Sustainable mobility is firmly anchored in the Volkswagen brand’s strategy. Key aspects include increasing the environmental compatibility of products, developing innovative mobility solutions to relieve the strain on cities and customers, continuously reducing the environmental impact of production and logistics, and optimizing ecological and social aspects along the entire value chain from raw material extraction to recycling.
Sustainability
Press releases
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Volkswagen engages in improving working conditions in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo
As a responsible company, Volkswagen is actively engaging in improving artisanal cobalt mining conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the living conditions for people in the surrounding communities. Cobalt is an important raw material for the production of electric vehicle batteries. Artisanal mining involves risks to the environment and people. Volkswagen has joined the “Cobalt for Development” initiative and is thus supporting efforts to minimize these risks. -
Volkswagen Group and Greece to create model island for climate-neutral mobility
The Volkswagen Group and Greece have agreed to establish a groundbreaking mobility system on the Mediterranean island of Astypalea. To that end, the current transport system on the island will transition to electric vehicles and renewable power generation. In the long run, Astypalea will become a model island for climate-neutral mobility. A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed in Wolfsburg and Athen today by Konstantinos Fragogiannis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Openness, and Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of the Volkswagen Group. New mobility services such as vehicle sharing or ridesharing will help reduce and optimize traffic. Energy will be primarily generated from local green power sources such as solar and wind. The project initially will run for six years. -
Volkswagen starts development of climate projects for CO2 compensation
The Volkswagen Group and the project developer Permian Global have signed a Joint Development Agreement to create climate protection projects. With the support of Permian Global, the Volkswagen Group will begin developing climate protection projects to protect tropical forests in the second half of 2020. Following successful verification, the avoided deforestation and restoration of endangered forests will lock away carbon and deliver carbon credits that will be used to compensate for CO2 emissions from the supply chain, production and logistics of vehicle, as long as these CO2 emissions cannot be avoided and renewable energies cannot be used currently. -
Volkswagen is publishing reports about a special audit of the Environmental Management Systems
Today Volkswagen is publishing the third and final series of reports from an Environmental Management System special audit, conducted in 2019, which is required by the U.S. Department of Justice and California Third Partial Consent Decrees (“Consent Decrees”) entered into by Volkswagen in 2017. -
Volkswagen presents Green Finance Framework
With the Green Finance Framework (GFF), the Volkswagen Group today presented further guidelines for sustainable financial instruments. In future, it will therefore be possible for investors to invest in a targeted fashion in sustainability projects of the Volkswagen Group such as e-mobility. A new corporate body, the Green Finance Committee, will select appropriate projects and can adapt the GFF to reflect changing requirements. Furthermore, regular reporting will ensure transparency in the use of funds. The objective is to ensure independent external verification of the use of funds. -
170,000 tons of CO2 saved: Carbon Fund strengthens climate protection
2020 The Volkswagen Group has launched its own Carbon Fund. The CO2 fund, which is endowed with €25 million annually, is available to all twelve Group brands. They use it to finance their own climate protection projects at their locations worldwide. -
Volkswagen upping use of green electricity at its plants
The Volkswagen brand is making good progress towards its target of CO2-neutral production by 2050. The company has now set itself further ambitious targets for 2020 in order to expand the percentage of externally sourced energy from renewable sources at its plants. Andreas Tostmann, Volkswagen Brand Board of Management Member for Production and Logistics, said: “We want to significantly increase the amount of green energy bought in at our plants this year from 70 to 90 per cent.” Besides that, Volkswagen is consistently focussing on natural gas for its own power generation and is switching its power plants in Wolfsburg from coal to gas. -
Volkswagen is making faster progress towards sustainable and efficient production
Volkswagen Group is making faster progress towards sustainable and efficient production. At the same time, the company continues to make good progress towards reducing its production costs. Oliver Blume, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group and Chairman of the Board of Porsche AG says: "We are producing more environmentally friendly than ever. From 2010 to the end of 2019, the environmental impact per produced vehicle is expected to drop by more than 37 per cent.” To address offsetting trends, performance measures estimated at one billion euros are also being made in production, and productivity is increasing by six per cent. At the same time, however, Blume emphasises that further efficiency measures must not be neglected. -
Volkswagen to be the first company to use low-emission LNG drive for overseas car freighters from January 2020
Volkswagen Group Logistics is the first company to use two car freighters powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in overseas traffic. The two charter ships of Siem Car Carriers were launched last Friday in Xiamen, China. -
