Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft develops, produces and sells motor vehicles and mobility services worldwide. Our identity is: We want to be a leading provider of sustainable mobility and a role model for the protection of our environment.
We are taking on the challenges of climate change and embracing them for ourselves. We are committed to the United Nations' two-degree target. We are aware of our significant global responsibility and the environmental and social impacts associated with our actions and our products. We use our globally networked innovative power to reduce our ecological footprint. We address the associated challenges over the entire life cycle of our mobility solutions. Our mobility innovations will also help our customers to reduce their own environmental footprint in terms of mobility while simultaneously securing our business competitiveness and employ-ment. Guided by our “Environmental Mission Statement”, the Volkswagen Group commits to the following requirements:
Leadership
Our managers at all organisational levels, and in all brands and companies of the Volkswagen Group, are aware of the environmental risks arising from their business activities.
In both their actions and their words, they reinforce their commitment to conduct that complies with both the law and the company’s interests, and to being a role model in environmental matters. They are responsible for ensuring that the requirements described in this Environmental Policy Statement are implemented and complied with in their area of responsibility. Our managers make sure that all staff are informed, correctly trained and accountable for the tasks assigned to them. In their area of responsibility, they create an appropriate framework in which employees and business partners can communicate especially sensitive environmental issues open-ly and without fear of negative consequences. The Boards of Management at Group and at each entity will consider environmental leadership with equal weight to other business criteria in key company decisions.
Compliance
We comply with regulatory and legal requirements and act in accordance with our voluntary commitments, as well as our corporate standards and objectives.
Our Environmental Compliance Management Systems ensure that ecological aspects and obligations in our business activities are identified and appropriately considered. Environmental misconduct and deliberate disregard or fraud are treated in accordance with our organizational guidelines as violations of rules. Compliance with this Environmental Policy Statement and with Group environmental requirements will be annually evaluated and reported to the Boards of Management at Group and at each entity.
Environmental Protection
We follow a lifecycle-based approach to mitigate environmental risks and seize opportunities to protect our environment.
These include, for example, the integration of renewable energies, decarbonisation, sustainable supply chains and resource and energy efficiency. We implement economically viable methods to reduce our environmental impact across the life cycle of our operations, products and services. Our efforts are verified annually by public disclosure of key performance indicators.
Stakeholder Collaboration
The involvement of our employees, customers, suppliers, legislators, authorities, neighbours of our sites and other stakeholders is important to us.
We want to improve our understanding of their environmental expectations and requirements. Stakeholder input is considered and reflected in our Environmental Compliance Management System and in our operations, products and services. We provide transparent and reliable information in our dialogue with and reporting to our stakeholders.
Continual Improvement
As part of our efforts to continually reduce the environmental impact of our products, services, processes and production facilities, and, therefore, improve our environmental performance, we have put internationally recognised, independently validated environmental compliance management systems in place.
As well our Environmental Compliance Management Systems themselves are subject to a process of continual improvement. We rely on our global network of subject matter experts to identify and transfer best practices in environmental technology and management. We aim to take a leading role in emerging environment-related developments in science and technology. We strive to achieve our objectives and exceed the expectations placed upon us.