Volkswagen Group’s 2020 Sustainability Report

Sustainability Report Volkswagen
 
 

The Volkswagen Group aims to link its sustainability strategy and the activities in the individual focus areas ever more closely with the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As a starting point for this, a survey of around 180 sustainability experts and managers in the Volkswagen Group was conducted in the reporting year in order to ascertain the current situation regarding SDG prioritization and implementation. As a result, SDG 13 Climate action was identified as the primary goal, followed by five further goals that were classified as priorities: SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production, SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities, 8 Decent work and economic growth, SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure, and SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy.

In the Sustainability Report 2020 outlines Volkswagen’s progresses in four focus areas:

Decarbonization: the Group is committed to the 2 °C target of the Paris Climate Agreement. By 2050, Volkswagen Group wants to become net carbon neutral. This ambition for climate protection is also a core part of “goTOzero” environmental mission statement, which stands for a net carbon-free way of doing business.

Circular economy: The Volkswagen Group has already developed plans for recycling and reusing vehicle parts in order to reduce its own environmental footprint and cultivate circular business models. An additional driver of the circular economy is the ongoing decarbonization of the Group: the growing use of secondary materials and the establishment of closed materials loops help to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions.

Responsibility in supply chains and business: the Volkswagen Group is fully committed to corporate responsibility in its business relationships and in its business units and at our sites. To this end, the Group is establishing a strong business and human rights management system

Workforce transformation: the Group commenced the transformation of its workforce systematically at the start of 2020- with increased training budgets, with training for the whole workforce where conventional plants are transformed into plants for electric vehicles, with systematic research on the employment policy consequences of e-mobility and digitalization and with further expansion of strategic staff planning.

Read Volkswagen Group’s 2020 Sustainability Report

The disclosure of non-financial information can be daunting, but CSR Europe can support your company in mastering its sustainability reporting.

Our Sustainability Report Review service includes:

  • A detailed examination and evaluation of your company’s CSR, ESG, Integrated and/or Sustainability Report against a set of principles that cover both format and content criteria based on the reporting frameworks of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

  • An analysis of the best performing areas as well as the areas in reporting practices that can be improved and/or enhanced is provided.

  • Tailor-made recommendations and suggestions that you can use to improve the most challenging areas in the company’s reporting exercise.

  • Exemplary best practices from other organisations to give you a more practical understanding of how a specific topic can be disclosed.

This service is aligned with the upcoming EU policy developments in relation to non-financial disclosure. 

For more information:

Spyros Perikleous

Project Manager, Sustainability Management