Joint development of Drömling - Volkswagen Group signs Letter of Intent with Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt
The joint working group Drömling of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, which rep-resents local authorities, associations and regional stakeholder groups, met today in the Autostadt. In this context, Volkswagen signed a letter of intent with representatives of the federal states to further develop the Drömling into a UNESCO bio-sphere reserve. -
Global Social Business Summit Berlin - The Gathering 2019: Volkswagen promotes ideas for social and sustainable business
Social, economic and ecological: At the Global Social Business Summit Berlin - The Gathering 2019 (GSBS) - 550 representatives from business, science, politics and society are discussing business models that pursue social and ecological goals and are profitable at the same time. The conference with participants from 54 countries is taking place on 7 and 8 November in Berlin. For the fourth time, Volkswagen Group is supporting the annual conference with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and is represented by three members of the Group Management Board: Hiltrud Werner, Integrity and Law, Gunnar Kilian, Human Resources, and An-dreas Renschler, Truck & Bus brand group and CEO of TRATON SE. -
Volkswagen Group on course to reduce CO2 emissions
While the climate package continues to be a political issue in Germany, Volkswagen committed itself to the Paris Climate Agreement some time ago. The Group has set the course for being net CO2-neutral in 2050 in line with its "goTOzero" environmental mission statement. -
SEAT generates biomethane from waste
SEAT will participate until 2023 in the Life Landfill Biofuel project, recently ap-proved by the European Commission, which aims to produce renewable gas from municipal landfills. The project will be developed jointly with other partners over the next four years and has a total budget of €4.3 million, of which the European Commission will contribute 55%. -
Bentley Motors’ Headquarters and Main Plant now CO2 neutral
Bentley Motors' corporate headquarters and main plant in Crewe, England, received CO2 neutrality certification in early October. The Volkswagen Group's only production plant on the British Isles is thus making an important contribution to the decarbonisation of the Volkswagen Group by 2050. -
Volkswagen plant Wolfsburg receives environmental "Lean and Green Management Award"
The Volkswagen Wolfsburg plant receives the "Lean & Green Management Award 2019" in the "Automotive OEM" category for its efficient and sustainable production. More than 250 plants from more than ten countries and 20 different industries participated in this competition. -
Volkswagen invests in climate protection projects to compensate for unavoidable CO2 emissions
The Volkswagen Group is now supporting climate protection projects, focusing initially on forest conservation and restoration, especially in the tropics. Projects are certified according to the highest international standards ‘Verified Carbon Standard’ (VCS) as well as ‘Climate Community and Biodiversity Standard’ (CCB) or "Gold Standard". -
Volkswagen Group Appoints Professor Ye Qi to Sustainability Advisory Council
The Volkswagen Group has appointed Professor Ye Qi from Hong Kong as a new member of its independent Sustainability Advisory Council. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management, said: "The Sustainability Advisory Council is a very important body for the Volkswagen AG. It has given significant impetus to the decarbonisation strategy of the Group. We are pleased that the Advisory Council is now being supplemented with another renowned expert, Professor Ye Qi. His expertise in regenerative energy generation in an urban environment is outstanding." -
New gearbox generation enables CO2 savings of up to five grammes per kilometre
Volkswagen has developed a new state-of-the-art manual gearbox: the MQ281, as it is known, works efficiently and saves up to five grammes of CO2 per kilometre depending on the engine-gearbox combination. The new Passat is the first vehicle to be equipped with the MQ281, followed by almost all vehicle classes of the Volkswagen Group. -
Volkswagen with New Corporate Mission Statement Environment "goTOzero"
The Volkswagen Group is bundling all its measures in environmental protection under the new "goTOzero" environmental mission statement. Oliver Blume, Member of the Group Board of Management responsible for environmental protection, says: "With the new Group Environmental Policy, the Group is giving itself and its stakeholders a clear orientation. Our efforts to improve environmental protection cover the entire product cycle, from development, production and operation to the subsequent recycling of our vehicles and administration. We also involve our suppliers. Only together can we achieve our goals". -
Volkswagen Group commits suppliers to sustainability
As of 1st July 2019, the Volkswagen Group will introduce a worldwide Sustainability Rating for its suppliers. This enables the company to assess the sustainability conduct of its business partners in its supply chain with regard to risks relating to human rights, environmental protection and corruption. -
Green Computing Performance: Volkswagen opens carbon neutral data center in Norway
The Volkswagen Group moved into a new, climate neutral data center in Rjukan (Norway) today. The facility was set up in just six months in collaboration with the Norwegian partner Green Mountain. The data center will be 100 percent powered by hydropower in the future, thus saving more than 5,800 tons of CO2 per year compared to a conventionally operated data center. The maximum output of 2,750 kilowatts will be used by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and AUDI brands for high-performance servers, on which computer-intensive vehicle development projects are processed. These include the simulation of crash tests and virtual wind tunnel tests. The Volkswagen Group focuses on economic and ecological factors in the development of additional computing capacity. Volkswagen already operates a climate neutral data center in Iceland. -
