Automotive supplier Continental plans CO2-neutral production by 2040

Continental, Germany’s second largest car industry supplier, is planning to be CO2-neutral "in all of its production processes" by 2040, company CEO Elmar Degenhart announced at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, according to a report by Chinese press agency Xinhua. In order to achieve carbon neutrality, Continental is aiming in a first step to solely use electricity from renewable energy sources in all of its worldwide production sites by the end of 2020 and to reduce its energy consumption by a fifth over the next 10 years in relation to the company's turnover, the company said in a press release.
Degenhart said he was optimistic that the automotive industry would be able to achieve CO2-neutrality "across the entire supply chain" by 2050. The industry would need to be CO2-neutral by 2050 "at the latest", which would be "feasible if business and politics tackle it together", Degenhart noted.

Industry leader Bosch said earlier this year that it planned to become fully carbon neutral by 2020. Sustainability is a major topic at this year's IAA. Facing an unprecedented wave of climate protests, Germany's trio of car groups, BMW, Daimler and VW, put their ambitions for emission-free mobility at the centre of their presentations at the industry fair.