This newspaper reporter Zhang Shuotong Haihua reported in Beijing
Mercedes-Benz is fully on the fast track to sustainability.
Recently, Mercedes-Benz Group AG held the first ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) Forum to announce specific measures to reduce carbon emissions, aiming to create long-term sustainable value for all stakeholders. Accelerate the pace of the transition to "all-electric".
Conlinson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, said: "Mercedes-Benz is committed to meeting the growing demand for individual mobility in a sustainable manner. We have developed a clear roadmap to achieve our carbon neutrality goals and aim to halve carbon emissions from passenger cars by 2030. In order to accelerate progress in climate protection, we expect institutions, companies and society as a whole to work together with each other. ”
The ESG philosophy is fully implemented in all Mercedes-Benz business units, covering rights protection, employee diversity and inclusion management, green finance, etc
Relevant experts engaged in sustainable development research said in an interview with the "China Business Daily" reporter that if sustainable development provides a common framework for all stakeholders around the world, such as governments, local governments, enterprises, organizational societies and citizens, then ESG proposes a framework to measure the performance of corporate environment and social governance.
According to the data, ESG was first proposed since 2005. It has gradually become an investment concept and enterprise evaluation standard that focuses on the environmental, social and governance performance of enterprises rather than financial performance. It is a measure for investment institutions to review whether an enterprise's products are low-carbon and environmentally friendly, and whether production and operation are green and low-carbon. Mercedes-Benz announced at the ESG Forum that by 2030, the carbon emissions of each passenger car will be reduced by an average of 50% compared to 2020. To this end, Mercedes-Benz has taken a number of key initiatives, including electrification of its product lineup, greening of charging energy, upgrading of battery technology, and the widespread use of recycled materials and renewable energy in the production process. Mercedes-Benz plans to meet more than 70% of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2030 by promoting the use of solar and wind energy at major production sites and purchasing additional energy through ppAs.
Fully electric – towards zero emissions
Mercedes-Benz has long been fully electrifying its product lineup. By 2025, we will strive to increase the proportion of plug-in hybrid and pure electric models to 50%; by 2030, we will be fully prepared for fully pure electric in the market where conditions permit. At present, the Mercedes-Benz electric product lineup already includes 6 models, namely EQA, EQB, EQC, EQS, EQE and EQV. With the introduction of EQS SUVs, EQE SUVs and EQTs, the number of pure electric models will increase to 9. Mercedes-Benz will also continue to promote the electrification of all products and strengthen its leading position in the electrification of light commercial vehicles.
Throughout the life cycle of electric vehicles, the use of renewable energy charging is an important way to reduce carbon emissions. In Europe, around 300,000 public charging stations in the Mercedes-Benz Mercedes me Charge network have introduced a "green charge" function, and when customers charge their vehicles, Mercedes-Benz will ensure that an equal amount of electricity from renewable sources is fed into the grid.
Mercedes-Benz applies the concepts of "Design for the Environment" and "Design for Circulation" to the material selection process
According to the data, the battery is the most powerful gripper to achieve carbon dioxide emission reduction. In the current EU's power mix, supply chains and production account for more than half of its CO2 emissions over its entire life cycle. The use of renewable energy can significantly reduce the share of carbon emissions in the supply and production chains. After the shift to carbon-neutral production, the overall emissions of battery packs in the production process will be reduced by 20%.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz plans to further reduce CO2 emissions from the battery production process by improving the battery anode and cathode production processes. To this end, Mercedes-Benz actively develops strategic partners to jointly develop advanced and competitive battery technologies and promote industrialization. By around 2025, high-silicon anode batteries will exceed 800 Watt-Hours per liter, with great potential in terms of battery energy density.
At the same time, Mercedes-Benz will also be equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries for production models, which has the advantage that the cathode is completely cobalt-free. Mercedes-Benz is working with partners on solid-state batteries. In order to autonomously control the entire life cycle of batteries, Mercedes-Benz is planning to establish a carbon-neutral recycling plant in Kubenheim, Germany, using a new hydrometallurgical technology to recycle end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, increasing the recovery rate to 96%.
