Companies that claim to operate sustainably should also be able to prove it. The BMW Group has just released the latest facts.
There are dozens of prizes, awards and commendations for sustainability in Germany. Worldwide, there are probably hundreds, if not thousands: for committed individuals, researchers, communities, institutions and – as in the BMW Group’s case – also for companies. As important as it is to honour commitment to improving sustainability, it is just as important to fact-check individual statements from time to time. This applies equally, if not more, to the BMW Group – because the company that stands for ground-breaking premium vehicles has dedicated itself to sustainability more than almost any other.
For instance, back in 2012, the BMW Group set itself ten sustainability targets in three action areas: products and services; production and value creation; and employees and society. These look at individual metrics, such as CO2 emissions, electromobility and mobility patterns, as well as resource consumption, supply chain sustainability and social commitment.
Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG summed up the situation as follows: “At the BMW Group, we always look to the future. What the next generation cares about most is climate change.” He reiterated the BMW Group’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and, since 2001, the UN Global Compact. The company focuses on the following question: “Which technologies offer the greatest leverage for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions?”
Some of the results of this approach mark exceptional milestones in the history of sustainability at the BMW Group: