Mercedes-Benz is postponing its climate targets. You have to “find the right balance,” said Olaf Schick, board member of the car manufacturer, at a sustainability conference.
Frankfurt, Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz wants to purchase more climate-friendly aluminum in the future to reduce its CO2 footprint and has entered into a long-term purchase agreement with the Norwegian manufacturer Hydro. The contract covers at least ten percent of the primary aluminum requirement, the Stuttgart car maker announced on Tuesday.
The CO2 emissions of the supplied material should gradually decrease to 3 kilograms per kilogram of aluminum by 2030. At around four kilograms, the aluminum currently purchased by Hydro is around 72 percent below the global average of 14.4 kilograms.
The group is also joining the “First Movers Coalition”, as board member Olaf Schick explained at the DAX group’s annual sustainability conference in Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz is thereby committed to purchasing at least ten percent of its primary aluminum requirements according to the criteria of this alliance by 2030.
“Even under challenging market conditions, Mercedes-Benz places sustainability, alongside resilience and competitiveness, at the center of its strategy,” said Schick, who as legal director is also responsible for sustainability. “That means: We have to find the right balance between economic strength and sustainability.”
In 2019, Mercedes-Benz set itself the goal of making the new car fleet “balance-sheet CO2-neutral” across the entire value chain and its life cycle by 2039. This “Ambition 2039” was gradually weakened because electromobility did not become as widespread worldwide as was expected based on the climate policy at the time.
In Europe, customers are switching to electric cars more slowly, although the pace is increasing this year thanks to many government incentive programs. Things are moving quickly in China, but Mercedes-Benz and the other German car manufacturers are being pushed to the wall by Chinese competition with predatory prices. The USA has turned away from climate protection under President Donald Trump.
The DAX group is now expanding its reduction targets up to 2039 as follows: By then, CO2 emissions in its own production should fall by 90 percent compared to 2019. The car manufacturer is aiming for a reduction of 80 percent for the vehicle's usage phase - with the restriction "if market conditions permit this". The aim is to achieve a reduction of 70 percent across all stages of the value chain.
Mercedes-Benz wants to continue the reduction path beyond 2039 and achieve net zero emissions over the next decade. The target date is therefore later, but the goal is sharper than originally formulated.
Because “Net Zero” means reducing CO2 emissions by at least 90 percent and only offsetting the remaining up to ten percent through compensation such as financing climate protection projects. According to the definition, “balance sheet CO2 neutral” does not specify the breakdown between actual reduction and purchase.
The brand with the star is still a long way from the goals now mentioned. Total emissions over the life cycle per vehicle fell by five percent to 46.7 tons from 2020 to 2025. At this rate, the goal of 80 percent by 2039 would not be achievable.
Mercedes-Benz had recently scaled back its electric car goals: by the end of the decade, 40 percent of new cars sold should be fully or partially electric (plug-in hybrids). In the third quarter it was 25 percent, with pure electric cars reaching a record of just under 17 percent. “We continue to need the profits from internal combustion engine vehicles to fund our efforts in sustainability and electric vehicles,” said Schick.
