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JOHANNESBURG – On the way to building a better world for future generations, Ford announced important targets for greenhouse gas emissions in its summary of the integrated sustainability and financial report 2021, as the company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Ford has used the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) approach to set preliminary emissions targets that meet the needs of the latest climate researchers to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. * The goals for 2035 are to reduce the absolute greenhouse gas emissions from the company’s worldwide operations by 76% and from new vehicles sold worldwide by 50% per kilometer.
ELECTRIC CARS ALL THE WAY
The key to reducing emissions is developing electric vehicles. Ford’s strategy in Europe is to make electrification comprehensive and to make cars fully electric by 2030.
For commercial vehicles, Ford’s product range in Europe will be emission-free by 2024 and include purely electric or plug-in hybrid offers.
Pioneering the move to electric vehicles is the $ 1 billion investment to turn the company’s vehicle assembly facility in Cologne into an electric vehicle manufacturing center, Ford’s first such facility in Europe. The next generation Ford Transit Custom range will also include all-electric models built by Ford Otosan in Turkey to further advance Ford’s electrification strategy and leadership position in commercial vehicles in Europe.
“We will lead the way in achieving carbon neutrality because it is right for customers, the planet and Ford,” said Bob Holycross, chief environment and sustainability and safety officer for Ford Motor Company. “95% of our CO2 emissions today come from our vehicles, operations and suppliers, and we approach all three areas with urgency and optimism.”
The company’s goal for CO2 neutrality by 2050 is in line with the Paris Agreement, which the US recently re-established and which Ford fully supports.
More than just electric cars
Ford invests in electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles and connected solutions.
The company recently doubled its electric vehicle investment to $ 22 billion by 2026 as Ford continues to electrify some of its most popular nameplates – including the highly anticipated Mustang Mach-E SUV, which launched in North America in late 2020, followed by Europe in Europe in early 2021 and will arrive in China later this year. Ford South Africa has not yet confirmed whether it will come here.
In addition to investing $ 1 billion to convert the company’s vehicle assembly facility in Cologne into a center for manufacturing electric vehicles, construction has already begun on the new Rouge electric vehicle center in Dearborn, USA, where the all-electric F. -150 pick-up is being built. These investments – along with an additional $ 1 billion announced in February for transforming operations in Pretoria, South Africa – will help further reduce Ford’s overall carbon footprint.
Last year Ford South Africa announced the launch of the Blue Oval project. A renewable energy project that corresponds to the company’s global goal of using 100% locally renewable energy for all production facilities by 2035 and achieving CO2 neutrality by 2050. In the first phase, solar carports for 4,200 vehicles were built at the Silverton Assembly. The plant will make a major contribution to making the Pretoria property completely energy self-sufficient and climate-neutral by 2024. This makes it one of the first Ford systems in the world to achieve this status.
Also included in the planning of Project Blue Oval is the implementation of the reuse of treated wastewater in the assembly plant. The short-term goal will be to recover 100% of the plant’s wastewater for recycling and to include the maximum available volume back in the manufacturing process. The long-term goal will be to identify and use alternative non-fresh water sources to completely eliminate the use of fresh water in manufacturing.
Over the past year, Ford has played an important role in leveraging design and manufacturing expertise, as well as existing vehicle parts, to manufacture thousands of medical devices such as ventilators and respirators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, the company has made nearly 160 million face masks. more than 20 million face shields; 50,000 patient ventilators at GE Healthcare; and more than 32,000 powered air-purifying respirators in partnership with 3M. In addition, virus-related contributions through the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company Fund included $ 1.13 million in aid programs worldwide.
In South Africa, Ford converted its Silverton manufacturing facility to produce over 285,000 face shields. Almost 140,000 were donated to the government for distribution to health workers across South Africa and approximately 7,000 were given directly to humanitarian organizations.
Ford set up dedicated flu clinics and extensive screening and testing procedures at its Silverton and Struandale plants to ensure manufacturing workers can return to work and resume production safely, equipped with all necessary personal protective equipment (PPE).
Grants from the Ford Motor Company Fund to Unjani Clinics enabled the distribution of educational materials, face masks, and hand sanitizer for taxi commuters, and provided rental vehicles to several nonprofit organizations across the country, including Gift of the Givers Foundation, the SA Red Cross Society, and Laudium Disaster Management, to ensure their mobility and to reach and support the hardest hit communities across South Africa.
To read the full report, visit Sustainability.ford.com.
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