Amsterdam, Netherlands – Unilever released its Annual Report and Accounts 2025 which reviewed the company’s progress on packaging sustainability and outlined plastic-specific targets on virgin plastic reduction and packaging types including flexibles or sachets. 

In response, Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Campaign Lead, Greenpeace USA said: “Unilever’s latest sustainability targets fail once again to match the scope of its plastic problem, or provide clarity for its shareholders and customers on how it will end its plastic sachet disaster. Swapping some sachets for paper alternatives is a false solution and does little to address the urgency and scale of the packaging waste and pollution crisis it helped create. Unilever is replacing one single-use material with another rather than tackling the root cause of plastic pollution.”

“Millions of plastic sachets continue to be produced every day, many ending up polluting communities and waterways across the Global South. Brands like Dove are among those contributing to this flood of single-use packaging, leaving communities to deal with the consequences of waste they did not create.”

“As one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies Unilever has both the responsibility and the ability to lead the shift away from single-use packaging towards reuse solutions. Greenpeace is calling on Unilever to create a clear roadmap to phase out all single-use sachets and scale up reuse systems. Real leadership will bring an end to the company’s dependence on plastic packaging and support a strong Global Plastics Treaty that cuts plastic production at the source.”

ENDS

Contacts:

Angelica Carballo Pago, Global Plastics Communication and Media Lead, Greenpeace USA apago@greenpeace.org, +63917 1124492

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Responding to news of escalating attacks by Iran on vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf extending to the Strait of Hormuz, Nina Noelle at Greenpeace Germany, which has been mapping oil tankers trapped in the area and potential impacts of an oil spill, said:

“Right now, there are dozens of tankers carrying billions of litres of oil trapped in the Persian Gulf as mines are being laid and missiles are hitting ships. This is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. A single oil spill in the Gulf could damage this fragile marine habitat beyond repair with devastating consequences for people, animals, and plants in the region, adding to the terrible human toll this illegal war has already taken on local communities.

“The US-Israel attack on Iran and subsequent strikes by Iran on neighbouring Gulf countries has shown once again that our dependence on fossil fuels is a constant threat to peace, security and prosperity. When oil and gas prices surge, fossil fuel giants rake in more profits while everyday people are hit by higher costs for heating, electricity, transport and food. 

“Greenpeace is calling on all parties to de-escalate tensions and pursue peaceful, diplomatic solutions and on governments everywhere to urgently shift away from fossil fuels towards distributed renewable energy systems where the risks of conflict are reduced rather than amplified.

“From Venezuela to Iran, we’ve seen how Trump’s stated desire to control resources – especially oil and gas – is playing out in violent foreign policy. In Trump’s illegal war with Iran, the only winners are the oil and gas companies.”

An investigation by Greenpeace Germany has analysed the blocked Strait of Hormuz using ship movement data and satellite imagery and simulated the potential consequences of oil spills in the Persian Gulf if tankers are damaged. At present, the oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf are carrying at least 21 billion litres of oil.

“Greenpeace simulations show how an oil slick could spread if the stranded tankers are damaged in an attack. The Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters are home to pristine coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. This is an ecological ticking time bomb and represents an enormous risk that further increases instability and human suffering in the region.” 

ENDS

Satellite images available for download via the Greenpeace Media Library. Link to interactive map 

Notes to editors: 

[1] Greenpeace Germany is tracking larger oil tankers above 80.000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) and 100 metres length. Interactive map and accompanying article: How oil tankers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran threatens the Gulf ecosystem

[2] You can’t blow up the sun: 4 reasons renewables are a security imperative

[3] In Trump’s illegal war with Iran, the only winners are the oil and gas companies 

Contacts: 

Nina Noelle, crisis communications and international relations manager, Greenpeace Germany, +49 151 10622733, nina.noelle@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Right now, the attack on Iran by the US and Israel has sparked a major shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Beyond the death, displacement and suffering of people facing US-Israeli strikes, you might be hearing that this “shipping jam” is the unavoidable reason that your grocery bills might be about to skyrocket again.

