Volvo Cars chief executive Håkan Samuelsson joined industry and government leaders to sign the Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans at the UN climate change conference COP26. Simultaneously, to further accelerate its carbon footprint reduction, Volvo Cars introduced an internal carbon price of 1,000 SEK for every tonne of carbon emissions from across its entire business, in line with its ambition to become a climate-neutral company by 2040.
The Glasgow Declaration, unveiled as part of World Transport Day at COP26, signals a commitment by industry leaders and governments to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles in leading markets by 2035 and globally by 2040. Volvo Cars says it also has its own climate action targets that go above and beyond the commitments in today’s declaration. Already by 2025, it expects more than half of its global sales to consist of fully electric cars. By 2030, it aims to be a fully electric car maker and sell only pure electric cars.
Under the scheme, every future car project will undergo a ‘sustainability sense-check’ and a CO2 cost is imposed for every anticipated tonne of carbon emissions throughout the car’s life cycle. The aim is to ensure that each car model would be profitable even under a strict carbon pricing scheme, steering project-, sourcing- and manufacturing-related decisions towards the most sustainable option on the table.
The company says it has also decided to significantly boost financial transparency, giving the financial community further insights into the success of its electrification strategy and its overall transformation. Starting in 2022, Volvo Cars will disclose individual financial performance figures for its electric and non-electric business with every quarterly report.
