Sustainability is one of the five strategic pillars of the Consumer Goods Form, and is driven by four underlying principles:

1. We will seek to decouple business growth from our environmental and social impacts. Our objective will be to achieve our respective companies’ growth ambitions whilst at the same time improving our environmental impact.
   
   
2. We will continue to compete as business to bring products to the consumers. But we will work together and share learning to address the challenge of improving the environmental and social impact of our industry (including climate change).
   
   
3. Our work will be guided by the objective of helping consumers to reduce their environmental and social impact when using our products.
   
   
4. We will take a ‘life cycle view’ and cooperate within and across industry sectors, encompassing every step in the value chains from the sourcing of raw materials to consumer use and disposal of finished products.

Leadership

Philip Clarke, CEO Tesco, and Paul Polman, CEO Unilever, are the Board co-sponsors of the activities within the Sustainability pillar. As Board sponsors they will actively drive and support of the work of the Sustainability Steering Committee and presenting their work with their peers during the Board meetings.

Steering Committee

The role of the Sustainability Steering Committee, led by Unilever and Tesco, is to identify projects where we can work together collaboratively (but non-competitively) to improve the sustainability profile our industry. Where possible it wants to bring global alignment and voluntary standards to non-competitive areas such as ethical sourcing.

Focus

The initial focus was is on activities which would address climate change. Climate change is a major strategic threat, potentially affecting our customers, our businesses and the wider economy and society. The Board of Directors of the Forum has decided a work programme comprising five key elements, of which the Global Packaging Project has been finalized.

Serious consideration is now being given to open up a fifth work stream on Solid Waste. A scoping study under the joint leadership of Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson has been initiated and a recommendation will be made in March 2012.

Resolutions

In November 2010, the Board has approved two resolutions on deforestation and refrigeration, followed by a press release:

1. As the Board of the Consumer Goods Forum we pledge to mobilise resources within our respective businesses to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020. We will develop specific, time bound, and cost effective action plans for the different challenges in sourcing commodities like palm oil, soy, beef, paper and board in a sustainable fashion.
   
   
2. As the Board of the Consumer Goods Forum, we recognise the major and increasing contribution to total greenhouse gas emissions of HFCs and derivative chemical refrigerants. We are therefore taking action to mobilize resources within our respective businesses to begin phasing-out HFC refrigerants as of 2015 and replace them with non-HFC refrigerants (natural refrigerant alternatives) where these are legally allowed and available for new purchases of point-of-sale units and large refrigeration installations.