Environmental Leader

Procter & Gamble has announced five-year sustainability goals as part of its 2007 Global Sustainability Report (PDF).

P&G says that it plans to generate at least $20 billion in cumulative sales of products with reduced environmental impact over the next five years. Financial Times reports that the environmental impact of those products will be at least 10 percent less than those of previously available products. This is believed to be the first time a consumer products company has set itself a financial target for developing and selling greener items, rather than for waste or energy reduction.

P&G’s sales target for environmentally enhanced products will be significantly supported by its move to shift its liquid detergent market in the U.S. to double concentrate formula.

P&G is also changing its core statement of corporate purpose – that it seeks to “improve the lives of the world’s consumers with its branded products and services” -? to add the phrase “now and for generations to come,” according to the FT article.

The company also said it will reduce CO2 emissions, energy and water consumption, and disposed waste per unit of production by an additional 10 percent each, contributing to a 40 percent reduction over the decade (2002-2012).

Other goals include:

• Improve the lives of 250 million children through its corporate cause, Live Learn and Thrive. It will also deliver another two billion liters of clean water through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water program over the next five years. The company estimates that this will prevent 80 million days of disease and save 10,000 lives.
• Help P&G employees build ‘?sustainability thinking and practices’ into their daily work.
• Continue to work with external stakeholders, such as the Centers for Disease Control, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and Populations Services International, to create new opportunities and solutions for the world’s sustainability challenges.

P&G is a founding member of the recently announced Supply Chain Leadership Coalition, an organization that will press suppliers to release data about carbon emissions and climate-change strategies.