Volvo Cars announced that it signed up for the SteelZero initiative, which aims to increase demand for fossil-free steel and accelerate a transition to carbon neutrality in the global steel industry. The company claims to be the first car maker to join such an initiative that underlines its position as a key player in climate action.
By signing up to SteelZero, Volvo Cars commits itself to stringent CO2-based steel sourcing requirements by 2030. By 2050, all the steel it sources should be net-zero steel, which is in line with the company’s ambition to be climate neutral by 2040.
Steel production is a major source of CO2 emissions for the automotive industry, averaging 33 percent of all production-related emissions for a new Volvo car in 2021. Globally, steel production is responsible for around 7 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
SteelZero was launched by the Climate Group in partnership with ResponsibleSteel, a steel industry-wide standard and certification body that Volvo Cars has also joined. Through ResponsibleSteel, the company gains access to reliable, third-party verified, and audited information about its steel supply chain and relevant sustainability credentials, helping to ensure it is responsibly sourced.
Last year, Volvo announced a collaboration with Swedish steel maker SSAB to jointly explore the development of fossil-free, high-quality steel for use in the automotive industry through SSAB’s HYBRIT initiative which aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen.
Volvo’s ambition to be climate neutral by 2040 is part of its comprehensive climate action plan. It aims to become a fully electric car maker by 2030 and plans to roll out a whole new family of pure electric cars in the coming years.
The company’s electrification plans are part of its ambition to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40 percent between 2018 and 2025, including by reducing carbon emissions in its supply chain by 25 percent by 2025.
In terms of its own operations, the company aims for climate-neutral manufacturing by 2025.
