General Motors has announced an innovative new pledge that invites global suppliers to join the company in a commitment to carbon neutrality, the development of social responsibility programs and implementation of sustainable procurement practices in their supply chain operations.
The Environmental, Social and Governance Partnership Pledge is unique because it calls for social and governance commitments, such as human rights protections and fair operating practices. By signing the pledge, GM suppliers are committing to:
- Achieving carbon neutrality for their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by dates based on their respective industry. These are 2025 or earlier for Professional Services, 2035 or earlier for Manufacturing and 2038 or earlier for Raw Materials and Logistics.
- By 2025, achieving a minimum score of 50 in the EcoVadis Labor & Human Rights and Ethics pillars, which demonstrates a mature sustainability management system that covers employee health and safety, social dialogue, diversity/nondiscrimination, child and forced labor, and avoids corruption and anticompetitive practices.
- By 2025, achieving a minimum score of 50 in the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement pillar, which covers how GM’s suppliers understand and govern the social and environmental practices of their own suppliers and use their purchasing influence to advance sustainability. EcoVadis is a third-party assessor that evaluates how well a company integrates the principles of sustainability and corporate social responsibility into their business and management system.
“There are economic and social imperatives in lowering emissions and addressing climate change while cultivating a just transition,” said Jeff Morrison, GM vice president of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain.”As we accelerate toward our vision of an all-electric future, our commitment to bringing everybody along includes our global suppliers whose collaboration is critical to promoting a sustainable, safe and better world.”
As of today, GM is proud to announce that of its approximately $76 billion direct material annual purchase value in 2021, suppliers representing over 53% of that value have already signed on.
The supplier pledge expands on GM’s goal to bring “Everybody In” for the all-electric future with a commitment to establishing a collaborative supply chain that endeavors to minimize environmental impact and enhance long-term sustainability. GM will continue to provide support as it identifies opportunities for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, provide educational webinars and resources, and develop tools to help remove barriers in the transition to renewable energy.
“GM’s ESG Supplier Pledge is a best practice example of how to work with suppliers and turn their ‘Everybody In’ vision into action,” said Pierre-Francois Thaler, Co-CEO of EcoVadis. “These specific and actionable targets are exactly the kind of engagement needed to accelerate their value chain towards positive impact, and to make business a force for creating a more sustainable world.”
Working with suppliers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions is part of GM’s strategy to reduce its own overall carbon footprint and accelerate toward an all-electric future. In early 2021, GM set targets to become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2040. The company is working toward a transition to 100% zero tailpipe emissions for new light-duty vehicles by 2035. GM also announced the acceleration of its renewable energy goal to 2025 in the U.S. — 25 years ahead of the original target. GM further announced in June 2021 that it would prioritize equitable climate action to help ensure its all-electric future is inclusive for its current and future workforce, customers and communities that may be disproportionately impacted by climate change.
