Unilever announces partnership to create insights platform to help tackle global climate challenges
17 March 2016

Steering Committee Paragon aims to share ideas, data, and insights to address the key global challenges.

Unilever and a host of industry partners have today announced the creation of an open platform to combine their market research forces in addressing key global development and sustainability challenges. Find out more here: www.paragonpartnerships.com

With the United Nations Global Goals agreed and in motion – industry, governments and individuals can all play their part in contributing to the 17 point plan – which aims to end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality.

With no one single body or organisation able to find a solution to all of these challenges, Paragon has been created to be a single information source together with research bodies and industry.

Launching in spring this year, the vision for Paragon is to generate and provide access to quality insights on the issues that the world is facing which will help governments, academics and NGO’s around the world. All insights hosted on the site will be linked to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

The data will be hosted on one platform, facilitating simple and user-friendly access. It will be a repository of insights that each Paragon Partner can access, allowing them to formulate fact-based programmes.

Partners signed-up include for launch include PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Kantar, Nielsen, Metrixlab, GfK, Flamingo, Save The Children, The Market Research Society (IMRS), Esomar and Sapient Nitro.

Stan Sthanunathan, ?Senior Vice President, Consumer & Market Insights, Unilever said: “In a rapidly changing world, we cannot operate in silos. The past year has set the precedent with highly ambitious goals and frameworks created to address global sustainability and development challenges that we all face. 

"It is time to accelerate efforts to move towards achieving these goals and Paragon will allow us to share learning, data and insight, and encourages other businesses and industries to address these critical challenges affecting us all. By building a network of partners and working together, we can look for solutions which have greater scale and impact globally to address development and societal challenges.”

Jane Frost CBE, CEO of MRS added: “This year MRS, now in its 70th year, is celebrating a core value of the market research sector: helping people talk to power. Unilever’s Paragon partnership, which we are delighted to support, is an excellent practical example of the way that ethically sourced research can be used for good, giving more people a voice and more organisations a chance to listen. “