International. Unilever announced that its factories, offices, R&D facilities, data centers, warehouses and distribution centers on five continents, now run on 100% renewable grid power.
To the extent possible, Unilever's transition to renewable electricity has been carried out by 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 possible to do this, Unilever has purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), openly negotiated 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 rapidly advancing its RE100 target as it works to become a 'carbon neutral' company by 2030. Through their membership in 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 get renewable electricity locally at an affordable price, and they want to do it now."
The announcement came before Unilever took the stage at the opening ceremony of New York Climate Week and participated in the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, where it joins government and business leaders in advocating for the importance of limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5°C. in line with the Paris Agreement.
Unilever's achievement is a significant step towards its goal of becoming a carbon neutral company by 2030. Unilever has worked with partners around the world to generate renewable electricity at their own sites, with solar power in use at Unilever facilities in 18 countries.
Marc Engel, Unilever's head of supply chain, said: "The climate emergency is one of the most urgent challenges we all face. Our team has worked hard to secure renewable energy contracts for our sites on five continents, accelerating the delivery of our 100% renewable energy targets.
A substantial contribution to the announcement comes from Unilever's investment in energy efficiency programmes, which have led to a reduction in total energy consumption of 28% and a halving of carbon emissions per tonne of production since 2008. as well as the introduction of solar electricity generation site.
There have been no net costs to get to this point. The savings Unilever was able to generate through mechanisms such as PPAs have offset the additional costs, the company said.
