Unilever CEO Alan Jope called out the political backlash against corporate social-justice initiatives and vowed not to “back down” in public remarks.
In a recent talk to the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Jope described the “anti-sustainability” and “anti-woke” backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives by corporations like Unilever. Several states have instituted or proposed laws that would punish corporations or investment firms for things like pulling out of financing for fossil fuel production.
"The first thing that Unilever will do is we will not back down on this agenda despite these populist accusations," Jope said in remarks quoted by Fox Business.
He claimed that talking about the world’s “climate emergency” has become “unpopular,” but pointed out that Unilever’s sustainability plan was passed with 99.6% shareholder support. He also chided the corporate world for a lack of meaningful action on climate change, saying, "There are many commitments out there but not many plans."
Unilever has pledged to achieve net-zero status on carbon emissions internally by 2030, and across its supply chain by 2039.
