Sustainability
We want to be a leader in ethical and responsible business conduct. At its heart, this means doing the right thing – when conducting business, how we behave as employees and treat our workforce, and the expectations we place on our business partners. We want to be a force for good and have a positive impact on society.
Our commitment: foster the strong ethical culture within our company.
Be an industry role model for global people standards, equality and labour rights.
Aim for transparency and traceability throughout our entire sourcing process.
Responsible business is a fundamental part of our culture and our way of doing business.
Choose financing opportunities that lead to a positive impact on our shared environment and society.
A new global people standard
The Family Bond by Volvo Cars – equal global parental leave for all.
The Family Bond by Volvo Cars is our all-gender global paid parental leave policy – with this, we give all Volvo Cars employees with at least one year's service 24 weeks of parental leave at 80 per cent of their base pay by default.
This global policy applies to either parent and is suited for a diverse variety of family types, as it includes adoptive, foster care and surrogate parents, as well as non-birth parents in same-sex couples.
Diversity
We’re global and we embrace that in our workforce. We sell cars in more than 100 countries and we thrive on being a mixing pot of different ideas, experiences, backgrounds and personalities. Our industry is changing fast. Our business and sustainability ambitions are bold. Being open to all perspectives – with diverse and inclusive teams in place to make better quality decisions – is critical to our ongoing success.
50/50 gender balance
We’re committed to creating a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture with leadership that brings out the best in our people. Striving for gender diversity across our company is key to this – it's all part our of our 50/50 ambition – where we're acting to move towards a genuine 50/50 female/male split in leadership positions.
Ethical sourcing
We're serious about wanting to reduce our impact on the planet and we know our responsibility extends beyond our own walls. The what, how and where from of our sourcing activities all must be accounted for when we calculate our impacts.
We aim for transparency and traceability throughout our entire sourcing process. For example, we use Blockchain technology as part of our commitment to the responsible sourcing of batteries.
Ethical batteries
We're committed to responsible sourcing of our batteries. As part of that commitment, we're the first car manufacturer to use blockchain technology throughout our entire cobalt supply chain, allowing us to monitor and trace the cobalt used in our batteries.
Responsible cobalt sourcing
Cobalt is a vital component in the production of electric car batteries. In some cases, the extraction of cobalt can have human rights impacts. We use blockchain technology to increase transparency and traceability of our cobalt supply chain, ensuring the information about the material’s origin cannot be changed undetected. We use several other processes, in conjunction with our suppliers, including mine site inspections and GPS tracking to help ensure that the cobalt within our batteries is responsibly sourced.
What is blockchain technology?
Forest Stewardship Council certified wood
For Volvo Cars it is important to reduce our impact on the planet and we aim for transparency and traceability in our supply chains. In our Volvo EX90 we are using FSC certified wood (FSC™ N004117) in the cabin deco panels. FSC shows that the product comes from responsible sources that are environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests.
Ethical leadership
Already in 2019, Volvo Cars was recognised as a World’s Most Ethical Company® by the Ethisphere Institute for the third consecutive year. Ethisphere Institute is a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. Our past participation in the Ethisphere Institute survey was part of our continuous improvement initiatives.
“Responsible business is a fundamental part of our culture and our way of doing business.”
Maria Hemberg, Head of Group Legal & Corporate Governance
This award was a welcomed acknowledgement of our comprehensive Compliance and Ethics Programme, which aims to ensure that our employees and our business partners act responsibly and ethically. Volvo Cars is committed to fostering a culture of Ethical Leadership.
Reporting channel
Our Compliance and Ethics programme is an enabler that promotes responsible business. It’s our guide to prevent and detect misbehaviour and mitigate legal and ethical risks – in particular in the areas of corruption, anti-trust, data protection, trade sanctions and export control. Our confidential, secure Tell Us reporting line allows employees to report any suspected violation of Our Code.
Sustainable financing
The financial community has a vital role to play in accelerating the transition to a low carbon economy. We want to support their growing focus on sustainable investment. Our Green Financing Framework aligns our sustainability strategy with financing opportunities that lead to a positive impact on our shared environment and society. The Framework is aligned with both the ICMA Green Bond Principles (GBP) and the LMA Green Loan Principles (GLP).
We use the proceeds for strategic projects in clean transportation: increasing our fully electric cars production capacity and battery assembly; investments in Polestar, to spearhead electrification; and for research and development of zero emissions vehicles, new electric powertrains and platform technology.
Policy influence
At Volvo Cars, we’ve been actively supporting policy development across a wide range of topics – including policies aiming to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles. We actively support the drive for change in areas such as charging infrastructure development, availability of renewable energy, payment standardisation, charging interface standardisation, research support, incentives and taxation, as well as overall ambition levels.
You’re welcome to read more about our policy contributions, and how we approach our other responsibilities, in the Documents section below.
Downloads
You´re welcome to access below documents to learn more about Volvo Cars position on important sustainability topics.
Our Code - How we act