Although the external environment is not optimistic and investment in ESG will not yield corresponding returns in the short term, Polestar believes that this path is still worth pursuing.
In order to let car owners know the carbon footprint of the vehicle production process, Polestar has printed the sustainability logo on the front seats of Polestar 3. This should be the first car company to adopt this practice.
Frederica Klaren, Global Sustainability Officer, Polestar
Recently, Polestar released the "Polestar Sustainability Report 2023", disclosing the company's sustainable development progress for four consecutive years. Polestar Global Sustainability Officer Frederica Klaren has 15 years of ESG management experience. In a recent interview, she said, "Our leading position in eliminating carbon emissions will ensure our competitive advantage in the process of moving towards electric travel."
New energy vehicles play a vital role in the global transition to low-carbon development. The 2023 Polestar Sustainability Report shows that in 2023, each Polestar car sold will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 9%. Compared with 2022, this is equivalent to a reduction of 3.4 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per Polestar car sold.
It is reported that starting from Polestar 2, Polestar's vehicles will be measured for carbon footprint. Taking Polestar 4 as an example, it is also the model with the smallest carbon footprint in Polestar's entire product series. To achieve this, in addition to using a large amount of recyclable and low-carbon environmentally friendly materials, Polestar tries to minimize the distance between suppliers and production bases to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation process as much as possible.
Frederica Klaren said that in order to ensure that cars put on the market truly no longer produce greenhouse gas emissions, material and technological innovation is very important, and there is huge economic value behind such innovation.
It is reported that the production process of WeaveTech fabric used in Polestar 2 seats reduces the average amount of chemical plasticizers from the standard 35%-45% to 1%. For example, the interior of the Polestar Precept concept car uses recycled cork. The waste generated during the manufacturing process of cork in the wine industry, and even the entire bottle cork, can be used to make PVC interior parts.
WeaveTech and Tailored Knit seat fabrics
In fact, Polestar's road to sustainability is long and arduous. The current geopolitical intensification and the brakes on electrification in Europe and the United States have undoubtedly further exacerbated the challenges. "There is no way to achieve ultimate success alone. Only cooperation can lead to win-win results." Frederica Klaren introduced that Polestar has established close cooperation with more than 30 key partners to try to find the best solution for climate neutrality.
"The climate-neutral cars we can make are scalable. Not only cars, but other stakeholders in the industry can achieve climate neutrality by using our solutions," said Frederica Klaren. "We should not regard ESG management as a huge burden. On the contrary, it is a major opportunity for us."
As the world's first automobile manufacturer to release a full life cycle assessment (LCA) report, in line with the United Nations development goals framework, Polestar proposed to create climate-neutral cars by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2040, and strive to eliminate carbon emissions in corporate operations and the entire life cycle of automobiles.
The popular ESG concept is not only used to measure whether a company has the ability to develop sustainably, but has also become an important indicator that influences investor decisions in addition to financial performance.
According to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, by 2025, global ESG investment will exceed US$50 trillion, accounting for one-third of total global asset investment.
