By Verity Hambrook, Industry RE Sustainability, Nov 2011 Tweet
The ambitious company proves true sustainability can equate to a more profitable future. 

Few were surprised when sustainability giant, Unilever, picked up the biggest gong, the Grand Prix Award, at this year’s International Green Awards at the Natural History Museum in London. Soaked in shafts of green light, the great hall of the museum was bustling with green glamour and passionately eco folk vying for the ultimate recognition in sustainability circles.

As winner of this award, Unilever, convinced the judges that of all the entries, it had made the best tracks in sustainability and, say the Green Awards, “had the greatest capacity to change the way society and business is perceived, supported by factual evidence of systemic change.”

The award carries clout in the industry and has been won in the past by a number of other illustrious sustainability champs including Nokia, Honda, O2, China Environmental Protection Foundation and Keep Britain Tidy.

Unilever are, without question, worthy winners. The sheer scale of the company’s green ambitions have pushed the sustainability sector to dizzying new heights of innovation and change. Routed firmly in the belief that businesses must contribute to a sustainable future, it is leveraging a wider change in business philosophy that is unprecedented. Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever says: “Most businesses operate and say how can I use society and the environment to be successful? We are saying the opposite – how can we contribute to the society and the environment to be successful?”

The company says by 2020, it will have halved the environmental footprint of its products, helped more than 1 billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, and sourced 100% of the agricultural raw materials sustainably. It’s impressive stuff.

On winning the award, Karen Hamilton, Vice President of Sustainability at Unilever said: “We’re delighted to be awarded the International Green Awards Grand Prix by the influential jury of sustainability experts and luminaries. We are making solid progress towards these goals and the International Green Awards are an important recognition of those efforts.”

The judges said: “Unilever’s ‘Sustainable Living Plan’ reflects the most comprehensive value chain approach with ambitious goals and genuine ethos for sustainability.”

And, for those non-believers who still fail to see how fully embedded sustainability can equate to commercial growth and future resilience, Unilever’s profits are on the up. A year on, despite the difficult economic times, it announced some formidably strong financial results that surpassed many of its competitors. To put it simply, Unilever embrace a truth that others need to face up to: business must prepare itself for a future of reduced, more expensive resources.

A facet of sustainability often overlooked by business is the importance of behaviour change among employees. It is crucial to a sincere and comprehensive shift towards sustainability. HSBC won the gold award in the ‘Best Green Employee Engagement Strategy’ category at the International Green Awards.

This recognition was the fruit of a five year partnership with Earthwatch which has seen more than 62,000 employee volunteers participate in environmental projects in their community, 2,223 climate champions spend time at five Earthwatch regional climate centres and the creation of a global ‘green taskforce’ of employees, with 96% of climate champions agreeing that the programme increased their knowledge of climate change.

The achievements of all the winners were a testament to the humbling commitment and innovation to a greener world taking place in the business community. From multi-national corporate companies to small thriving enterprises, green talent was celebrated across the world. From a project protecting lakes in India to a Danish campaign for greener driving, the Green Awards painted an encouraging picture of global engagement and development with the green agenda.

But, there is still so much more to do. And this message was most poignantly driven home by this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Awarded last year to David Attenborough, it was awarded this year posthumously to the great Kenyan environmental leader Wangari Maathai, who sadly recently passed away.  The first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organisation focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation and women’s rights.

She fought passionately and eloquently for a more sustainable world. “In wealthy countries, the looming climate crisis is a matter of concern, as it will affect both the wellbeing of economies and people’s lives,” she said. “In Africa, however, a region that has hardly contributed to climate change, its greenhouse gas emissions are negligible when compared with the industrialised worlds; it will be a matter of life and death.”

Her candid words are becoming uncomfortably prophetic. For those companies who are striding out ahead, learning, innovating and changing, the International Green Awards is a fitting recognition of their efforts. For those still lingering behind, let’s hope the winners finally inspire them to build a more sustainable future for business and the world as a whole.

The full list of winners and categories are available on the Green Awards website.

IndustryRE is proud to sponsor the International Green Awards.