GM and Stellantis both recently released annual reports focused on tracking sustainability goals. 

“We continue to make progress on our plan to become carbon neutral in our global products and operations by 2040, but we know we can’t do it alone,” said Kristen Siemen, GM chief sustainability officer, in the company’s 2023 Sustainability Report. “With innovation and technology at the heart of our strategy, we’ve been able to successfully secure 100% of the renewable electricity needed to power our sites and facilities in the United States by 2025, and we continue to work toward our plan to secure enough renewable electricity to do so globally by 2035.” 

GM sustainability efforts completed in 2023 include: 

• • Joined ZEROgrid initiative 
  • Spent about $5.6 billion on North American diverse Tier 1 suppliers 
  • Provided $64 million in grants to nearly 400 U.S.-based nonprofits to help create inclusive solutions to social issues 
  • Members of the First Movers Coalition demonstrated commitments to low carbon, steel, aluminum, concrete, and cement
  • Announced upcoming expansion of vehicle-to-home (V2H) bidirectional charging technology across its retail portfolio of Ultium-based EVs in the U.S. 
  • Announced plans to integrate the North American Charging Standard (NACS) into future GM EVs

GM also outlines specific goals in the report and how close the company is to reaching each. This includes: 

• • At 51% of goal to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from operations by  72% by 2035 against a 2018 baseline The company recorded 4.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) in 2018. The 2003 goal would lower the emissions to 1.2 million metric tons
  • At 39% of goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity globally by 2035. The company reports it was using 10% renewable energy in 2018. It plans to be using 55% reusable energy by the end of 2025. 
  • At 0% of goal of reducing Scope 3 GHG emissions from the use of sold products for a goal of 51%  reduction per vehicle kilometer by 2035 against a 2018 baseline. The 2018 sales-weighted average was 294. The 2035 goal is a sales-weighted average of 144. 
  • At 3% goal of eliminating tailpipe emissions from new U.S. light-duty vehicles by 2035. The report says the sales-weighted average for 2021 was 301. It was reduced to 284 in 2023. 
  • At 35% of goal of reducing water intensity by 35% by 2035 against a 2010 baseline. In 2010 GM had a water intensity of 5.71 cubic meter per vehicle. This reduced to 5.02 cubic meter per vehicle in 2023. 
  • At 100% of goal of diverting more than 90% of operational waste from landfills, incinerators, and energy recovery facilities by 2025 against a 2018 baseline. GM diverted 77.7% of its waste in 2018, according to the report. As of 2023, 94.6% or 1.19 million metric tons of waste was diverted.

Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions that are owned or controlled by a company. Scope 2 are indirect emissions caused by activities of the company. Scope 3 are all other emissions associated with a company’s activity.

In Stellantis’ Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2023 the company says it is adapting its business models and launching new technologies to cut CO2 emissions. Electrification is a key action to doing this, it says. 

The report says it will take a global change for Stellantis to meet its goals. 

“The availability of a convenient and widespread vehicle recharging and fast charging infrastructure will play a crucial role and must be facilitated,” the report says. 

Manufacturing plays a small role (1%) in the company’s overall carbon footprint, the report says. 

“As far as vehicle manufacturing is concerned, the major cause of greenhouse gas emissions is energy consumption,” the report says. “To reduce our impact on climate, Stellantis acts on several levers such as optimizing the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes, using electricity derived from decarbonized sources, and adopting more efficient technologies.” 

The report says that a majority of Stellantis’ plants are becoming ISO-14001-certified and the environmental footprint of its manufacturing operations is progressively declining. 

An ISO-14001 certification provides a globally recognized standard for environmental management systems.

Stellantis said governmental support in the form of research and developmental efforts would be helpful for solutions OEMs can use to decrease their carbon footprint. 

The report says CO2 emissions for its supply chain represent less than 10% of the company’s overall carbon footprint and inbound and outbound transportation accounts for about 1%. 

“We are working with our supply base to support our climate leadership and we ask suppliers to adopt climate and carbon neutrality objectives that are in line with Stellantis commitments,” the report says. 

The report says Stellantis works with suppliers at the product design and developmental phase with a focus on increasing the usage of recycled materials. It also focuses on designing products to optimize recyclability. 

Stellantis reduced GHG emission Scopes 1, 2, and 3 to 77.1 tons CO2 per vehicle in 2023 — a 7.3% reduction from 80.2 tons in 2021. Its global absolute carbon footprint reduced from 527.2 million tons in 2021 to 460.7 million tons in 2023. 

The company’s goal is to reduce GHC emissions recorded in 2021 by 50% per vehicle by 2030. It also plans to meet carbon net zero with a single-digit percentage by 2038. 

As of the end of 2023, low-emission vehicles (LEV)  made up 11% of Stellantis’ global sales of passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks in the U.S. This compares to 3.4% in 2021. 

The company has a goal of 37% of its global sales in the U.S. to be LEV by 2023 and 100% by 2038. 

Stellantis recorded that its global activities worldwide resulted in 3,080,249 tons of CO2 in 2023, down about 20% from 3,874,486 tons in 2021. 

It plans to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50% in 2025, with 2021 being the benchmark. It also plans to reduce emissions by 75% in 2030 and be at carbon net zero by 2038. 

By the end of 2023, 75% of Stellantis’ strategic Level 1 and Level 2 suppliers committed to complying or outreach emission reduction strategies set in the Paris Climate Agreement, the report says. This compares to 55% that had committed in 2021. 

The company has a goal of 80% of suppliers committing to the agreement by 2025, 95% committing by 2030, and reaching carbon net zero in the supply chain by 2038. 

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