Geely Auto has published its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report 2021, which details the company’s practices and plans on issues such as climate change, environmental protection, corporate governance, customer interests, sustainable supply chain and employee rights, among other things.
In the report, the Hong Kong-listed Geely Auto committed to becoming an ESG leader in China’s automotive industry and will “actively integrate sustainability in its future strategy”. With 2020 as the baseline, Geely plans to reduce life cycle carbon emissions per vehicle by more than 25% by 2025, and commits to achieving full carbon neutrality by 2045.
Meanwhile, Geely is the first Chinese passenger car company to commit to complying with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), and will publicly announce the next phase of carbon reduction targets after these targets are submitted to and approved by SBTi in the future. Geely Auto has also participated in the “Business Ambition for 1.5C” led by SBTi and other organisations, and the Race to Zero campaign led by the United Nations.
To achieve the carbon targets, Geely will implement a series of measures in three areas – supply chain, manufacturing and vehicle use.
The measures include promoting the use of renewable electricity and recycled raw materials in the supply chain, adopting zero-emission and more cost-effective photovoltaic power in factories, increasing the proportion of new energy vehicle (China’s term for electrified vehicles) sales, with an aim to exceed 40% of total sales volume by 2025 (including the high-end Zeekr brand). Geely says that these measures will help it become a “leader in the global transformation of the low-carbon economy”.
Geely Auto has also published its Sustainable Finance Framework in May 2022, under which it can issue green, sustainability bonds and loans at lower financing costs in the future to fulfill the company’s commitment to sustainable development.
The carmaker has received some recognition for its ESG performance so far. The company is a constituent of the Hang Seng ESG 50 Index, the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index and FTSE4Good Index Series.
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