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Climate plan

Volvo Cars’ climate action plan achieves key scientific approval

Photo of Volvo BEV charging in front of garage

As businesses continue to work towards a low-carbon economy, the eco-credentials of their fleets become ever more important. Now, with scientific approval, our climate neutral plan means you can work with a fleet partner that's as committed to sustainability as you are.

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“As a mobility provider, we are part of the problem of climate change, but we can also be part of the solution... Having our climate ambitions validated by SBTi gives us valuable reassurance that we are on the right track.” - Hanna Fager, Head of Corporate Functions at Volvo Cars

Volvo Cars has recently received a valuable third-party approval for its climate action plan, one of the most ambitious in the car industry.

The climate plan, under which we're striving to become a climate-neutral company by 2040, has been scientifically verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a collaboration that provides companies with a clear pathway to support the Paris Agreement.

Photo of Volvo BEV charging in front of garage
SBTi is a collaboration between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institue (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

According to SBTi, our emissions reduction targets are in line with the required carbon reduction levels to limit global warming to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.

In its validation process, SBTi specifies how much and how quickly individual companies have to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the ambitions as laid out in the Paris Agreement.

“As a mobility provider, we are part of the problem of climate change, but we can also be part of the solution,” said Hanna Fager, Head of Corporate Functions at Volvo Cars.

“We have a responsibility to act. That is why carbon reduction has the highest priority within our company. Having our climate ambitions validated by SBTi gives us valuable reassurance that we are on the right track.”

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Climate neutral by 2040

Launched last year, Volvo Cars' comprehensive climate plan addresses carbon emissions across all our operations and products, towards a vision to become climate neutral by 2040.

The plan goes beyond addressing tailpipe emissions through electrification; we'll also tackle carbon emissions in our manufacturing network and wider operations, our supply chain and through recycling and reuse of materials.

As a first, tangible step towards our 2040 vision, we aim to reduce our lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40% by 2025.

The plan includes the following ambitions: 50% reduction in tailpipe emissions per car; 25% reduction per car in operational carbon emissions, including from manufacturing and logistics; and 25% reduction per car in supply chain carbon emissions.
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Leading the way

Volvo Cars was the first established car maker to commit to all-out electrification and we're the only brand to offer a plug-in hybrid variant for every model in our line-up. We'll also introduce a range of fully electric models in coming years, starting with the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, deliveries of which will start later this year.

Sales of our plug-in hybrid cars amounted to almost a quarter of sales in Europe during the first half of 2020. During the period, we were the number one plug-in hybrid premium brand in Europe as measured by market researcher IHS, and by 2025 we aim for our global sales volume to consist of 50% fully electric cars, with the rest hybrids.

Discover more about our sustainability goals by following the link below.

Sustainability at Volvo

Published 18 February 2021