Greenhouse gases

Our commitment

Halve the greenhouse gas impact of our products across the lifecycle by 2020.* 

Our performance

Given the complexity of calculating the lifecycle impacts of our product portfolio, we are investing in an automated process to allow us to measure progress regularly.

An interim sample of 2010 data shows that our greenhouse gas footprint has remained broadly unchanged.

What matters most

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heated water for showering and washing hair.

*Our environmental targets are expressed against a baseline of 2008 and on a ‘per consumer use’ basis. This means a single use, portion or serving of a product.

  • 0 achieved
  • 8 on-plan
  • 1 off-plan
  • 0 missed target

Our approach

Climate change will have a growing impact on Unilever’s business. Our suppliers of agricultural raw materials will be affected by changing weather patterns. Our consumers will have to adapt to a world of rising food and energy prices and communities risk being displaced by extreme weather events such as floods and droughts.

It is a particularly urgent issue for Unilever since the countries that are expected to feel the effects most severely are the developing economies that generate more than half our sales.

We have calculated the greenhouse gas emissions across the lifecycle of over 1,600 representative products in 14 countries. The calculation covers 70% of our volumes. From this we know that our largest greenhouse gas impacts are beyond our factory gates. The sourcing of raw materials and the use of our products by people at home account for more than 90%.

We have set greenhouse gas reduction targets across our value chain – from sourcing, manufacturing, transport and refrigeration all the way through to consumer use of our products. To achieve these targets we need to work with our suppliers as well as offer new products that can help people reduce their own impacts.

Our footprint

The product categories which make the largest contribution to our greenhouse gas footprint are those where the consumer requires heated water. Soap, shower gel and skin care products alone account for more than half of our total footprint.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from skin cleansing and hair washing

3.1By 2015 we aim to reach 200 million consumers with products and tools that will help them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while washing and showering. Our plan is to reach 400 million people by 2020.

  • We are finding this target challenging and our progress is modest.

More on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from skin cleansing and hair washing

The majority of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with our soaps, shower gels and shampoos occur during consumer use so the largest gains will come from people modifying their showering and bathing habits. Habits of this kind are deeply ingrained and not easily changed. We are approaching the task by:

  • conducting research to understand current behavior

  • developing new products such as dry shampoo. Because dry shampoo refreshes hair between washes, it might encourage people to wash their hair with hot water less often.

Understanding showering in the UK

In 2011 we undertook a study on showering habits in the UK.

We monitored 2,600 showers taken in 100 households over at least ten days.

Results showed that the average shower is eight minutes – three minutes longer than the received wisdom of the ‘five minute shower’ – and costs a family £416 a year.

The study will help us to understand the triggers for changing behavior and inform the development of new products.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from washing clothes

Reduce the greenhouse gas impact of the laundry process by:

3.2Concentrating our liquids and compacting our powders.

3.3Reformulating our products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2012.

3.4Encouraging our consumers to wash at lower temperatures and at the correct dosage in 70% of machine washes by 2020.



  • 8% of our portfolio in our top 14 countries was made up of concentrated and compacted products at end 2010, compared to our baseline of 4% in 2008.
  • We continue to make good progress in reformulating our products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With the majority of our powders already reformulated we are on track to meet our 2012 target.
  • We are encouraging consumers to use the right dosage through specially designed caps and we communicate the benefits of low temperature washing on our packs and online.

More on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from washing clothes

Concentrating our laundry products helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions – as we need fewer raw materials, less packaging and fewer lorries to transport the products.

In our fast-growing markets in Asia and Africa most clothes are washed by hand in ambient temperatures and so the laundry process is less greenhouse gas intensive. The challenge will be to ensure that when people in these markets acquire washing machines they continue to wash at low temperatures.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our manufacturing

3.5By 2020 CO2 emissions from energy from our factories will be at or below 2008 levels despite significantly higher volumes.This represents a 63% reduction per tonne of production and a 43% absolute reduction (versus a 1995 baseline).

