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(Adds CEO quote, details on climate plan, shares)
By Siddharth Cavale
May 5 (Reuters) - British consumer goods giant Unilever
on Wednesday said an overwhelming majority of its
shareholders voted in favour of its plan to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions across its supply chain to net zero by 2039.
The maker of Dove soaps and Hellmann's mayonnaise is the
largest company globally to give investors a say on its climate
transition action plan.
It said over 99% of shareholders who voted, voted in favour
of the non-binding resolution, which was released during an
online shareholder meeting.
"Climate change represents a clear and present danger to our
value chain," Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope said at the
virtual meeting.
"The overwhelming vote shows support to our ambitious
emission reduction targets."
The company's emission reduction plans include
transitioning to renewable energy sources, eliminating fossil
fuels from its cleaning products, reducing corporate travel and
refrigeration emissions.
It will first eliminate emissions to net zero within its own
operations and halve the impact of its products across its
supply chain, compared to 2010 levels, by 2030.
The pathway to achieving these goals will come by focusing on
reducing emissions associated with its business and products
towards zero "as far as possible," rather than purchasing and
retiring carbon credits, the company said in its "climate
transition action plan https://www.unilever.com/Images/unilever-climate-transition-action-plan-19032021_tcm244-560179_en.pdf
" shared with shareholders ahead of the vote.
Shareholders in companies from oil and transport to food and
drink have been pressing executives to detail how they plan to
reduce their carbon footprints in coming years, in line with
government pledges to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell, Spanish airports
operator Aena and U.S. rating agency Moody's are other
companies to put their climate action plans to a vote.
Unilever shares were up 0.5% in afternoon trading.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan and Estelle Shirbon)
