Unilever: Consumers must be mobilised to support sustainability

Unilever has highlighted the need to engage consumers with sustainability issues in order to make any real headway.

Speaking during a debate on the issue in London, Unilever chief executive officer Paul Polman stated that not enough of a proactive approach is being taken to making sustainability a key part of global business models.

With around two billion people using Unilever products on any given day, the business leader said mobilising customer bases and encouraging them to make small changes to their lifestyles could be the best way for companies to make a big difference.

He pointed to the fact that Unilever already uses its marketers to encourage behavioural change among consumers, such as more frequent hand washing or brushing teeth twice a day instead of once.

"We have been working hard to distil those critical areas of behaviour change insight that we all need to use to engage consumers," Mr Polman said.

Earlier this month, the company published its financial report for the third quarter of 2011, reporting strong growth across all categories and a three-month turnover figure of 12.1 billion euros (10.36 billion pounds).