He has co-authered a report published be the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) that criticizes the efforts of the SDGs as not ambitious enough. Instead of aiming for an end to poverty by 2030, the report "An Ambitious Development Goal: Ending Hunger and Undernutrition by 2025" calls for a greater emphasis on eliminating hunger and undernutrition and achieving that in 5 years less, by 2025.[15]
Polman co-founded the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, led by former Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende. He is a member of the World Economic Forum International Business Council,[16] the Global Taskforce for Scaling up Nutrition (SUN)[17] and was part of the European Resource Efficiency Platform Working Group,[18] chaired by European Commissioner Janez Potočnik. He was co-chairman of the World Economic Forum 2012. He is a counsellor of One Young World[19] and trustee of the Leverhulme Trust. Polman was co-chair of the B-20 Food Security Taskforce.[20]
Polman serves on the board of Unilever since January 2009 and was elected to the Dow board of directors in February 2010 where he serves on the Environment, Health, Safety and Technology Committee.[21] He formerly served on the Board of Alcon. Polman is also part of the Leadership Vanguard, an initiative that seeks to identify, support and mobilise the next generation of leaders, focuses on redefining value. [22]
He is president of the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, a foundation he created to benefit blind children in Africa, and chairman of the Perkins International Advisory Board.