Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars has announced a plan to reduce its lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40 per cent over the next six years. This, the company said, is the first step towards the company’s ambition of becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040. According to a statement made by the company, the plan envisages concrete actions in line with the global Paris climate agreement of 2015, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“We are transforming our company through concrete actions, not symbolic pledges,” said Håkan Samuelsson, chief executive, “So at Volvo Cars we will address what we control, which is both our operations and the tailpipe emissions of our cars. And we will address what we can influence, by calling on our suppliers and the energy sector to join us in aiming for a climate-neutral future.”
The company has recently launched the XC40 Recharge, its first-ever fully electric car. “Recharge will be the overarching name for all chargeable Volvos with a fully electric and plug-in hybrid powertrain,” the company said. “We have said this several times before: for Volvo Cars, the future is electric,” said Samuelsson, “We have taken a major new step in that direction with the launch of our fully electric XC40 and the Recharge car line.”
Over the next five years, Volvo Cars plans to launch a fully electric car every year with a target of all-electric cars contributing 50 per cent of global sales by 2025, with the other half accounted for by hybrids. This will result in a 50 per cent reduction in tailpipe carbon emissions per car between the years 2018 and 2025.
Other short-term ambitions under its plan include a 25 per cent reduction of CO2 emissions related to its global supply chain by 2025, a 25 per cent share of recycled plastics in new Volvo cars by 2025 and a 25 per cent reduction of carbon emissions generated by the company’s overall operations.