3.6We will more than double our use of renewable energy to 40% of our total energy requirement by 2020. We recognise that this is only a first step towards a long-term goal of 100% renewable energy.

3.7 All newly built factories will aim to have less than half the impact of those in our 2008 baseline.

  • 601,500 fewer tonnes of CO2 from energy† produced in 2011 than in 2008 (a reduction of 20% per tonne of production†).Compared to 1995, this represents a 55% reduction in absolute terms.†
  • At end 2011 renewable energy contributed 20%† of our total energy use compared to 15.8% in 2008.
  • During 2010–11 we incorporated sustainability improvements into every aspect of the design specification for our new factories.These improvements will be incorporated in all new designs from 2012 onwards.

More on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from our manufacturing

Our reduction of 20% per ton of production since 2008 has been driven predominantly by the purchase of renewable electrical energy and the use of biomass in our boilers. This is complemented by continuous improvement programs across our sites.

Manufacturing CO2 and energy savings

The biggest contributors to our reductions in CO2 and energy were:

  • electricity purchased for all factories in Europe and Canada is now from renewable sources

  • the introduction of three new biomass boilers in India in 2011

  • the installation of combined heat and power systems in many of our European factories over 2008-2011. By the end of 2011 this led to savings of over €10 million a year.

†2011 data is preliminary. See Assurance.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport

3.8By 2020 CO2 emissions from our global logistics network will be at or below 2010 levels despite significantly higher volumes. This will represent a 40% improvement in CO2 efficiency. We will achieve this by reducing truck mileage; using lower emission vehicles; employing alternative transport such as rail or ship; and improving the energy efficiency of our warehouses.

  • Over 8% improvement in CO2 efficiency in 2011 compared to 2010.

More on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport

While our progress in 2011 was good, meeting our 2020 commitment remains tough and we are exploring how we can work in partnership to drive improvements at an industry level. One example is Forum for the Future’s Sustainable Shipping Initiative which we joined in 2011.

Delivering CO2 savings

Our UK business identified inefficiencies in trucking laundry products across Europe. By double stacking products, we achieved a 60% reduction in vehicle kilometres and a 38% reduction in CO2 emissions.

In Brazil we switched deliveries from São Paolo to the north-east of the country from road to sea. This achieved a reduction of over 5,000 tons of CO2 a year.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration

As the world’s largest producer of ice cream, we will accelerate our roll-out of freezer cabinets that use climate-friendly (hydrocarbon) refrigerants. When we launched our Plan in November 2010 we had already purchased 450,000 units with the new refrigerant.

3.9We will purchase a further 850,000 units by 2015.

  • By end 2010 we had bought another 190,000 climate-friendly cabinets. In 2011 we purchased a further 280,000, taking us to 470,000, well over half way towards our target of 850,000.

More on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration

As well as having a lower global warming potential, some of the new freezers are more energy efficient. This reduces both costs and emissions for the customers who run these freezers.

Gaining regulatory acceptance for hydrocarbons in the US

B&J's HC cabinet cutout [LR] 218

In the United States, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations have prevented us from using climate-friendly hydrocarbon refrigerants. Working with Greenpeace, UNEP and others we have been lobbying the EPA to convince them that there are no safety issues.

At the end of 2011 the EPA gave approval for the use of hydrocarbon gas as an alternative to current refrigerants. Not only has this ruling paved the way for the introduction of climate-friendly refrigeration for our own use, but it will also enable other companies to take advantage of the significant greenhouse gas savings such cabinets offer.

Future challenges

Most of our greenhouse gas emissions come from the hot water needed to use our soaps and shampoos in the shower. This makes the task of reducing them particularly challenging because persuading people to take shorter showers, still less colder ones, will be very difficult.

In order to get a better understanding of the question we have conducted our own research on showering habits in the UK. We have studied carefully what has happened in other countries and have talked to water companies and NGOs.

This is by far our biggest challenge and as yet we do not have a viable solution. Big-scale change will only come about once carbon has an economic price and people have a real financial incentive to change.

Meanwhile we need to find products and services which will help people to mitigate their impacts in the short term.