Circular economy – covering the entire life cycle
It is reported that Mercedes-Benz is focusing on building a green steel supply chain, aiming to increase the use of low- and zero-carbon dioxide steel on a large scale. By working closely with steel suppliers, Mercedes-Benz is purposefully circumventing carbon offsets and focusing on truly eliminating and reducing carbon emissions. In 2021, Mercedes-Benz became the first car manufacturer to take a stake in Swedish startup H2 Green Steel (H2GS) with a view to applying its green steel to its production models in 2025.
With the blessing of the circular economy, Mercedes-Benz is steadily increasing the proportion of recycled aluminum used. In addition, Mercedes-Benz led the industry by promising that in the future all stamping and foundry shops in Europe would only source primary aluminium certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI). Regardless of the country from which the aluminium originates, it will be obtained and processed in a responsible ecological manner, covering mining, smelting and refining until it is transported to the Mercedes-Benz plant. This standard will also be rolled out to other regions outside Of Europe in the medium term.
According to the data, sustainable materials in some Mercedes-Benz models have been mass-produced, including seat decoration fabrics made from recycled PET plastic bottles, automotive carpets made from recycled fishnet yarns and used carpets. Cable conduits from EQS and EQE will be processed from recycled domestic waste, with more than 80 kilograms of components in the EQS being efficiently reused from recycled materials and renewable raw materials.
Mercedes-Benz applies the concepts of "Design for the Environment" and "Design for Recycling" to the material selection process, aiming to increase the use of renewable materials per vehicle to 40% by 2030.
In addition, the forum also noted that in 2022, all Mercedes-Benz self-operated plants will achieve carbon neutral production. In addition, Mercedes-Benz will promote solar and wind energy at all of its manufacturing sites to further increase its renewable energy capacity. The ESG concept will be fully implemented in all Mercedes-Benz business units. The move towards carbon neutrality and full electric mobility also presents many challenges, including issues related to the collection of raw materials such as cobalt or lithium and supply chains. As part of its risk-based rights protection system, Mercedes-Benz focuses on operational transparency and has taken appropriate measures for 24 higher-risk raw materials, ensuring rights protection throughout the supply chain, from raw material mining sites to processing plants to production lines.
In addition to sustainability and integrity, diversity forms the basis of Mercedes-Benz's sustainable business strategy. Mercedes-Benz firmly believes that only a diverse team can shape sustainable success. One of the key actions of diversity and inclusion management is the advancement of women. At present, 3 of the 8 board members of Mercedes-Benz Group AG are women, accounting for 37.5%. In the future, Mercedes-Benz will support more outstanding women in senior management positions, and the corresponding proportion of women is expected to increase to 30% in 2030.
It is worth noting that in the financial sector, the value of green finance is becoming increasingly prominent as the impact of carbon neutral transformation increases. Mercedes-Benz will continue to add a variety of green financing instruments, including Asset Backed Securities (ABS) and bilateral financing agreements linked to green performance. With the "total electric" strategy, Mercedes-Benz is expected to focus on expanding capital expenditures in line with the EU Sustainable Finance Classification Scheme by 2026. Analyzing ESG ratings is an important measure to identify and close the transparency gap, and mercedes-Benz's ESG rating has been significantly improved in 2021.
Some analysts believe that ESG investment has broad development prospects in China. ESG investment is a global trend. The rapid increase in the scale of investment, the richer investment products and tools, and the continuous expansion of participating institutions have become an important trend in global financial investment. The development trend of ESG investment is a concrete embodiment of the global common demand for sustainable economic and social development, and has a profound development background. China also has a huge demand for ESG investment, which is driven by the development stage and development concept that China is currently in, that is, the requirements of "entering a new development stage, implementing the new development concept, and building a new development pattern" and the task of achieving high-quality development, sustainable development and green development of China's economy, all need to be supported through the development of ESG investment.
(Editor: Zhang Shuo Proofreader: Zhang Guogang)