We’re doubling down on climate action and aim to cut CO₂ emissions per car by 75 per cent by 2030

As world leaders prepare for the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, we believe this is an opportunity to go further than ever before in terms of climate action. Rather than resting on our laurels, the world must show progress on existing commitments and raise the bar to do more.

That’s why we’re now doubling down on our climate action plan – already one of the most ambitious in the automotive industry. As part of our ambition to become climate neutral by 2040, we're today announcing our aim to reduce CO₂ emissions per car by 75 per cent by 2030, compared to a 2018 baseline.

This complements our previously announced goal to reduce CO₂ emissions per car by 40 per cent between 2018 and 2025. During the first nine months of this year, overall CO₂ emissions per car were 19 per cent lower compared with our 2018 benchmark.

Achieving such an ambitious 75 per cent reduction target for 2030 demands that we continue working towards our existing ambition to only sell fully electric cars by 2030, thereby eliminating tailpipe emissions from our model line-up.

Earlier this year, we revealed the fully electric EX30 small SUV, designed to have the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo car to-date. The EX30 is one of several new, fully electric Volvo models that we have launched and will launch in coming years, on our way towards becoming a fully electric car maker by 2030. And we’re making good progress - during the first nine months of 2023, fully electric cars made up 16 per cent of our overall sales.

We also announced that we’ll produce our last ever diesel-powered car in early 2024 and we have stopped R&D investments in new internal combustion engines. Instead of focusing on the technologies of the past, we have our eyes on the future.

At the same time, we need to tackle emissions throughout our supply chain and own operations (including logistics), aiming to reduce them by 30 per cent each by 2030, compared to a 2018 baseline.

Here, we’re already doing a lot. As much as 69 per cent of our own operations were powered by climate-neutral energy in 2022. And since then, we've achieved 100 per cent climate neutral electricity for all plants globally, each of which will help reduce our operational emissions.

This summer, we became the first global car maker to announce the switch from fossil fuel to biofuel for 86 per cent of our intercontinental ocean freight. This reduces our ocean freight CO₂ emissions by 84 per cent and supports our ambitions to reduce operational emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.

A long way to go

COP28 takes place against the backdrop of the United Nations’ Global Climate Stocktake Report, which was released in September. The report maps out to what extent the world is on track to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees against pre-industrial levels, the limit that was agreed upon in the Paris Agreement of 2015.

The sobering conclusion of the report is that the world is far off track. For example, 450 billion dollars is still spent every year on fossil fuel subsidies instead of on renewable energy. The world is also still expected to emit 22 billion tonnes of CO₂ more than the required 2030 level to keep the Pri target in sight. In other words, the report underlines the urgent need for more climate action.

At the same time, the Stocktake Report also states that for the automotive industry, “phasing out internal combustion engines and using electric vehicles offer the greatest mitigation potential in the sector”. This underlines that electrification is vital to ensuring that the wider transport industry helps to achieve a transition to a more sustainable future on Earth. That conclusion closely aligns with our own electrification roadmap.

“COP28 is a historic accountability moment for climate action,” says Javier Varela, chief operating officer and deputy CEO, Volvo Cars. “The world urgently needs to come together and act, to avoid the worst effects of climate change. We’re committed to doing our part and we call on corporate and political leaders around the globe to also do theirs.”

Collaboration is key

Of course, no one can fight climate change alone. We recognise we must collaborate with others in taking action to ensure we go beyond electrification to reduce emissions across our operations and supply chain. We must work together with like-minded partners to reduce emissions in industries that still rely upon carbon intensive processes, in so-called “hard-to-abate" sectors.

We’re pleased to announce that Volvo Cars is now a member of the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition (FMC). By joining this coalition of some of the world’s largest companies, we’re putting our purchasing power behind emerging clean technologies in the aluminum sector, clearly signaling our demand for near-zero emission aluminum. In doing so, we hope to play a role in reducing direct emissions from primary aluminum production to deliver a net-zero aluminum sector by 2050.

We’re also taking action in the steel industry, through our collaboration with Swedish steel producer SSAB. We were the first car maker to team up with SSAB to explore near-zero emission, high-quality steel for the automotive industry. Now, we have secured access to near-zero emission primary and recycled sheet steel from SSAB that we plan to use in an upcoming car programme by 2026.

“We have previously used the COP summits to push collective climate action and COP28 will be no different,” says Jonas Otterheim, head of climate action, Volvo Cars. “What we and other like-minded companies are trying to do is develop and scale up transformational technologies to decarbonise sometimes ancient industrial processes. By joining the FMC and showing tangible progress in our partnership with SSAB, we hope to demonstrate that this vital shift is not just possible but is already underway.”

The small print

• The lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo car to date statement relates to globally available products over 200,000 kms of driving.
• Our target to reduce CO₂ emissions per car covers all emissions in Volvo Cars’ global greenhouse gases (GHG) protocol except the subcategory “Production and distribution of fuel and electricity” within the category “Use of sold products”.