At ŠKODA AUTO, the lights were switched off for one hour from 20:30 last Saturday at the company’s headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, the service centre in Kosmonosy, the Kvasiny and Vrchlabí plants and the Indian site in Pune. This was the tenth time the Czech car manufacturer had participated in the worldwide ‘Earth Hour’, a WWF initiative for sustainability and environmental protection.
The company has again significantly strengthened its ambitious environmental targets through its NEXT LEVEL – ŠKODA STRATEGY 2030. By the end of the decade, fleet emissions will be cut by more than 50 per cent compared to 2020.
The car manufacturer is also increasingly focusing on sustainability in vehicle production; ŠKODA AUTO is reducing the environmental impact of all production processes per vehicle built by more than 50 per cent by 2025 compared to 2010. All energy required for ŠKODA AUTO’s vehicle and component production in the Czech Republic will be CO2 neutral in the second half of the decade. The Vrchlabí plant leads the way; since the end of 2020, it has been ŠKODA AUTO’s first CO2-neutral production site.
ŠKODA combines its environmental activities under the three pillars of its ‘GreenFuture’ strategy: ‘GreenProduct’ focuses on the development of efficient drivetrains and the use of recyclable materials in vehicles; ‘GreenRetail’ focuses on the environmentally friendly management of ŠKODA AUTO’s dealerships and workshops; and ‘GreenFactory’ combines all the activities that contribute to resource-efficient production.
ŠKODA AUTO is one of the first companies in the Czech Republic to be advised by an independent External Sustainability Council. Since the end of 2021, the five renowned experts have been sharing their international experience in sustainability issues as well as providing new impetus and suggestions to the car manufacturer.
Furthermore, ŠKODA AUTO and its employees are involved in numerous projects dedicated to reforestation and biodiversity. One example of this is the ‘One tree for every car’ initiative launched in 2007. For every vehicle delivered in the Czech Republic, the company plants a sapling. The end of October last year saw the one-millionth tree planted.
