Ο CEO of Volvo Cars, HåkanSamuelsson (Håkan Samuelson) is today signing the Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emissions from Cars and Vans, together with leading industry and government leaders from around the world, at the UN COP26 climate change summit.
At the same time, in order to further accelerate the reduction of its carbon footprint, Volvo Cars also announces the introduction of an internal carbon price of SEK 1,000 per tonne of carbon emissions across its business activities. Taking the measure serves Volvo Cars' ambition to become a climate neutral company by 2040.
The Glasgow Declaration is part of World Transport Day at the COP26 summit and signifies a commitment by industry leaders and governments to phase out fossil fuel vehicles in major markets by 2035 and worldwide by 2040.
Volvo Cars also has its own climate action targets, which go beyond the commitments in the current declaration. Already by 2025, the company expects more than half of its global sales to come from all-electric cars. By 2030, Volvo Cars aims to manufacture and market only pure electric cars.
The signing of today's declaration marks the company's support for the goals of the Race to Zero campaign and the hope that industry and governments can together accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles. It is a goal closely linked to Volvo Cars' timetable.
"Our plan to be an all-electric car manufacturer by 2030 is one of the most ambitious in the automotive industry. However, we are not in a position to reach zero-emission mobility on our own." said the HåKan Samuelsson. "So I am delighted to stand here in Glasgow alongside industry colleagues and government representatives in signing the declaration. The time for action on climate change is now."
When it comes to internal carbon pricing, Volvo Cars is the first car manufacturer to move from talk to action and is implementing a similar mechanism in all its operations already today. In addition, the price is set at a significantly higher level than that proposed by organisations such as the International Energy Agency.
The company deliberately intends to future-proof its organisation to stay one step ahead of evolving regulations, as it expects more governments to move to implement carbon pricing in the coming years.
According to the plan, in future every project for a car will be subject to a "sustainability check" and a CO2 cost will be imposed for every tonne of carbon emissions projected over the car's life cycle. The aim is to ensure that each model is profitable even after a strict carbon price is imposed, so that decisions related to sourcing and manufacturing are made on the basis of the most sustainable options available.
"A global and fair price for CO2 is crucial for the world to achieve the climate ambitions set and we all need to do more." said the BjöAnnwall (Bjorn Anval), CFO of VolvoCars. "It is our belief that progressive companies should lead this effort by setting an internal price mechanism. By valuing future cars based on the profitability-CO2 link, we expect to accelerate actions that will help us to recognise and reduce carbon emissions already today."
The company has also decided to give a significant boost to financial transparency by providing the financial community with more information on the success of its electrification strategy and its overall transformation. Starting in 2022, Volvo Cars will present separate financial data for its electric and non-electric business activities in each quarterly report.
