Quotes from Paul Polman

Safe working conditions, fair wages, protection from forced labor, and freedom from harassment and discrimination - these must become standard global operating conditions.

Working together on solving something requires a high level of humility and a high level of self-awareness.

Looking at the world through a sustainability lens not only helps us 'future proof' our supply chain, it also fuels innovation and drives brand growth.

I don't subscribe to, 'Here are the top ten tips to successful leadership,' or, 'How to learn leadership in ten minutes.' A leader is someone who gives positive energy to others which then results in a better change than would have happened. I think everyone is a leader.

I do not work for the shareholder, to be honest. I work for the customer.

I believe that the financial crisis of 2008/9 exposed more a lack of ethics and morality - especially by the financial sector - rather than a problem of regulation or criminality. There were, of course, regulatory lessons to be learned, but at heart, there was a collective loss of our moral compass.

The world faces enormous human development and environmental challenges, from poverty and disease to food security and climate change.

There are some basic human needs that are the same. Everybody wants to succeed.

Unilever has been around for 100-plus years. We want to be around for several hundred more years.

If too many people feel excluded from the system and cannot access its benefits, they will ultimately rebel against it.

To achieve policy stability and certainty, we need to establish a meaningful price on carbon and cut the billions of dollars spent each year on fossil-fuel subsidies, along with well-structured financial tools and rules.

System-wide changes rely on a critical mass of interested parties, all willing to enter into deep partnerships and collaborations, founded on new levels of trust and a commitment to action, not debate.

Renewable energy could reduce emissions but also create jobs and improve public health.

When the climate hurts, people and businesses also feel the pain.

If the world wants a climate deal and new development agenda that's good for the economy, for the poor, and for businesses, the path forward needs to include forests.

Leadership is not a contest of likeability. Leadership often boils down to making the tougher choices. You are not in a popularity contest.

Every few decades, we have an opportunity to make a drastic change to the way we live our lives. We get a chance to design the building blocks of our daily routines, the infrastructure that will support and accompany us for the years to come - from the trains and trams we ride, the offices we work in, to the energy that powers our homes.

It only takes a handful of sizeable companies to reach a tipping point and to transform markets.

The basic skills of leaders are always the same: be driven by a deeper purpose, be a human being, have a passion for what you do, and it's also about hard work and ethics.

For Unilever, investing in women is an imperative. The business and social cases for doing so are inextricably linked.

If we all act together - business, governments, NGOs and citizens and, especially, the young - just imagine the good we could create.

It's easy to be a short-term hero. It is very easy for me to get tremendous results very short term, get that translated into compensation, and be off sailing in the Bahamas. But the goal for this company - and it's very difficult to do - the goal is to follow a four- or five-year process.

The world we want is an enormous responsibility.

Large-scale deforestation can be prevented while increasing food production through better, smarter agriculture.