Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the report “Keep Forests Standing: How Local Community Resistance is Saving the Last Rainforests of Borneo” by Rainforest Action Network (RAN).

Unilever would like to clarify that we have no direct business with Bumitama, and no business with Rodamas Tbr Kalimantan (RTK) and Kemakmuran Berkah Timber (KBT). However, we may be linked to Bumitama through trade with several direct business partners and we plan to engage our partners regarding this case.

Unilever remains firmly committed to respecting and promoting human rights in our supply chain. In 2022, we renewed this commitment in our Responsible Partner Policy (RPP), which all partners must adhere to in order to do business with us. If non-conformances to the Mandatory Requirements of the RPP are identified, business partners must develop and deliver a corrective action plan to remediate the issue within a reasonable timeframe.

All palm oil business partners are also expected to comply with the Unilever People and Nature Policy, which set out the principle of respecting and promoting human rights. Business partners are expected to cascade these principles up their supply chain, and independently verify the compliance of their third-party suppliers.

We will process the case in line with our grievance mechanism and update our understanding of this case on the grievance tracker available on our website. Recognising the importance of individuals and communities raising issues, we have a robust grievance mechanism in place and publish a grievance tracker so that issues are shared publicly.

Where we are unable to verify a suppliers’ compliance to our policies, we will act in accordance with the respective policy and in some cases that may entail suspension of those suppliers from our supply chain.

Unilever is continuing to review its policies, protocols, and procedures and in doing so makes sure to take input from a broad range of partners and civil society.

For more information on our work to advance human rights, please visit:

https://www.unilever.com/planet-and-society/respect-human-rights/