Speakers exchange and discuss at the Vietnam Sustainable Business Forum (VCSF) 2023. (Source: VCSF 2023)

The world is facing major challenges such as biodiversity loss, natural resource depletion, and climate change, posing a major problem of how to ensure a sustainable future for future generations.

Among them, climate change is one of the most urgent issues when greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest level in the past 2 million years and the world has warmed by 1.1 ^degrees Celsius compared to the late 1800s. According to the United Nations Report in 2018, scientists and experts agreed that keeping the global temperature increase below 1.5 ^degrees Celsius would be the safe threshold to help us avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Achieving this goal requires a global and urgent commitment and system of solutions. In December 2021 at the COP26 Conference, Vietnam and nearly 150 countries made a strong commitment to reduce net emissions to "zero" by 2050.

To realize this commitment, the Government has launched a national action plan strategy to orient transformation in agriculture, industry, production and low-emission consumption, calling for the synchronous participation of local governments, communities and businesses.

Vietnam's goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050 is considered a challenge, but also an opportunity for businesses to restructure their business models and transform to more sustainable growth.

In the global green race towards the goal of achieving net zero emissions, as a pioneer in sustainable development activities, Unilever has made comprehensive commitments and approaches to guide actions, from internal operations to the entire value chain, brand activities as well as activities that have a broader impact on society and the community.

Faced with the challenges of global climate change, the “National Strategy on Climate Change to 2050” has set many important goals in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve “zero” net emissions, transforming to a more sustainable growth model, and enhancing the resilience and competitiveness of the economy.

These were also the contents discussed at the Vietnam Corporate Sustainability Forum 2023 (VCSF) last week with the theme "Global green race: From strategy to sustainable business practice".

At the Forum, representing the business sector, Unilever shared pioneering global strategies and strong actions to build a zero net emission value chain in Vietnam for green transformation, contributing to the country's common goal of adapting to climate change and ensuring a sustainable future, a green planet for future generations.

Globally, Unilever has set specific commitments to implement emission reduction targets, aiming for net zero emissions across the entire value chain by 2039. Specifically: By 2025, reduce 70% of absolute emissions from Unilever's internal operations compared to 2015 (scope 1 and 2); By 2030, reduce 100% of absolute emissions from Unilever's internal operations, achieving net zero emissions (scope 1 and 2); By 2039, the entire value chain achieves net zero emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3).

In Vietnam, to realize its commitments on emission reduction and sustainable business, Unilever focuses on implementing green transformation activities in its own operations as well as promoting green transformation among partners throughout the value chain.

Ms. Le Thi Hong Nhi - Director of Communications and Public Affairs of Unilever Vietnam shared : "We believe that a zero-emission world - where nature is revived - is something we can realize together with a strong commitment, a synchronous solution system and the cooperation of the Government, businesses, communities and localities. The green transformation journey plays a pivotal role in moving towards sustainable development."