Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

Unilever is a consumer goods company and does not operate as a financial institution offering lending, deposit services, or other financial products to consumers. Therefore, KPIs related to financial services, such as underserved client share, pricing fairness, exploitative fee exposure, inclusion initiatives (loan/insurance book), data accessibility (open banking), fair lending compliance, wealth building outcomes, financial literacy initiatives, debt burden ratio, and product simplicity (financial products), are not applicable to its core business model. The company's profit reinvestment includes €1bn over 10 years in green projects, but not specifically in community finance or profit-sharing with underserved communities as defined by the KPI.

While Unilever supports community initiatives like the United We Stand program for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and a Unicef project for toilet access in India, these are not financial service access points or directly related to the financial inclusion KPIs.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

Unilever achieved full living wage compliance for its direct employees by 2020.

Unilever was accredited as a global Living Wage Employer in 2021. However, workers in Unilever's Ivory Coast unit allege the company is violating their collective bargaining agreement by refusing to ensure severance pay, which is a documented labor-rights infraction.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

In 2024, Unilever identified 94 forced labour-related issues, with 17 deemed business-critical.

In 2023, 20 key incidents and 110 non-conformances related to forced labour indicators were found. The company repaid over GBP 200,000 in recruitment fees in 2023 and USD 692,514 to 155 workers in 2024. For critical raw materials like palm oil, tea, and soy, 97.5% of the supply chain was deforestation-free in 2023. Unilever eliminated a pledge to spend 2 billion euros annually on diverse businesses by 2025 and now only offers fair pay to suppliers accounting for half of its procurement spend by 2026.

Honest & Fair Business

Unilever has a comprehensive anti-corruption policy, the Code of Business Principles, launched in 1995, which prohibits bribery and corruption in all operations.

This policy is supported by 24 related Code Policies forming a Business Integrity framework. A whistleblower policy is in place, allowing anonymous reporting via third-party platforms and direct reporting to dedicated employees. Investigations are overseen by Business Integrity Committees, and a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation is stated. The company aims for a 60-day resolution timeframe for investigations.

Kind to Animals

Unilever has a long history, since the 1980s, of developing and using non-animal testing methods such as computer modeling and cell-based experiments.

Since 2015, it has jointly evaluated and used New Approach Methods (NAMs) with the EPA. Unilever states it does not test on animals and believes it is not needed for product safety. However, it acknowledges that animal testing may occur by suppliers or where required by law, placing its policy at a tier that prohibits discretionary testing but allows legal mandates to override alternatives. Unilever has invested millions of Euros in non-animal testing research over the past 30 years, but a specific percentage of the R&D budget is not provided. The company collaborates with the US EPA, European researchers, and Humane Society International on animal-free safety assessment and is a founding member of the International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety. Unilever actively supports the European Commission's roadmap to phase out animal testing and championed the successful European Citizens Initiative #SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics.

No War, No Weapons

Unilever continued operations in Russia, a sanctioned regime, throughout 2022, generating €8.03 billion in net profit and paying $331 million in taxes to Moscow.

The Ukrainian government labeled Unilever an 'international sponsor of war' due to Russia obligating large companies to contribute to the war effort. Unilever was noted as an 'outlier' for its continued presence compared to other Western brands. The company ceased imports/exports to Russia in March 2022 but continued local operations until selling its Russian business in 2024, more than two years after the conflict began. Unilever's 2024 conflict minerals report states that 100% of its materials are certified conflict-free, with a focus on avoiding minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo or adjoining countries.

Planet-Friendly Business

In 2024, Unilever's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 55,540,000 tCO2e.

Science-based carbon reduction targets for Scope 1, 2, and 3 were submitted to SBTi for validation in November 2023. In 2024, 58.28% of total energy consumed was sourced from renewables. In 2023, post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR) use was 22%. Unilever does not use carbon credits for its near-term GHG reduction targets. The company is involved in projects to protect and restore over 200,000 hectares of forests. By the end of 2023, 97.5% of its palm oil, paper, board, tea, soy, and cocoa order volumes were deforestation-free. Unilever has a net-zero target year of 2039, excluding indirect consumer use emissions. The company conducts TCFD scenario analysis and reports annually. Unilever focuses on just transition issues in agricultural value chains and engages with and supports farmers and smallholders. Unilever aims to onboard 300 of its most emissions-intensive suppliers, representing approximately 44% of Scope 3 emissions related to raw materials, ingredients, and packaging, by the end of 2024.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

Unilever's Magnum ice cream marketing campaign in Pakistan in September 2016 was criticized as a racist trope, and the company maintained silence in response to this criticism.

Additionally, Unilever sells skin-whitening creams, including the 'Fair & Lovely' brand, which have faced backlash for perpetuating colorism. The company's silence regarding the Magnum campaign indicates a reactive, rather than proactive, response to cultural incidents.