Paul Polman has made big changes at Unilever since taking over in 2009. Unlike other CEOs, he not only thinks about the issues of climate change and sustainability, but actively campaigns on them too.
Ratification of #ParisAgreement sends unmistakable signal to biz and investors.Time to act for future generations https://t.co/oRDcuBuI7C— Paul Polman (@PaulPolman) October 7, 2016
Unilever now operates a sustainability-first agenda. Polman says "it is the responsibility of business to promote sustainability"; that "there is no business case for enduring poverty and runaway climate change". In a blog published last week, Polman wrote:
Only sustainable infrastructure - one that refuses to trade long-term sustainability for short-term gains - will bring about the transformative change we need. It is key to our ability to deliver the promises of prosperity and sustainability at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And to our ability to realise the Paris Agreement on climate change, whose rapid entry into force this week is proof of our collective ambition to further limit global warming and preserve our future.
What he said obviously resonated with somebody at LafargeHolcim, Aggregate Industries' parent:
"The type of #infrastructure we invest in today will determine our future." Let's make it sustainable - @PaulPolman: https://t.co/hMulriVmOf pic.twitter.com/vc1O4NSXdx— LafargeHolcim (@LafargeHolcim) October 7, 2016
Of course, given that manufacturing 1 tonne of cement produces nearly 1 tonne of CO2, given that the cement industry alone is responsible for 5% of man-made CO2 emissions, LafargeHolcims’s idea of sustainability - being the world’s largest cement producer - is probably a bit different to Unilever’s.
But what a relief someone at LafargeHolcim is interested in sustainability. Because, once the Paris Agreement on climate change formally comes into force next month, no business in its right mind, no business that wants to be "part of the solution", would think to needlessly haul minerals 2.5 million polluting miles in Devon, would they?
Removing CO2 From the Air Only Hope for Fixing Climate Change, New Study Says https://t.co/6YhiD8kwur pic.twitter.com/W3gcmrHfiP— Svein T veitdal (@tveitdal) October 7, 2016
