Zitat des Tages von Paul Polman:
Renewable energy could reduce emissions but also create jobs and improve public health.
Left unchecked, climate change risks not only making the poorest poorer, but pulling the emerging middle classes back into poverty, too.
Often people ask me what my job is, and I say, honestly, it is to make others successful, and the more you do that, the more you will see that you create prosperity.
I grew up in a small town in the Netherlands which, for years, had been a center of textile production.
Every few decades, we have an opportunity to make a drastic change to the way we live our lives. We get a chance to design the building blocks of our daily routines, the infrastructure that will support and accompany us for the years to come - from the trains and trams we ride, the offices we work in, to the energy that powers our homes.
If the short-term decisions you make damage the long term, you should resist those. But there are many short-term decisions that you need to make to be a successful manager.
While we have created prosperity for many, too many are being left behind.
At Unilever, we operate in 190 countries with two billion people using our products daily. We take climate seriously because we know that it impacts those two billion people - and that means it impacts us, too.
More and more businesses are seeing the potential of a more sustainable business model, driven both by the firm belief that business can be a force for good and by the realization that the cost of inaction often exceeds the cost of action - notably when it comes to the growing threat of climate change and water scarcity.
Providing financial incentives for both local communities and national governments to conserve and restore forests also makes sense. It will put an economic value on these precious natural resources and drive the right behaviours from both government and business.
I do not work for the shareholder, to be honest. I work for the customer.
Safe working conditions, fair wages, protection from forced labor, and freedom from harassment and discrimination - these must become standard global operating conditions.
Unilever has been around for 100-plus years. We want to be around for several hundred more years.
Our political leaders have great responsibilities, but as with many situations in life, people often rise or fall to meet your expectations. Our responsibility as citizens is to expect our leaders to lead and to give them enough support so that they may do so.
Forest nations willing to do more than their fair share to solve the climate crisis should be rewarded through results-based payments.
Large-scale deforestation can be prevented while increasing food production through better, smarter agriculture.
Companies are the first to see the costs of climate change.
Businesses and governments need to work together and make a joint commitment if we want to address climate change effectively and quickly.
Consumers in both emerging and developed markets want it all - high-performing products, the right price, and a purpose that they can connect with.
If we tackle deforestation in the right way, the benefits will be far-reaching - greater food security, improved livelihoods for millions of small farmers and indigenous people, more prosperous rural economies, and above all, a more stable climate.
I actually am a capitalist, and I believe in shareholders. But I believe in them as a result of what I do, not as a reason for what I'm doing. The same with profits - profits alone cannot be an objective. It has to have a purpose.
Business has a responsibility and opportunity to be the driving force for the advancement of universal human rights.
It only takes a handful of sizeable companies to reach a tipping point and to transform markets.
I say to a lot of people you have to measure success in terms of progress, not in terms of end state.
I don't have a problem crying when I need to cry.
Empowering women is one of the most important things we - and indeed, every business - can do.
Looking at the world through a sustainability lens not only helps us 'future proof' our supply chain, it also fuels innovation and drives brand growth.
Every region in the world faces challenges - and Africa is hugely diverse, so its own challenges are varied.
The ideal is a world in which every woman and girl can create the kind of life she wishes to lead, unconstrained by harmful norms and stereotypes.
Purpose has always been part of Unilever's DNA. Our founder, William Lever, built a business around the sale of Lifebuoy soap that was not only profitable and sustainable but also helped transform the health of the poor in Victorian Britain.
There are billions of people in the world who deserve the better quality of life that products such as soap, shampoo, and clean drinking water can provide.
Unilever brings together the resources and experience of a multinational company alongside our deep local roots, which enables us to grow a genuinely African consumer goods business.
Africa is a vibrant, varied continent with a growing consumer base.
There is still too much pressure on short-termism in terms of the drivers of success.
To achieve policy stability and certainty, we need to establish a meaningful price on carbon and cut the billions of dollars spent each year on fossil-fuel subsidies, along with well-structured financial tools and rules.
System-wide changes rely on a critical mass of interested parties, all willing to enter into deep partnerships and collaborations, founded on new levels of trust and a commitment to action, not debate.