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GM on board for Climate Declaration
Sustainable manufacture can turn a profit says global car makerGeneral Motors claims to be the only car manufacturer in the world signed up to the Climate Declaration – an initiative encouraging businesses to look at sustainability as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Behind the Climate Declaration is BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy) – which describes itself as "an advocacy coalition of businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation that is consistent with our core principles."
BICEP isn't only motivated by the money-making possibilities climate change offers global industry, it's primarily concerned that addressing climate change is a matter of urgency. As far as big business associations go, BICEP is pretty radical – notwithstanding its commitment to the capitalist principle of making a buck. The association has called for "bi-partisan consensus among policy makers" – which itself is extreme almost to the point of unworkable – to lower greenhouse gas emissions to just 20 per cent of 1990 levels no later than 2050.
Well-known brands that have joined the Climate Declaration throng include Adidas, IKEA, L'Oreal, Microsoft, Nike and Nestle.
For GM, signing the Climate Declaration is not merely a token gesture. It's part of a broader strategy towards a sustainable future – ecologically and economically speaking.
"Our customer focus underscores why sustainability is and will continue to be a core strategy for GM," says GM CEO Mary Barra. "People care about more than the cars. They care how we build them, and how we engage with the world around us. This knowledge, and the discipline that flows from it, is transforming our approach to product design, manufacturing, safety, quality, the environment, customer care and a host of other areas at a remarkable pace."
Five cars in the General Motors corporate fleet now boast fuel economy figures of 40MPG (US) – less than 5.9L/100km. In China, GM hopes to reduce average carbon emissions by 28 per cent before the end of the decade. This alone would mean two million tonnes of CO2 not expelled into the atmosphere, and it would conserve a billion litres of petrol.
By the end of last year, GM had built over 150,000 hybrid, plug-in or battery/electric vehicles for global markets. Within four years it hopes to have half a million fuel-saving vehicles on the world's roads.
Building the vehicles involves a climate change challenge for the company as well. Nine new GM plants achieved the standard set by the ENERGY STAR challenge last year, lowering dependency on fossil fuels and finding other measures to reduce the company's "global carbon footprint." The nine new plants take GM's total to 63 facilities complying with the ENERGY STAR criteria. According to the company, reduced energy consumption has saved US $162 million. Changes like the removal of coal-fired boilers at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck factory, or increasing reliance on landfill gas at the Fort Wayne and Orion facilities have contributed to that saving.
GM's commitment to the environment goes beyond climate change, the company states; it has reduced total wasted and volatile organic compound emissions by 10 per cent each – up to seven years earlier than anticipated. The company is now formulating new targets.
"We like the results we are seeing, but we fully recognize we have a tremendous amount of work to do," said Barra, as quoted in a press release. "We must innovate more, seize opportunities faster and work harder to achieve true leadership – a claim that only matters if our customers, employees, communities and other stakeholders agree."
To date, GM has increased its reliance on renewable energy to 66.2 megawatts, with the 2020 goal of 125 megawatts in sight. Overall energy use has been reduced by 10 per cent (since 2010), with the company aiming for a 20 per cent reduction by 2020. And carbon intensity has been lowered by seven per cent – on the way to achieving the 2020 target of 20 per cent less.
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Written byCarsales Staff
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