Doha, Qatar – 07/10/2013, Unilever, one of the world's leading FMCG companies and owner of global brands such as Lifebouy and Lux, and KAHRAMAA kicked off today a water conservation awareness campaign in Carrefour, Doha. This is the first activity under the MoU signed between KAHRAMAA's National Conservation & Energy Efficiency Program “Tarsheed”  and Unilever, which will entail the planning and implementation of both water and energy conservation initiatives in major retail outlets, malls, households and in schools.

Eng. Abdulla Majed Al-Khulaif, Head of Conservation Technology at KAHRAMAA's Conservation & Energy Efficiency (CN) Department, said: “This partnership is a positive step towards promoting a conservation culture amongst the general public, thus contributing towards achieving a more sustainable environmental development of the country, in line with the Qatar Vision 2030. It will also help in enhancing the performance of both partners, which will improve our capability in addressing environmental challenges.”

Under the signed MoU and in line with KAHRAMAA's Tarsheed National Program - that targets to bring down Qatar Per Capita Consumption of Water 35% within the coming 5 years - this water conservation awareness campaign urges shoppers to make a conscious decision to buy environmentally friendly, water-saving products, while educating them via tips endorsed by Tarsheed on how to reduce their water bills.

”Unilever has made the commitment to halve its environmental impact by 2020. However, if you look at the value chain of any of our products, only 5% of the environmental footprint is under our direct impact and 68% of it comes from the consumer,” said Arijit Ghose, Managing Director at Unilever Gulf.

“The Gulf region is one of the world's most water scarce regions. Yet, we have one of the world's highest consumption rates. For example in Qatar, the consumption of water is over 500 litres per person per day versus160+ litres per person per day globally. Therefore, by partnering up with different companies and government entities such as KAHRAMAA we aim to educate consumers and change their behaviour for the long run.”  

This in-store awareness campaign offers 20 lucky shoppers the opportunity to get their October KAHRAMAA bill paid.*

Unilever has been active in the area of water conservation for the past two years, with the company having successfully reached and educated 3.9 million consumers across the Gulf at different touch points through its “Water Savers” campaign.  For more information on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, please visit:  www.unileverme.com  .

Meanwhile, Tarsheed has also taken major steps in terms of water conservation particularly by issuing conservation regulations and best practices in December 2012, in addition to, currently tendering for retrofit of plumbing devices in 1000 mosques and 200 schools across Qatar. For more information on the National Program “Tarsheed”, please follow us on Twitter: @TarsheedQatar.

ABOUT UNILEVERUnilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. We work with 173,000 colleagues around the world, and we have generated annual sales of €51 billion in 2012. Over half of our company's footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (57% in 2011). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio includes some of the world's best known brands such as Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann's, Lipton, Rexona / Sure, Wall's, Lux, Rama, Ponds and Axe.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.
Unilever has been recognised in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and for the second year topped the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan / SustainAbility latest annual survey (2012). The company is an employer of choice in many of the countries in which it operates and is seen as a symbol for innovation and leadership development.
For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.