Unilever announced yesterday that its factories, offices, R&D facilities, data centres, warehouses and distribution centres across five continents are now powered by 100% renewable grid electricity.
As far as possible, Unilever’s transition to renewable electricity has been delivered through supporting the development of local renewable energy markets, with 38% of its grid electricity supplied through corporate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and green electricity tariffs.
Where it has not been feasible to do this, Unilever has purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) – openly-traded certificates linked to renewable electricity generation.
Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100 at The Climate Group, said:
“Congratulations to Unilever – achieving 100% renewable electricity across five continents means the company is quickly advancing on its RE100 goal as it works to become a ‘carbon neutral’ company by 2030. Through its membership of RE100, global companies like Unilever are sending a strong demand signal to the few markets where renewables remain harder to access. They want to be able to source renewable electricity locally at an affordable price – and they want to do that now.”
The announcement comes ahead of Unilever taking to the stage at the opening ceremony of Climate Week NYC and participating in the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit, where it joins leaders from government and business in advocating for the importance of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C – in line with the Paris Agreement. Unilever’s achievement is a significant step towards its target to become a carbon neutral company before 2030. Unilever has worked with partners around the world to generate renewable electricity at its own sites, with solar power in use at Unilever facilities in 18 countries.
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