Å KODA, ever-more ambitious sustainability goals
ŠKODA’s Sustainability Report 2019/2020 provides a detailed overview of the milestones already reached by the brand, which is now setting itself ambitious goals for 2030, both in environmental terms and regarding social responsibility.
Protecting the environment is one of the priorities for ŠKODA, which in its 2019/2020 Sustainability Report presented all the results achieved, alongside information on its corporate social responsibility projects. The Report also describes ŠKODA’s corporate governance and corporate culture policies and integrity tools such as programmes focused on volunteering, as well as supervision of compliance with Company-wide rules.
In the recently presented company plan NEXT LEVEL – ŠKODA STRATEGY 2030, the Czech manufacturer has made its sustainability targets even more ambitious, placing greater emphasis on diversity.
Reducing the carbon footprint
ŠKODA‘s sustainability goals fall under the Green Future strategy, which is based on three pillars – Green Factory, Green Product and Green Retail – and aims to minimise the company’s ecological footprint. Since the beginning of 2020, ŠKODA AUTO has recycled or thermally processed all disposable waste generated during the production process.
In addition, the company will switch completely to carbon-neutral energy for the production process at all its Czech sites over the course of the decade.
Of these, the Vrchlabí site leads the way, as it has already been running on green electricity since late 2020. ŠKODA will also have transitioned from natural gas to carbon-neutral methane produced at biogas plants by the end of 2021. The manufacturer’s approach will embrace the entire value chain, and where possible ŠKODA will make use of the potential of industry 4.0 technologies: the AI app OPTIKON, for example, determines the optimal placement of pallets in freight containers, which made it possible to save 505 transport containers and around 180 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2020 alone.
Corporate Social Responsibility
ŠKODA also promotes numerous measures for long-term and sustainable regional development in the areas surrounding its production sites, primarily in the areas of welfare, healthcare and environmental protection. All the social responsibility projects have four main goals: road safety, technical education, barrier-free mobility and care for disadvantaged children.
An opportunity to make a concrete contribution came from the global health emergency due to the pandemic: in the Czech Republic, ŠKODA provided 200 vehicles on its “HoppyGo” car-sharing platform and 150 electric scooters for employees of aid organisations and medical staff via the “BeRider” eScooter sharing service; it donated 100 Octavias to various aid organisations; it supported the development and implementation of a 3D printing process for producing FFP3 respirators; it also provided financial assistance and supported the purchase of laptops with an Internet connection for children from disadvantaged families to help them participate in distance learning.
Reforestation and recognition
A further example: ‘One Tree for Every Car’ is a long-term Corporate Social Responsibility project promoting the restoration of forests in the Czech Republic. ŠKODA has been planting one tree for each vehicle it delivers in the country since 2007. By the end of 2020, these trees covered an area equivalent to almost 295 football pitches.
ŠKODA’s commitment is recognised on multiple fronts, in 2019 becoming the first company ever to receive the Responsible Foreign Investor Award, given to companies that have foreign capital and make a significant contribution to the development of the Czech economy through their investments. Since 2005, ŠKODA has been regularly reporting on its activities in Good Corporate Governance biennially, and complies with the GRI Standard Core Option of the Global Reporting Initiative, thus fulfilling the international guidelines for transparent reporting.
Source: ŠKODA