Aprl 2016
wwwunlevercom/sustanable-lvng
63Unilever Annual Report and Accounts 2015 Governance