Sustainability, Unilever likes to suggest, is embedded deep in its DNA. And the company knows a thing or two about being in it for the long haul.

From its paternalistic beginnings in Victorian Britain, the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate, which sells a range of household products such as Dove shampoo, Flora margarine and Magnum ice creams, is pursuing a bold bid to double turnover while halving its environmental footprint.

"Growth at any cost is not viable," wrote Paul Polman, Unilever's chief executive, when he unveiled the company's sustainable living plan in November 2010. "We want to be a sustainable business in every sense of the word."

Unilever's plan covers everything from farmers' livelihoods to preserving water and improving children's health. It includes people such as Harold Bokaba, one of the company's Aids champions in South Africa. But what really makes environmental consultants take notice is the way Unilever measures its footprint: right through the product life cycle. Rather than simply switching off lights and PCs at head office or recycling water in factories, the company aims to make consumers more eco savvy. This means enabling and persuading its customers in India, for example, to wash clothes with a single bucket of water, and those in the US to take shorter showers.

Unilever's calculations, based on 1,600 representative products, pinpoint use by consumers as the biggest culprit in the creation of its greenhouse gas emissions. These show that raw materials account for 26 per cent, manufacturing and transport together a modest five per cent, consumer use 68 per cent and disposal one per cent.

Marketing

"That level of analysis and granularity upfront, combined with the overall ambition, is what is different [about Unilever's goals]," says Rodolphe d'Arjuzon, global head of research at Verdantix, an analyst firm that advises companies on environmental and energy strategies. "They are concocting a plan that really does leverage their core strengths of marketing and communications muscle."

It is muscle Unilever is willing to flex. In the US last year, a campaign by Suave shampoo in Walmart stores encouraged shoppers to "turn off the tap". Families who shaved two minutes off their showers could save 21,000 litres of water and $150 (Dh550) a year, the ads proclaimed.

Polman makes no apology for putting sustainability at the heart of the company. "Without it, we have no business," he says. As proof that investors are on board, he points to the share price, which hit a record high late last year.

Launching the plan in 2010, he insisted there was "no conflict between sustainable consumption and business growth…quite the opposite, in fact. There is a compelling case for sustainable growth — retailers and consumers demand it and it saves us money."

That plan set three broad goals: to help improve the health and well-being of more than a billion people; to halve the environmental footprint across the total value chain; and to source all agricultural raw materials sustainably.

The company's target is to halve greenhouse gases, water and waste by 2020. Since much of the emissions occur after the bottle of shampoo or mayonnaise has left the shop, Unilever aims to give 400 million consumers products and knowledge that will enable them to do just that.

On the manufacturing front, carbon dioxide emissions will be returned to 2008 levels by 2020, despite increased volumes. Use of renewable energy will be doubled to 40 per cent of the total and new factories will have half the impact of current ones.

"Certainly there's no lack of ambition," says d'Arjuzon.

"Linking [these aims] to the overall strategy is an extremely bold move." It is a rare one too, he says, citing BASF, the German chemical group, and Puma, the sportswear manufacturer, as unusual examples of companies that have pushed the envelope by linking sustainability to the financial bottom line.

Unilever has set itself a big challenge. It estimates its products are used by two billion people around the world every day. This figure includes 125 billion washes a year using its Persil, Omo and Surf detergents, among others.

Polman says changes on this scale cannot be achieved in isolation. He advocates partnerships between the public and private sectors, and bringing civic society on board.

— Financial Times