The crisis brought on by this illegal attack by the US and Israeli militaries reveals a systemic failure at the heart of our global food system. Almost half of global food production now depends on synthetic fertilisers produced by a small number of fossil fuel and agrochemical giants, leaving families and farmers to pay the price the moment fragile supply chains break. While the human cost of the conflict continues to mount, the geopolitical shock is hitting farmers at the peak of the spring application season across much of the Northern Hemisphere, and driving up costs for farmers worldwide, with knock-on effects on harvests and food prices

But that is just a distraction. The shipping delay is just the symptom of a much more systemic problem. What we are really seeing is the effect of a rigged food system functioning exactly as Big Ag designed it: protecting corporate profits while squeezing everyday families.

Here is why a geopolitical shock away can make your food more expensive, and why we need to change the system fast.

Fossil Fuels Repackaged as Food

Behind the current crisis is a truth the agro-chemical industry doesn’t want you to know: our global food system is dangerously addicted to chemical fertilisers, which are essentially fossil fuels repackaged for the soil.

Fossil fuel and Big Ag giants use massive amounts of energy to turn natural gas and oil into synthetic nitrogen. Then, they ship these chemicals across the globe on massive vessels, relying heavily on fragile chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, where the US and Israeli attack on Iran is already causing massive disruption.

This isn’t just bad luck. It is a setup made by Big Ag and fossil fuel billionaires. The industrialised, monoculture-based agricultural system they have imposed on the world depletes our soil and reduces biodiversity, forcing farmers to depend on fossil fuel-based fertilisers while corporate giants pocket the profits. Now, at the peak of the spring planting season in the Northern Hemisphere, the supply chain has snapped. 

Farmers are trapped in a volatile global market they cannot control, facing difficult choices such as paying drastically higher prices for fertilisers, reducing application rates, or switching crops. Any of these decisions leads to the same outcome: likely decline in crop production. The consequences then ripple through global supply chains and ultimately retail food prices, leaving families to foot the bill for corporate greed. Again.

Growing Feed Instead of Food

To make matters worse, the vast majority of these expensive, imported chemicals aren’t even used to grow food for humans. They are dumped onto endless fields to grow feed for factory-farmed animals.

The sheer, unsustainable scale of global industrial meat and dairy production supercharges this fragility. If we shifted away from resource-heavy, large-scale livestock operations and instead prioritised growing plants directly for human consumption, we wouldn’t be held hostage by these vulnerable supply chains.

The Emergency Exit: Ecological Farming

The good news? We have an emergency exit from this mess: ecological farming. It is the only real path to food sovereignty, independence, and local resilience.

Instead of buying expensive chemical pellets from a factory halfway around the world, farmers can work with nature instead of against it. By planting diverse types of crops, plants can naturally “fix” nutrients into the soil. This breaks the cycle of chemical dependence and does five amazing things at once:

• Saves Money: Farmers slash their costs by eliminating expensive chemicals, which protects your food prices from global shocks.
• Cleans the Water: It stops toxic chemical run-off from polluting our rivers and drinking water.
• Protects Wildlife: It restores space for bees, birds, and vital biodiversity to thrive.
• Fights Climate Change: It cuts the massive greenhouse gas emissions produced by the industrial food system.
• Increases Food Security: It reduces our dependence on imported food that is vulnerable to external shocks 

Growing a Safer Future from the Ground Up

Real food security isn’t something we can buy from a chemical factory in another country. It is something we grow right at home, starting with healthy soil and local communities.

But to get there, we need to force our governments to stop propping up this fragile, billionaire-serving model. Right now, billions in public subsidies keep the industrial meat and chemical fertiliser pipeline flowing. That money must be redirected.

The crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is a warning we cannot ignore. Sign the petition today to stop Big Ag and build a food future that is affordable and resilient.

