Unilever to scale back environmental and social pledges

Consumer goods company makes move amid wider trend of pressure from shareholders to cut costs

Unilever is to scale back its environmental and social aims, in what is likely to be seen as a huge setback for corporate sustainability.

The consumer goods company behind brands ranging from Dove beauty products to Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream was seen as perhaps the foremost proponent of corporate ethics – particularly the tenure of its Dutch former boss Paul Polman.