Volvo plans to slash CO2 emissions per car 75 per cent

Volvo Cars is doubling down on plans to curb harmful carbon emissions, targeting a 75 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions per car by 2030 as well as cutting water and energy use and a major recycling drive.

The company is urging other businesses to step up and accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels to avoid the worst effects of climate change. This month, Volvo Cars strengthened its own targets.

In short, Volvo Cars’ new sustainability ambitions for 2030 are to:

1. Reduce its CO2 emissions per car by 75 per cent (compared to 2018 levels).

2. Reduce energy usage in its operations per average car by 40 per cent (compared to 2018 levels).

3. Reach 30 per cent average recycled content across its fleet, with new car models having at least 35 per cent recycled content.

4. Reduce water use in its operations by 50 per cent average per car (compared to 2018 levels).

5. At least 99 per cent of all waste from its operations to be either reused or recycled.

**Beyond the car**

Volvo Cars is bidding to become climate neutral by 2040 and cut CO2 emissions per car by 40 per cent by 2025. The company plans to sell only fully electric cars by 2030 – and Volvo Car Australia is accelerating that ambition, setting a 2026 target.

That removes tailpipe emissions. But reducing CO2 across manufacturing and the supply chain is a much bigger challenge, which is why Volvo Cars is putting its purchasing power behind emerging clean technologies that will support the shift to near-zero emission aluminium.

The company is also collaborating with Swedish steelmaker SSAB to explore near-zero emission, high-quality steel for the car industry. As a result, Volvo Cars has secured access to near-zero emission primary and recycled sheet steel from SSAB for use in one of its car programmes in 2026.

Volvo Cars chief operating officer and deputy CEO Javier Varela urged business and political leaders to step up both ambition and action.

“The world urgently needs to come together and act, to avoid the worst effects of climate change,” he said. “We’re committed to doing our part and we call on corporate and political leaders around the globe to also do theirs.”

Volvo Cars’ new EX30, arriving in Australia in the coming months, is designed to have the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo car to date.

The company’s own operations are largely powered by climate neutral energy – as much as 69 per cent in 2022. It has now achieved 100 per cent climate neutral electricity across its production plants globally.

The supply chain, which is not under Volvo Cars’ direct control, is harder to decarbonise. To meet the new 75 per cent target will require the company to reduce CO2 emissions across that chain, including logistics by 30 per cent versus what they were in 2018.

That journey is already well underway. Last year Volvo Cars became the first global carmaker to announce a switch from fossil fuel to biofuel for 86 per cent of its intercontinental ocean freight, cuts those CO2 emissions by 84 per cent.

But there is a long way to go and a short amount of time. Which is why Volvo Cars is joining the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition (FMC), a group of companies committed to using their vast purchasing power to accelerate cleaner technologies in a bid to decarbonise heavy industries – such as aluminium, steel, shipping and aviation – more quickly.

“What we and other like-minded companies are trying to do is develop and scale up transformational technologies to decarbonise sometimes ancient industrial processes,” said Jonas Otterheim, head of climate action, Volvo Cars.

“By joining the FMC and showing tangible progress in our partnership with SSAB, we hope to demonstrate that this vital shift is not just possible but is already underway.”