GENERAL MOTORS SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

The General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. General Motors operates manufacturing plants in eight countries. Its four core automobile brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. It also holds interests in Chinese brands Wuling Motors and Baojun as well as DMAX via joint ventures. In addition, GM also owns the BrightDrop delivery vehicle manufacturer, which produces military vehicles for the United States government and military, the vehicle safety, security and information services provider OnStar, the auto parts company ACDelco, and majority ownership in the self-driving cars enterprise Cruise LLC.

• Bloomberg Gender Equality Index
• Dow Jones Sustainability indices 
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• #191 Best Employers for Veterans (2022)
• #149 Mexico’s Best Employers (2022)

• #73 World’s Best Employers (2022)
• America’s Best Employers By State (2022)
• #342 Best Employers for Women (2022)
• #109 Canada’s Best Employers For Diversity (2022)
• #259 Best Employers for New Grads (2022)
• #69 Global 2000 (2022)
• #329 Best Employers for Diversity (2022)
• #256 America’s Best Large Employers (2022)
• #109 Canada’s Best Employers (2022)
• #216 America’s Best Employers (2021)
• #28 Just Companies (2021)
• Ethisphere – 2022 World’s Most Ethical Companies list
• Diversity Inc Top 50 Companies for Diversity

1.How EVs Are Made Matters, General Motors Sustainability Chief Says

CEO of General Motors Mary Barra declared in January 2021 that by 2035, GM would only sell zero-emission vehicles. This includes a commitment to produce more than 50% of our facilities’ EVs domestically by 2025. GM is going above and beyond to uphold its commitment, investing in charging infrastructure in addition to developing battery technologies and recycling programs, workforce development programs, supplier incentives, and responsible water and energy use.

2. Green bond will power General Motors’ electric future – BNP Paribas CIB

In August, General Motors released its first green bond under its Sustainable Finance Framework. In the US, the adoption of electric vehicles has reached a tipping point: 5% of new car sales are solely powered by electricity. The US auto industry has significantly increased its EV spending, which will total US$65 billion by 2027. By 2025, GM alone has increased the amount it intends to invest in electric vehicles, fuel cells, and self-driving cars to US$35 billion.

3. GM Has Become an ‘Energy Star’ with Efficiency and Circular Programs

GM committed to cutting the energy intensity of its vehicles by 20% in 2008. has a zero-waste initiative as well to keep more than 90% of the waste produced by its manufacturing process out of landfills. The Energy Star award has been given to General Motors for ten years running. GM pledged in 2010 to reduce carbon intensity by 20% by 2020. If targets adhere to the principles of the Paris climate agreement, they are “science-based.” The decarbonization of the cars it produces is a crucial path for it. Energy Star serves as a benchmark for General Motors as it makes improvements. It arranges “energy treasure hunts” that are steered by floor and field staff. By 2040 globally and by 2030 domestically, the company will source all of the electricity for its facilities from renewable sources.

Achievements (source: GM 2021 sustainability highlights)

• For the first time, a consolidated EEO-1 report on demographic workforce statistics was published, containing data by race/ethnicity, gender, and job category.
• Introduced first all-electric delivery vans were, with the Zevo 600 being the fastest commercial vehicle to market in GM history.
• DEI Maturity, Transparency, and Talent Innovation were implemented as three critical pillars to foster DEI integration throughout the company.
• Ultium Charge 360 provides access to over 100,000 charging ports in the United States and Canada via GM smartphone apps.
• Factory ZERO, the company’s first factory entirely dedicated to EV assembly, opens in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan.

Weaknesses and Setbacks 

• Not clear progress
• Gender disparity in employment

• 40% decrease in absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions from a 2018 base year

• No progress reported for the Scope 3 emissions

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• 25% renewable energy used globally

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• 26% decrease in energy intensity from a 2018 base year

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• No progress reported

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• 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Pickup; As the world’s first zero-tailpipe-emissions, all-electric supertruck, the GMC HUMMER EV is built to navigate off-road conditions. A 24-module pack of Ultium battery cells offers a GM-estimated range of up to 329 miles.

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• In 2021, they committed to several capital and philanthropic ventures to support the zero-emissions future. They bing everyone along and go beyond their more than $35 billion investment in EV and AV development

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• A strategic supplier agreement with Wolfspeed, Inc. to develop and provide silicon carbide power device solutions for GM’s EV programs. The devices are expected to enable more efficient EV propulsion systems to extend EV range.
• A nonbinding Memorandum of Understanding with GE Renewable Energy to evaluate opportunities to improve supplies of heavy and light rare earth materials and magnets, as well as copper and electrical steel, used in manufacturing of both EVs and equipment that generates renewable energy for electricity
• A strategic relationship and commercial collaboration with Controlled Thermal Resources to support development of U.S.-sourced, low-cost lithium from the Salton Sea area of California. The lithium will be produced through a closed-loop, direct extraction process that results in a smaller physical footprint, no production tailing and near-zero carbon dioxide emissions when compared to traditional processes such as pit mining or evaporation ponds.

• 86.4% achieved in 2021

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• 12.5% reduction in water intensity against 2010 baseline