“Carbon-Neutral for Emission-Free Vehicles” Program

With the program for the business with emission-free vehicles, Continental will reach the goal of the Paris Agreement in 2022

At the end of 2020, as part of its sustainability ambition the company adopted the “Carbon-neutral for Emission-free Vehicles” program. This is an important contribution to the sustainability targets emission-free mobility and carbon neutrality and will make Continental’s business for emission-free vehicles carbon-neutral along the entire value chain by 2022.

As such, the program is making a positive impact on the Paris Agreement, which aims to reduce the impact of climate change. The goal is to limit the increase in global temperature to a maximum of 2°C by 2050, ideally even 1.5°C. To achieve this, it is essential to reduce or neutralize CO₂ emissions.

Emission-free vehicles include electric cars, trains, buses and bicycles, for example. They are referred to as “Zero Tailpipe Emission Vehicles,” or “ZTEVs” for short. While the usage phase for ZTEVs is carbon-neutral, emissions occur in other phases, for example during production of vehicle parts, and recycling at the end of use. The “Carbon-neutral for Emission-free Vehicles” program at Continental ensures carbon neutrality throughout the entire value chain for emission-free vehicles.

With this, we are the first supplier in the world to support the industry in making possible zero-emission mobility in a completely carbon-neutral manner. For example, automotive manufacturers can use Continental products to make their value chain carbon-neutral with emission-free vehicles – as early as 2022.

Carbon-neutral through CO₂ removals

At Continental, approximately 99 percent of CO₂ emissions are produced not in-house (Scope 1 and Scope 2 = approx. 1 million metric tons of CO₂), but in the upstream and downstream value chain (Scope 3 = approx. 108 million metric tons of CO₂). In our program, we also take Scope 3 emissions into account. By doing this, we are creating carbon neutrality along the entire value chain for our business with emission-free vehicles.

We achieve neutralization of CO₂ in the first step by generating the same quantity of so-called negative emissions. Taking this to its logical conclusion, we neutralize the full amount of all emissions from the procurement and supply of raw materials, from our own production, and from recycling at the end of a product’s lifecycle.

Following the Paris Agreement, emission removals are seen as the standard for achieving carbon neutrality. Planting trees is particularly relevant for neutralization. This is currently the usual neutralization measure, so there is an established market available. Further possibilities are connected with the rehabilitation of ecosystems. These and other approaches to neutralization (e.g., including innovative technologies) are currently being reviewed. At the bottom line, Continental’s goal is to achieve a carbon-neutral zero.