Dr Jürgen Unser, president of Audi China Photograph: Courtesy of Audi China
By no means earlier than has humanity been so urgently conscious of the extreme impression of world warming on every day life and productive actions. The Provisional State of the International Local weather in 2022 launched by the World Meteorological Group on November 6, 2022 famous that the yr 2022’s excessive warmth waves, droughts and devastating floods have affected thousands and thousands of individuals worldwide and brought on billions of {dollars} in harm.
On the subsequent COP27, UN Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres mentioned the planet is quickly approaching a local weather change tipping level. The necessity to cut back greenhouse fuel emissions and obtain local weather neutrality is pressing.
As one of many world greenhouse fuel emitters, the auto business has been driving the improve of world vitality construction in recent times, remodeling to electrification at an unprecedented price.
Luxurious manufacturers, which have been main the event of automotive expertise, have change into an vital driving power behind this dramatic change. The sustainability of the enterprise will seemingly change into an vital indicator of the success of this alteration.
This capability will not be solely mirrored within the electrical merchandise, but in addition within the change of enterprise mindset. It requires that the idea and aim of sustainability be taken into consideration in decision-making earlier than product building and enterprise practices.
On this regard, Audi has been on the forefront. In 2022, Audi has recognized ESG as a key space of motion in its newly introduced “Vorsprung 2030” technique and has built-in ESG idea into all firm and product-related choices.
ESG is a brand new sort of company analysis system that focuses on setting, social duty and company governance. Audi is practising the ESG-oriented idea of “Inexperienced Luxurious” all through the whole company worth chain and enterprise practices, from services and products, worth creation and manufacturing, to workers and society, operations and integrity.
When it comes to operations and integrity, ESG has change into a cornerstone of Audi’s choice making. In its financial choices, Audi at all times takes ecological and social points into consideration, attaining each worthwhile progress and sustainable administration to make sure long-term competitiveness. To this finish, the group is trying to make investments sooner or later and plans to pre-invest 37 billion euros ($39.4 billion) in new mannequin initiatives worldwide over the following 5 years, together with 18 billion euros in future applied sciences corresponding to the electrical and hybrid segments.
As of services and products, the corporate developed a roadmap for electrification transition. From 2026 onward, Audi’s new fashions launched for the worldwide market will likely be totally switched to purely electrical merchandise, and the manufacturing of inside combustion engines will likely be phased out globally by 2033.
The auto sector has lengthy industrial chain with many elements and complicated supplies, involving many hyperlinks that produce carbon footprints. Subsequently, throughout the whole industrial chain, from product design to procurement, manufacturing, advertising and marketing and recycling, closed-cycle reuse can obtain as a lot decarbonization as doable, and cut back greenhouse fuel emissions.
Audi’s This fall Sportback 40 e-tron Photograph: Courtesy of Audi China
In 2021, the waste generated throughout the manufacturing of Audi automobiles decreased greater than 5,000 tons in comparison with 2020, with the typical waste generated per automobile narrowing about two kilograms, of which greater than 95 % could be reused. For instance, 27 components of the Audi This fall e-tron are made from recycled supplies corresponding to industrial manufacturing waste.
Within the subject of worth creation and manufacturing, the group desires to attain carbon neutrality in any respect of its manufacturing websites by 2025. Audi FAW new-energy automobile (NEV) mission broke floor in Changchun, Northeast China’s Jilin Province in June in 2022, which is the enterprise’s first manufacturing web site within the nation to implement the “Mission: Zero” environmental program of the agency’s world manufacturing community.
On this mission, a photo voltaic photovoltaic system will likely be activated on the roof of the manufacturing web site, which can generate greater than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy annually; when it comes to warmth provide, biomass gas is used to attain inexperienced and clear manufacturing. As well as, Audi can be pulling its components suppliers collectively to cut back emissions.
In 2021, the carbon emissions of its provide chain had been decreased by a complete of greater than 480,000 metric tons.
“Audi is driving the auto business’s transition to inexperienced sustainability and serving to make China’s zero-carbon future a actuality with entrepreneurial spirit,” mentioned Dr Jürgen Unser, president of Audi China.
Audi is dedicated to attaining zero-carbon emissions by 2050 on the newest. For the group, sustainability is not only the icing on the cake; it has change into a prerequisite for Audi’s actions.
