The auto industry lags behind on both emissions reporting and net zero targets. Here’s what they can do to get on track. More than 90 percent of automakers' GHG emissions come from Scope 3 -- i.e., buyers driving their cars. Source: Mykhailo Pavlenko via Shutterstock With the advent of policies such as the European Union’s corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD), set to be phased in over a four-year period beginning in 2025, businesses across all industries are preparing to report on their emissions as never before. A crucial pillar of such policies is the normalization of reporting on Scope 3 emissions - those not directly linked to a company’s operations. For auto manufacturers, the new requirements have highlighted an alarming amount of emissions previously unknown to much of the general public and investors alike. "About 98 percent of the total emissions of a car manufacturer are only captured when Scope 3 emissions - primarily the use of cars - are included," according to a 2022 report by the European Federation for Transport and Environment . These are not small numbers. Toyota, Volkswagen and Stellantis (the former Fiat-Chrysler) together are responsible for more than the combined emissions of the U.K., France and Italy, according to research published by global think tanks Carbon Tracker and Nomisma (Italian) in January. Meanwhile, in 2022, Toyota emitted 576 million tonnes of CO2, 99 percent of which came from Scope 3, with the use of its vehicles accounting for the bulk. By comparison, oil and gas giant BP emitted 340 million tonnes of CO2 across all scopes in the same year. Reversing this tide will require deep social and economic changes that automakers have ittle control over. But there are three simple things that car companies can do, today, to get started. Until we have an accurate picture of automakers’ direct and indirect emissions, bringing them down and investing money in the... |