Worldwide Volkswagen Group Accompanies International Biodiversity Day with Initiatives for Species Conservation
On the occasion of the International Biodiversity Day on 22 May 2019, Volkswagen is calling on all corporate brands and locations to provide support to nature conservation projects and especially conserve insects under the motto "Biodiversity as a livelihood". -
Electric Vehicles with Lowest CO2 Emissions
For the same vehicle models with different powertrains, the carbon footprint of the battery-powered E variants is already better than those of the corresponding vehicles with internal combustion engines. In addition, the electric vehicles offer a higher CO2-saving potential in all phases of the product cycle. Furthermore, it is of crucial importance for CO2 emissions whether the propulsion energy is generated from fossil or regenerative sources. This is the result of a certified life cycle assessment (LCA) of the Volkswagen Golf, which compares the CO2 emissions of the different vehicle versions with either an electric or an internal combustion engine. -
Electric Life: Volkswagen subsidiary Elli offers Volkswagen Naturstrom® throughout Germany with immediate effect
The Volkswagen Group is taking a further consistent step towards sustainability. The new Group subsidiary, Elli Group GmbH, is offering an eco-power tariff that is available throughout Germany with immediate effect. The first product from Elli is called “Volkswagen Naturstrom®”, comes from 100-percent renewable sources and is intended for private households and small businesses. The new tariff is expressly intended not only for current customers of Volkswagen Group brands or owners of electric vehicles. -
First Interim Report of the Sustainability Advisory Board of the Volkswagen Group
In its first interim report, today the Sustainability Council of the Volkswagen Group has published an interim report on its activities from October 2016 to October 2018 in Berlin. The eight-member international panel summarizes its experience of working with the Volkswagen Group and assesses progress in sustainability matters and describes its attitude towards the future development of the Group in this area. -
"Open Source Lab" sets course for the mobility of the future
Yesterday, the "Open Source Lab for Sustainable Mobility" has started dialogue as a platform for sustainable mobility in Berlin. It is funded by the Volkswagen Group Sustainability Council, is independent in its research agenda and is obliged to publish all research results and other results. -
Volkswagen Sachsen reduces environmental footprint using Naturstrom® hydropower
The Volkswagen brand is stepping up the use of renewable energy in production with a view to further reducing its environmental footprint. Starting this year, the three production plants of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH have been supplied with Volkswagen Naturstrom® electric power from 100% renewable sources by VW Kraftwerk GmbH. This measure is playing its part in meeting the target of Volkswagen's Think Blue. Factory environmental program to produce each vehicle and component in a way which is 45 percent more environmentally compatible in 2025 than in the base year of 2010. -
Volkswagen intends to almost halve environmental impact of production by 2025
The Volkswagen brand has set itself new, ambitious targets for reducing the environmental impact of production. By 2025, vehicles and components are to be produced in a way which is 45 percent more environmentally compatible than in 2010, the reference year for the current Think Blue. Factory. environmental program. This was announced by Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Brand Board of Management responsible for Production and Logistics: "We reached our environmental target of producing our vehicles 25 percent more sustainable by 2018 before the date set. We now intend to reduce environmental impact by a further 20 percent by 2025. We are on the way to the resource-optimized factory at all the locations of the brand." -
Volkswagen brand supports 100 CSR projects throughout the world
Throughout the world, the Volkswagen brand is involved in 100 environmental and social projects for people beyond the factory gates. This is highlighted by the Sustainability Report of the Volkswagen Group. An interactive world map shows all the current CSR projects in the fields of education and science, equal opportunities, voluntary work, health, culture and arts, environmental protection, regional support, sports and traffic education (sustainabilityreport2015.volkswagenag.com/csr-projects). -
Volkswagen Group appoints international Sustainability Council
The Volkswagen Group is strengthening its sustainability management and appoints an international top-class Sustainability Council. The council members will advise the Group Board of Management on the topics of sustainable mobility, environmental protection, and social responsibility as well as integrity, the future of work, and digitisation. They will be independent and not obliged to follow instructions. -
Volkswagen brand improves environmental compatibility of car production by 25 percent
The Volkswagen brand has taken a major step towards environmentally sustainable production. At the brand's production facilities throughout the world, vehicles and components are now manufactured in a way which is 25 percent more environmentally compatible than five years ago. An ambitious self-defined sustainability target of the brand has therefore been reached three years earlier than originally planned. -
Goods transport of the future: MAN and Scania rely on digitally connected trucks
