Nature

As a mobility provider, the Volkswagen Group has an impact on nature and the environment throughout its entire value chain. A core objective of the Group sustainability strategy is therefore to achieve more than simply cutting emissions. Our vision is to have a positive impact on people and the environment, and to contribute to restoration and improvement of ecosystems and living conditions by means of regenerative actions.

Climate protection

The Volkswagen Group wants to achieve net carbon neutrality

The Volkswagen Group is committed to the Paris Agreement and aligns its own activities with the 1.5 degree goal. We aim to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050. The intermediate target: To reduce the carbon footprint per kilometer traveled during the use phase of our passenger cars and light commercial vehicles by 30% by 2030 (compared to 2018).

A further goal is for global production sites to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2040 – ten years earlier than originally planned. To this end, greenhouse gas emissions are due to be reduced by 90% by 2040 compared to 2018, among other measures. In order to achieve this, the Volkswagen Group wants to change its energy supply, for example, and increase energy efficiency. The objective is to be procuring 100% of external electricity from carbon-neutral sources at all sites by 2030. The external electricity supply at our European sites is already 100% from renewable sources.

Our specific objective in the context of the “Zero Impact Factory” initiative is to gradually reduce the absolute negative environmental impacts of our production sites for passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and components by 37.5% by 2030, by 68.8% by 2040, and ultimately towards achieving net neutrality by 2050, all compared to 2018 levels. In the comparative period from 2010 to 2024, CO₂ emissions and energy consumption per vehicle produced were reduced by 62.8% and 21.5%, respectively. Furthermore, per vehicle, water consumption has been reduced by 27.1%, waste by 79.4% and VOC emissions by 67.5%.

Resources

The Volkswagen Group is working to continuously reduce its demand for primary raw materials

The finite nature of natural resources and the social and environmental consequences of mining raw materials make the development of a circular economy a key sustainability topic. The focus here is primarily on conserving resources. The Volkswagen Group aims to be using 40% circular materials in its vehicles from 2040 onwards (excluding China). By increasing its use of renewable, recycled, and reconditioned materials, the Volkswagen Group aims to make a significant contribution to the circular economy, reduce its use of primary raw materials and extend the service life of valuable resources.

Throughout the ID. family, headliners, fabrics, carpets, seats, door trim panels and decorative inlays are already made of recycled materials (e.g., seat covers with yarn made of ocean plastics and recycled PET bottles).

Ecosystem

The Volkswagen Group promotes biodiversity

The production and operation of our vehicles impact biodiversity through emissions, land use, and transportation. We want to minimize this impact by working to reduce our land use and thus add value to nature and improve biodiversity. We are working to increase biodiversity at our production sites and within the supply chain.

The Volkswagen Group is aware of its responsibility. We support conservation projects worldwide and have been involved in protecting and preserving biodiversity since 2007. As a founding member of the Biodiversity in Good Company e. V. initiative, we acknowledge the three goals of the international Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Moreover, we have defined corresponding action areas to make our contribution to achieving these goals within the framework of our business activities. We report on this every two years in our progress report.

We also want to support biodiversity by establishing a Biodiversity Fund with an annual allocation of up to €25 million for external projects starting in 2025. These projects will be carefully selected by an independent decision-making body.

Expansive roof covered with solar panels, representing a sustainable energy source for an industrial facility.

The Volkswagen Group supports the construction of wind and solar parks

The ramp-up of electromobility and the expansion of charging networks and renewable energies go hand in hand. The Volkswagen subsidiary Elli is one of the largest mobility service providers in Europe. Elli already offers its customers access to more than 600,000 charging points.

In addition to the Volkswagen Group's electric offensive, we are increasingly focusing on integrating electricity generated from renewable sources into the utilization phase and converting the entire power supply at our plants to renewable energies.

The following examples of wind and solar parks already exist or are supported by the Volkswagen Group:

wpd wind farm Aldermyrberget in Skellefteå, Sweden, Volkswagen
Melč-Moravice Wind Park, Czech Republic, ŠKO-ENERGO, s.r.o.
Solar system at the plant in Pune, India, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India
Photovoltaic modules on the production/logistics buildings in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, Škoda
SEAT al Sol at the production sites in Martorell, El Prat and Barcelona, Spain, SEAT S.A.
Photovoltaic system at the Września plant, Poland, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
Electrify America Solar Glow™ 1 – 75MW photovoltaic project in San Bernardino County, USA

Aerial view of an industrial facility surrounded by green fields and a small village nearby.

Anchoring Environmental Protection in Manufacturing: "Zero Impact Factory"

The vision of the “Zero Impact Factory” describes a factory that produces in a climate-, resource- and environmentally friendly manner and thus avoids environmental impacts in vehicle and component production. The “Zero Impact Factory” envisions an idealized ecological factory implemented through our strategic processes across brands and sites. A systematic and method-based approach is used in order to measure and control the ecological transformation.

More information about the project can be found here.

Landscape view of a barren field with dried grass and a line of trees in the background under a cloudy sky.

Promoting Local Biodiversity

In addition to supporting conservation projects around the world, we have set ourselves the target of increasing biodiversity at and around our production sites as well. The measures include, for example, creating wildflower meadows, planting trees and shrubs and installing nesting aids for bats, birds and insects. These are decided and implemented on the basis of the local conditions.

Examples of the nature conservation projects initiated and supported by the Volkswagen Group worldwide are the following:

Krakonoš‘s Gardens (Škoda)
Eco Park at Pune Plant (Škoda Auto Volkswagen India)
Oxygen Park at Aurangabad Plant (Škoda Auto Volkswagen India)
Carbon forest in Poznań (Volkswagen Commerical Vehicles)
Biodiversity in Good Company (AUDI AG)
Peatland Protection (Volkswagen Financial Services)
River Renaturation (Volkswagen Financial Services)
Green Belt Project (Volkswagen Group China)
Remember Me Campaign (Volkswagen Group Korea)
Biomonitoring with bees (Ducati)
Securing and relocating a beehive to safeguard biodiversity (Volkswagen Group Italy)