'I don't see us slipping back': Paul Polman on COP27, the energy crisis, and why net zero is winning the argument

Michael Holder
clock • 11 min read
Paul Polman stepped down from Unilever in 2018 to co-found Imagine
Image:

Paul Polman stepped down from Unilever in 2018 to co-found Imagine

Former Unilever CEO and leading green business campaigner talks to BusinessGreen about the huge challenges facing corporate climate efforts

"I help politicians, and I have a lot of time for them, but I'm a little bit of a political orphan." Paul Polman is ruminating on whether, after a long and distinguished career in business, venture...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

Michael Holder
Author spotlight

Michael Holder

Editor

View profile
More from Michael Holder

From 'biodegradable' to 'compostable' and 'bio-based' to 'bioplastic': Does the bioeconomy have a communications problem?

Survey: Vast majority of London black cabbies prefer electric to diesel taxis

More on Management

Pandora's Mads Twomey-Madsen: 'Sustainability only succeeds when it is treated as a core business capability'
Management

Pandora's Mads Twomey-Madsen: 'Sustainability only succeeds when it is treated as a core business capability'

Jewellery maker's senior vice president of sustainability reflects on efforts to build a bigger company with a smaller footprint

Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone
clock 27 January 2026 • 7 min read
SBTi hails latest milestone as 10,000 companies commit to science-based climate targets
Management

SBTi hails latest milestone as 10,000 companies commit to science-based climate targets

SBTi said achievement provides further evidence of how corporate climate action is continuing to advance globally

Amber Rolt
clock 22 January 2026 • 6 min read
The end of this century's 'Q1': A turning point for the green economy?
Management

The end of this century's 'Q1': A turning point for the green economy?

As we head into the second quarter of the 21st century we need to ask ourselves what kind of long-term economic future we want, writes the WBCSD's Dominic Waughray

Dominic Waughray, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
clock 21 January 2026 • 5 min read