Polestar sustainability report 2021
Accountability is key. To combat the growing tide of greenwashing, greenhushing, and all the other buzzwords that denote a lack of transparency around sustainability work, we need to hold each other responsible. Successes and failures need to be communicated. Questions need to be asked and answers demanded. We need hard data when it comes to exactly what it is we’re doing, and what we have left to do. And when requiring these things from others, we can’t forget ourselves.
To that end, we’ve released our sustainability report.
More than just a laundry list of initiatives, our report, released as a deep dive component of our annual report, details the different areas, fields, and disciplines that fall under the sustainability banner, the work being done within each, the progress being made, and the tasks remaining to be done.
Initiatives such as the Polestar0project, our collaboration with Exponential Roadmap Initiative, our COP26participation, our product labelling program, and our LCAreports are described. Our contribution to Agenda 2030 is covered. Greenhouse gas emissions are tracked. Energy usage in manufacturing facilities such as Chengdu and Taizhou is reported. And planned partnerships and targets to increase circularity are outlined.
It is a thorough accounting of the complexities involved in making an automotive OEM, a pure-play EV one at that, more sustainable. Climate calculations are shown, as is the methodology used to perform them. Our sustainability agenda is outlined. Our efforts within the four pillars of sustainability (climate neutrality, circularity, transparency, and inclusion) are itemised. And nothing is left out, obfuscated, or altered in any way.
“The sustainability report should not be hidden away, being read by analysts or sustainability enthusiasts,” says Polestar Head of Sustainability Fredrika Klarén. “It's the go-to source of information for anyone who really wants to know how a company takes action when it comes to sustainability.”
Accountability is crucial when it comes to greater sustainability. The sustainability report is key when it comes to holding ourselves accountable. And though it’s not the only one, we’re looking forward to the days when it has lots of others for company.