Group Presentation on “Partnership between Unilever & World Resource Institute”Group Members:Adya PandaPriti Rose KulluSunny SinghVivek ToppoVikash Kumar GiriTony JacobShubhra Salil

Unilever

Unilever is an Anglo–Dutch multinational consumer goods company co-headquartered in London, England and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

It’s products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.

One of the oldest multinational companies, its products are available in around 190 countries.

World Resources Institute

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a non-governmental research organization which seeks to create equity and prosperity through sustainable natural resource management.

WRI is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization with a global staff of more than 450 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators developing and promoting policies with the intention of protecting the Earth and improving people’s lives.

Global Forest Watch Commodities

Global Forest Watch Commodities is a project of Global Forest Watch. Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system empowering people everywhere to better manage forests.

Building on Global Forest Watch, GFW Commodities provides a suite of online tools for companies to assess the impact of commodity production on forests using data in near-real time.

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use.

Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.

Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees are cut down to be used or sold as fuel (sometimes in the form of charcoal) or timber, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities and settlements.

The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity.

Partnership Unilever and the World Resources Institute (WRI)

announced a new partnership that will increase transparency and the aim to end tropical deforestation.

Deforestation has serious repercussions on the global climate, local livelihoods, and biodiversity – posing a growing problem to commodity businesses.

According to data from the University of Maryland and Google, the world lost 2.3 million square kilometres (230 million hectares) of tree cover from 2000 to 2012, equivalent to 50 soccer fields every minute of every day for 12 years.

Why this Partnership?

Unilever is committed to reducing its environmental impact and ending deforestation across its supply chain through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, which sets out to source 100 per cent of agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, with a strong focus on biodiversity and zero net deforestation.

The partnership will enable Unilever and its suppliers to use the Global Forest Watch Commodities platform to monitor forest cover change around commodity supply areas and processing facilities such as palm oil mills.

Conclusion• “GFW Commodities lowers the cost of identifying

deforestation risk hotspots, a critical factor for success in the competitive supplier market.”• “This partnership should provide a great boost

for companies that seek to responsibly source raw commodities, such as palm oil in Asia, Africa, and Latin America,” said Mr. Kuok Khoon Hong, Chairman and CEO of Wilmar International, a leading palm oil processor and trader.

Bibliography

• Unilever Website Press Release September 1 2014• Wikipedia info about Unilever, World Resources Institutes,

Global Forest Watch & Deforestation.• Google Search for the Conclusive comments