Transporting goods on highways could soon become even more efficient and safe thanks to digitally connected semitrailer tractors. To demonstrate this, MAN and Scania will participate in the "European Truck Platooning Challenge" - a test drive for trucks that are connected in platoons via digital data transfer. In this case, two or more trucks drive behind each other at a small distance making optimum use of the slipstream of the vehicle driving in front. The driver in the first vehicle sets the direction and speed. The other trucks that follow are semi-automated. This reduces diesel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to ten percent. -
Volkswagen Group presents sustainability report
The Volkswagen Group continues to make significant progress on the way to becoming the world's most environmentally compatible automaker. This is documented by the new sustainability report published on Tuesday. The report, which consists of 152 pages, provides information on the progress achieved in economic, environmental and social sustainability in 2013. -
Volkswagen Group is first German automaker in Clean Shipping Network
The Volkswagen Group is the first German automaker to join the Clean Shipping Network, an association of cargo owners. In future, Volkswagen Group Logistics will use the Clean Shipping Index (CSI) assessment tool to analyze and reduce the environmental impact of marine shipment. This step is part of the Volkswagen Group's strategy with the objective of anchoring environmental sustainability in more and more business activities along the process chain. -
Volkswagen inaugurates solar park in the USA
Today, the Volkswagen brand has inaugurated its largest solar facility in the world at its US plant in Chattanooga. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park has a peak output of 9.5 megawatts and is the largest solar facility operated by an automaker in the USA. The environmentally compatible power is to be used for Passat production
Stories
Swap car for laptop. The Sales Germany during Corona
During the pandemic, Volkswagen Sales Germany has been replacing many business trips with online meetings. Consequently, the salesforce is becoming both more digital and more sustainable.
Volkswagen developers rely on digital dialog
Volkswagen Technical Development (TE) in Wolfsburg: More than 11,000 employees work on innovations for future cars. With the corona lockdown in March, mobile working in home office was the order of the day for most employees. Skype & Co. connected the teams electronically so that development projects could continue. Another challenge: new dialog formats were necessary to ensure the flow of information from top to bottom (top-down) as well as from bottom to top (bottom-up). “The requirement to introduce digital formats for dialog with and among TE employees arose early on,” reports Agnese Riemere-Birk. In the TE Transformation department, she is responsible for “Change Communication”.
Astypalea: Smart, sustainable island
Astypalea up until now is probably only known to insiders. The small island is located in the Aegean Sea, it belongs to Greece and is especially known for its butterflies. This is likely to change in the future: Astypalea will become a model for smart, emission-free mobility. The island wants to prove that a purely electric transport system is already possible today – without any restrictions on the mobility of its inhabitants. We explain the details.
A digital welcome for electronics developers
People who change jobs during the pandemic often do not get to know new colleagues personally. Electronics developers at Volkswagen have therefore introduced virtual welcome meetings. Their work is even more digital and at the same time more sustainable than before corona.
“A travel card covering all modes of transport”
Experts agree: the transport of the future must be networked. In an interview, Meike Niedbal, Head of Smart City at Deutsche Bahn, talks about the interaction of rail, car and e-scooters. She also explains why railway stations are gaining importance as co-working spaces.
Volkswagen designers are creating even more digitally
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Volkswagen designers’ have been working even more frequently in the form of virtual reality. Many business trips are no longer necessary. This makes designing new cars not only more digital but also more climate friendly.
Pioneers in climate-friendly vehicle manufacturing
The Volkswagen Group is on its way to climate neutrality. An important component: new products such as the ID.4, the first fully electric SUV from the Volkswagen brand. The car, which is about to make its world premiere, will be built and sold in Europe, China and later also in the USA. "The ID.4 stands for clean mobility in a CO2 balance sheet neutral manner," says Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the brand. Like the ID.3, it leaves the Zwickau plant without a an ecological backpack. In addition to Zwickau, the pioneers of climate-friendly vehicle construction throughout the Group are the plants of Audi in Brussels, Bentley in Crewe and ŠKODA in Vrchlabí, Czech Republic, which are already producing CO2-neutral on their balance sheets.
On the way to becoming a climate-neutral company
The fight against global warming is one of the most important global challenges. We explain what Volkswagen is doing for climate protection. We have also compiled assessments of climate change by leading scientists in a dossier.
Innovation without sacrifice: SUVs and climate protection
Climate change is one of the most crucial challenges facing humanity. We all have a responsibility to stop global warming. Volkswagen was the world’s first car manufacturer to commit itself to the goals of the Paris Agreement. The entire Group is to become carbon neutral by 2050 at the latest. In order to protect the climate and implement the relevant political provisions, we are rigorously redesigning our vehicles to meet electric mobility standards. That also applies to SUVs, a growing favorite among customers all over the world, but often criticized as environmental “sinners”. SUVs are a key element in the Group-wide electric offensive towards sustainable mobility.