Stop Big Meat and Dairy

It’s time to cut through corporate lies, cut agriculture emissions and shift towards sustainable agroecology.

Sign now!

Amanda Larsson is the Food and Agriculture Global Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Aotearoa.

A version of this blog was first published by Greenpeace Africa on 9 March 2026.

Nairobi woke up on Saturday to streets turned to rivers, homes submerged, and families torn apart. At least 42 people have lost their lives, fathers, mothers, children, swept away in a single night of rain. Greenpeace Africa grieves with every family carrying that loss today. We stand with the people of Mukuru, Kibra, Mathare, Huruma, and Embakasi, communities that had already endured so much, and that deserved so much more protection than they received.

The people of Kenya deserve more than condolences. They deserve justice.

Disproportionate climate impacts  

For years, communities, scientists and climate advocates across Kenya have raised the alarm that the climate crisis was not a future threat but a present reality, already reshaping weather patterns, already threatening lives. Those warnings were not heeded with the urgency they deserved. The devastating scenes across Nairobi last week are a heartbreaking reminder of what is at stake when we fail to act in time.

What Kenya is living through right now is not an isolated catastrophe. While Nairobi drowns, communities in North Eastern Kenya are facing prolonged drought that has decimated livelihoods, dried up water sources, and pushed families to the edge. Flood and drought. Deluge and dryness. These are not opposites. They are two faces of the same broken climate system, and Kenya is bearing both at once.

Scientists have confirmed that the climate crisis made the extreme rainfall behind floods approximately 40% more intense. These are not acts of God. They are the consequences of decades of unchecked emissions by the world’s wealthiest nations and corporations, consequences being paid, in lives, by communities who contributed almost nothing to this crisis.

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Weakening Kenya’s natural defences 

This crisis has also laid bare a painful and urgent truth: Kenya is actively dismantling the natural systems that protect its people. Forests are not scenery. They are infrastructure. They absorb rainfall, anchor soil, regulate rivers, and shield downstream communities from exactly the kind of flooding that devastated Nairobi this week. When we destroy them, we don’t just lose trees. We strip away the first line of defence that stands between a heavy rainstorm and a catastrophe.

Kenya’s forests, from the urban green lungs like Karura in the heart of Nairobi to the highland water towers of the Mau Complex and the Aberdares, are the country’s natural flood defence. They absorb rainfall, regulate rivers and protect communities downstream. Yet they continue to face encroachment, illegal logging and weak enforcement. Every hectare lost is another community left more exposed and we are losing far too many.

But forests alone are not enough. Kenya has known for years that its cities, and particularly Nairobi’s informal settlements, are acutely vulnerable to flooding. The warnings have come from meteorologists, from engineers, from community leaders, from civil society. Yet drainage systems remain clogged and inadequate, early warning systems fail to reach the last mile, and residents in Mukuru, Mathare and Kibera have had to face rising waters with no meaningful preparation or support. That is not bad luck. That is a governance failure, one that costs lives every single rainy season, and that becomes more deadly with every degree of warming.

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Building climate resilience  

Disaster preparedness is not a luxury. It is a basic obligation of the government to its people. Kenya must invest urgently in climate-resilient urban infrastructure, functional early warning systems that reach every neighbourhood, and community-level emergency response capacity. Accountability must follow. When communities raise the alarm about blocked drainage, about encroachment on the forests that protect them, about the absence of emergency plans, those warnings must be acted on, not filed away until the next flood makes the front page.

Kenya’s government must urgently invest in climate resilience infrastructure: early warning systems that reach the last mile, drainage systems that can withstand intensifying rainfall, and social protection systems that catch communities when the rains don’t stop or when they don’t come at all. It must also champion Kenya’s rightful claim to Loss and Damage finance at the international level and demand that rich polluting nations pay their climate debt.

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Sherie Gakii is the Communications and Storytelling Manager at Greenpeace Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya.