Sustainability is firmly anchored in Continental’s corporate strategy as a key driver of innovation. The company’s sustainability ambition comprises four focus areas: carbon neutrality along Continental’s entire value chain, emission-free mobility and industry, a circular economy, and responsible value chains. Continental now says it aims to fulfill its ambition by 2050 at the latest. Achieving carbon neutrality throughout the value chain as well as its other goals, however, are not Continental’s responsibility alone. They can only be attained jointly with customers, suppliers and other partners, the company says.
“2021 in particular, with its devastating floods and forest fires, showed that climate change mitigation needs to be accelerated. We must use every means available to implement measures faster,” said Tamara Snow, sustainability officer North America. “At the same time, we must seize the opportunities associated with this transformation together with our partners.”
Immediate action program based on recommendations of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Continental’s approach with its Net|Zero|Now immediate action program for climate change mitigation is based on recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change and relies on the principle of negative emissions and goes beyond conventional carbon offsetting. This means that no more emissions are generated for each product in the supply chain than are removed again from the atmosphere, for example through reforestation. On balance, net zero is achieved and there is no additional burden on the climate.
Continental is offering its customers the opportunity to achieve carbon neutrality along the entire value chain today. The aim of the program is to enable customers with ambitious sustainability goals to neutralize the currently remaining “carbon backpack” of their relevant business with Continental.
Net|Zero|Now complements the reduction measures implemented by the company to date and sustainable innovations such as the Conti GreenConcept tire, which are designed to achieve carbon neutrality in line with the Paris climate agreement today.
The focus of Net|Zero|Now is on Continental products and systems used in emission-free vehicles – from electric cars to hydrogen-powered buses and streetcars. Additionally, Net|Zero|Now is immediately available for the combustion-engine-vehicle and industrial business, helping companies meet the increasingly ambitious carbon neutrality targets on the market, the company says.
