LONDON—Speaking at The Sustainability Summit, Paul Polman, Unilever chief executive, urged businesses to take action on climate change, and said that Unilever has set itself the challenge of doubling the size of its business while at the same time reducing its environmental footprint. He said the key to making this goal happen is by inspiring consumers to switch to a more sustainable way of living through the brands they choose.
Polman said, “those companies that wait to be forced into action or who see it solely in terms of reputation management or CSR, will do too little too late and may not even survive.” He stressed that businesses can and should press ahead: “There is a huge amount that business can do without help from the politicians—whether it is in their supply chains, their factories, the design of their products or in using their brands to educate people about more sustainable forms of consumption.”
