Unilever Plants The Seeds For Biodiversity

Unilever, as a founding member of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, sees biodiversity as an integral part of their Sustainable Living Plan. This plan aims to align economic growth with improved livelihoods and environmental protection, and understands the importance of working through the company’s suppliers worldwide. As Dirk Jan de With,  Unilever’s VP  Procurement Ingredients & Sustainability, explained to me, “We help our suppliers to understand what biodiversity is and how they can benefit from it.”  They even provide suppliers with an excellent booklet on biodiversity which sets out why their farmers should be biodiversity responsible and how they can go about implementing a biodiversity action plan. The message in the booklet is clear: “We are asking you and your farmers to think about what biodiversity means for you and do something positive. By that we mean consult locally on the most appropriate actions to take and engage in programmes that link your farming activities to the benefits of biodiversity.” (You can download the booklet here.) Yes, the message is clear — Unilever expects its farmers to have a positive impact on biodiversity. However, the company also realises that each farm will have a different set of opportunities to conserve or responsibly use biodiversity. Hence, there is a need to learn by doing and share stories. In this regard, the SAI Platform offers opportunities for Unilever and other food and beverage companies to learn from each other and, in some cases, to collaborate on landscape-level actions. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Unilever  | Source: Forbes