We only have one Earth!

On Earth Day, climate protection and CO2 reduction are the focus of public awareness – a great initiative that we enthusiastically support. At ?KODA AUTO, however, sustainability plays an important role every day of the year, and in all its facets.

A few weeks ago, on an early morning jog through Prague, I discovered a very special work of art: In the middle of a park in the Vr?ovice district, there is a large white billboard with the inscription ‘LIMITED EDITION’ with a globe next to it. It caught my attention, so I looked it up online afterwards.

I found out that it was created by a mysterious street artist who is sometimes referred to as the Czech Banksy: No one knows who leaves these witty and socially critical messages on walls, bridges and electricity boxes under the pseudonym TIMO – the artist keeps their identity a secret; the content is all the more impactful for it: With the message ‘LIMITED EDITION’, TIMO makes one thing very clear – we only have one world. And it is up to us to take care of it.

We only have one world. And it is up to us to take care of it.

And today is the perfect occasion to reflect on that topic: 22 April is the United Nations’ Earth Day. People in over 175 countries come together to address the topic of environmental protection and rethink their consumer behaviour. It’s a fantastic initiative that we at ?KODA AUTO are happy to support.

Sustainability is firmly anchored in our NEXT LEVEL ?KODA program for the future. As one example, we are reducing the CO2 emissions of our fleet by 30 % between 2015 and 2025. All the energy used by ?KODA AUTO to produce vehicles and components at our Czech plants will be CO2 neutral from the second half of this decade.

And we are well on our way; the Vrchlabí plant has been our first CO2-neutral production facility since the end of 2020. Moreover, natural gas is gradually being replaced by CO2-neutral methane from biogas plants as of this year. And since 2019, we have not sent any waste originating from our production processes to landfill thanks to our endeavours to eliminate refuse and use raw materials sparingly.

In 2020, we also presented our first battery-electric vehicle which was developed on the MEB platform, the ENYAQ iV. We are now gradually electrifying our model portfolio. I expect ?KODA to have an electric share of more than 50 per cent in Europe by 2030.

I expect ?KODA to have an electric share of more than 50 per cent in Europe by 2030.

For us at ?KODA AUTO, sustainability means much more than taking care of our planet. Especially in these challenging times, we realise how important it is to actively help out in society: During the first lockdown in spring 2020, we made sure that COVID volunteers had access to mobility – 100 OCTAVIA COMBIs were donated to social and medical aid services, and more than 200 cars and electric scooters from our sharing platforms HoppyGo and BeRider were made available free of charge.

Aside from the assistance we have been providing throughout the pandemic, we support society in many areas over the long-term: With our ?KODA Endowment Fund, we are sustainably improving the quality of life in the regions around our Czech plants; we are investing a total of 30 million euros in the areas of transport, sport and culture, urban development and safety.

We are committed to making rapid and sustainable progress in diversity.

Also, we are committed to making rapid and sustainable progress in diversity. In 2019, ?KODA AUTO signed the European Diversity Charter and joined the more than 12,000 signatories in Europe. In 2020, we became a Golden Signatory of the Diversity Charter in the Czech Republic alongside over 90 companies promoting diversity and inclusion.

We take a holistic approach to addressing sustainability. This is a mission we pursue not only on Earth Day but every single day as we go about shaping the future of our company. This is our goal; this is our responsibility. After all, we only have one earth.