Decarbonization, energy, environmental compliance, biodiversity, water, waste and the circular economy – these are the topics of the Volkswagen Group “goTOzero weeks,” a new series of environmental events that is starting today and will be held through November in the company’s brands, regions and departments. The Group-wide campaign is designed to share information and promote cross-brand networking among the Volkswagen Group employees. The program will include events, talks by experts and many digital workshops and information programs provided by the brands Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Porsche, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Volkswagen Group Components, the China region and various departments. The company’s production facilities will be a driving force behind the Volkswagen Group’s transformation into a carbon neutral company. Their use of renewable power will be a critically important element in the company’s entire decarbonization strategy. The Volkswagen Group has firmly committed itself to the Paris Climate Agreement and intends to become carbon neutral by 2050. The key instruments to reach this goal include electrifying its product range, reducing the carbon footprint of its supply chain and production operation as well as recycling.By 2023, all of the company’s European locations should be using 100 percent
renewable energies, as compared to the current level of 95 percent. The company’s locations in Brussels, Dresden, Crewe, Zwickau, Győr, Sant’Agata Bolognese, Molsheim and Zuffenhausen are already carbon neutral. The “goTOzero weeks” are being held for the first time as a way of demonstrating the wide range of environmental protection measures that have been introduced and of developing a joint understanding among employees across brands and countries. Oliver Blume, the member of the Managing Board of Volkswagen AG who oversees environmental protection at the company, said: “We as a company have set some ambitious environmental protection goals. These goals apply to our products, services and processes as well as to our plants and business locations. Our ‘goTOzero weeks’ will highlight the multifaceted features of environmental protection to our employees and foster networking in our global production operation. And they will do so in terms of both our environment and our collective responsibility.”
Gerd Walker, the Head of Group Production, added: “With the help of our activities in the programs ‘Zero Impact Factory’ and ‘Zero Impact Logistics,’ we are continuously reducing our use of resources and production of waste, closing loops and putting technologies of the future into place. This work will help us achieve our goal: to reduce the environmental impact of the Volkswagen Group by 45 percent compared with the reference year of 2010 by 2025. This means that we will have to use or produce nearly 50 percent less energy, CO2, water, solvents and waste per vehicle. We have already made some significant progress – by the end of 2020, we had already reduced the environmental impact of production by 33 percent.” Christiane Eckert, the Head of Group Production Strategy and Environment, said: “The ‘goTOzero weeks’ are another aspect of our efforts to generate fresh momentum for our Group-wide environmental activities. As part of this work, we must network, combine our forces, learn from one another and collectively make our contribution to the Group’s future.”
The brands, regions and departments view themselves as a global community of shared responsibility. The “goTOzero weeks” will create incentives to increasingly network and learn from one another. A page in the Volkswagen intranet will serve as an information hub for employees.
