The ongoing pandemic continues to raise concerns. But, there’s hope with social distancing, masking, medication, quarantining and vaccination being implemented as safety measures. This situation is an exemplary instance of immediate effective action being undertaken globally to avert a catastrophe. Is it possible to extrapolate this effort to tackle the looming existential threat of climate change too?

In 2019, speakers at a general assembly high-level meeting at the United Nations declared that we have approximately 11 years left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change. We are down to 9 now, and in the words of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, “We must address this global emergency with ambition and urgency.”

One of the prompt respondents to the call for saving the planet is Volvo Cars. In 2019, the carmaker outlined its plan to become climate neutral by 2040, and has been taking the necessary steps to bring it to life. In its new campaign on sustainability, which gives voice to this vision by revealing its plan of action, the carmaker calls climate change ‘The Ultimate Safety Test’- one that even advanced safety features and technology cannot protect humanity from.

Take a look at the video launched as part of this campaign, which further explains the ‘The Ultimate Safety Test’.

Despite incorporating latest features and top-notch technology, brutal testing in all types of environments, evaluating performance, comfort, quality and appearance- none of it matters in the backdrop of a collapsing environment threatening to cause permanent destruction. Thus, Volvo Cars has elevated sustainability to the level of safety as part of its future strategy to combat climate change and help create a sustainable planet.

This new campaign puts forth a simple but compelling point- if carmakers are part of the problem, they should be part of the solution too. So, the company has announced the launch of its ‘ultimate safety features’ with a customer-centric approach:

1) Reduction in CO2 emissions per car by 40 percent by 2025

2) By 2025, making half of its cars electric, and by 2030 becoming a fully electric company

3) Becoming climate neutral by 2040

4) Running two different business models in parallel- offline and online and selling half of its cars online by 2025

So, how are these targets going to be met?

The carmaker acknowledges that electrification will not be enough to become climate neutral by 2040. To achieve this ambitious target, it will be using greater climate neutral energy in its own operations and among its suppliers, and using sustainable materials. Its European plants have been running on renewable energy since 2008, and in 2020, global plants were powered by 51% climate neutral energy. The largest plant, located in China, successfully secured 100% climate neutral electricity supply.

It is also remanufacturing parts such as engines, gearboxes, compressors and clutches. In 2020, it remanufactured over 40,000 parts, saving 3000 tonnes of CO2. By employing recycling techniques, 95 % of its global production waste was recycled over the past year. This led to avoiding carbon emissions, keeping valuable material in circulation and reducing production of virgin material. It successfully recycled over 176,000 tonnes of steel, a vast majority of its waste, saving nearly 640,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

A human-centric company, with values like care, consideration and protection at its core, Volvo Cars has committed to implement the movement of change while providing customers the freedom to move in a personal, sustainable and safe way.

Click here to know more about Volvo Cars’ sustainability campaign.

This is a partnered post.