Defining our material issues
We live in an uncertain and constantly changing world. Materiality helps us report on the sustainability issues that matter most to our business and stakeholders.

An issue is material to Unilever if it meets two conditions. Firstly, it impacts our business significantly in terms of growth, cost or risk. And secondly, it is important to our stakeholders – such as investors, society (citizens, NGOs, governments), consumers, customers (retailers), suppliers and our employees – and they expect us to take action on the issue. In determining if an issue is material, we consider our impacts across the value chain.
We use our materiality assessment to identify priority sustainability issues across our value chain. Over the last decade, materiality has helped to inform the development of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP). More recently, it has helped ensure we report on the issues of most interest to our stakeholders. We update our assessment each year to make sure it reflects changes in our business and the external environment.
