Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz has become the latest major company to sign up to a climate change commitment, established by Amazon and Global Optimism.
In an announcement on Friday (28 August), the German automotive giant said it had signed up to The Climate Pledge and committed to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis.
As part of its commitment, the luxury vehicle group will also bring in new decarbonisation strategies across the company with a view to achieving the aims of the Paris Agreement through efficiency improvements, carbon elimination practices, and through enhanced use of renewable energy.
Crucially, the agreement also commits the business to “neutralising” any remaining emissions through quantifiable and socially beneficial offset measures to achieve net zero by 2040.
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“By joining The Climate Pledge we are building on our goal to consistently pursue emission-free mobility and sustainable vehicle production,” said Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management for Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.
“We have set ourselves the ambitious target to make the transformation of mobility a success story. We stand with Amazon, Global Optimism and the other signatories of The Climate Pledge, in a commitment to being net zero carbon by 2040 – ten years ahead of The Paris Agreement.”
The latest announcement comes after the company promised to move towards a C02 neutral operation in 2019, with its Ambition 2039 project. It is targeting a fleet of C02 neutral cars within 20 years.
In the latest update, Källenius said that the company was already making good progress towards these ends, with five fully electronic models now scheduled to be on sale by the end of 2020 along with 20 plug-in hybrids.
“We need continued innovation and partnership from auto manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz to decarbonise the transportation sector and tackle the climate crisis,” said Amazon founder and chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos.
“We welcome the bold leadership demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz by signing up to The Climate Pledge and committing to ambitious action to address climate change.”
The full set of commitments outlined in today’s announcement is available here.
