Unilever CEO: the new face of corporate climate change

Paul Polman, CEO of UK and Netherlands-based Unilever. Photo by Justin Catanoso

Paul Polman, CEO of UK and Netherlands-based Unilever. Photo by Justin Catanoso

LIMA, Peru — It’s not every day when you here the leader of a Fortune 500 company speak so eloquently about the responsibility to be contribute first to a civil and sustainable society, and not slavishly serve Wall Street and shareholder demands for ever-increasing profits. But Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, is that kind of leader. My story in BusinessInisder.com covers Polman stirring talk at a side event connected to the UN climate summit here in Peru.

Excerpt: “For those of us in the food sector, like my company, we know that climate change cannot be tackled without a fundamental change in the way that agriculture – the world’s oldest and largest industry – is practiced,” Polman told an audience of several hundred. “In fact, most CEOs, I’m convinced of now, know that their companies cannot prosper in a world with runaway climate change. This is increasingly evident. They understand the need to work together with political leaders to address these challenges.”

Venue for Paul Polman's talk at the Global Landscape Forum connected to the COP20 in Lima, Peru.

Venue for Paul Polman’s talk at the Global Landscape Forum connected to the COP20 in Lima, Peru.