Dow Jones Sustainability Index: How GM Stacks Up
We were just named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the leading global benchmark for corporate sustainability.
Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices annually assess companies for environmental, economic and social sustainability performance and disclosure. More than 1,800 global companies were analyzed this year. We’re the only automaker to make the list in North America.
Here’s how we measure up on the index’s 100-point scale:
Environmental Policy and Management: 100/100
Our results are data-driven and we leverage several tracking systems to measure our success. For example, our Energy OnStar tool tracks 2.5 million energy data points per minute and provides real-time monitoring of energy per unit produced and facility heating and cooling systems.
We are also the first automaker to use IBAT, an integrated biodiversity assessment tool that tracks features such as threatened species, sites important for biodiversity, and wildlife hotspots near any facility around the world. The insight increases opportunities to work closer with communities to have a more beautiful working environment and strategically protect native flora and fauna through habitat programs.
Climate Strategy: 99/100
Climate change challenges our environment and industry, but we see value in the disruption and are committed to addressing the global challenge head on.
In July we joined a dozen other companies to launch the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge, a commitment to address climate change through $140 billion in new low-carbon investments and more than 1,600 megawatts of new renewable energy collectively.
We remain the only automaker to sign the Ceres Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy Climate Declaration stating that tackling climate change is an economic opportunity.
We also achieved perfect scores on climate change data disclosure and performance, and were featured in the CDP S&P 500 Climate Change Report and The CDP Climate Performance Leadership Index, receiving a perfect score on disclosure in 2013.
Operational Eco-Efficiency: 97/100
We’re on a mission to transform transportation, maximizing efficiency both in our vehicles and the plants where they’re built. From reducing waste to increasing renewable energy, we’ve made great strides to reduce our environmental impact.
Between 2005 and 2010, we reduced energy use at our global facilities by 28% on a per-vehicle-produced basis, which reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 3.34 million metric tons. We’ve also reduced energy and carbon intensity from our facilities by 11 percent from 2010 to 2014.
We remain the industry leader in zero waste, with a total of 122 landfill-free facilities worldwide that reuse, recycle, or convert to energy all waste from daily operations. We recycled 2.5 million metric tons of waste in 2014, avoiding more than 10 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, which more than offset our worldwide manufacturing emissions.
These efforts are not only good for the environment, they’re good for our bottom-line. We generated $2.5 billion in revenue through various recycling activities from 2007 to 2010 and now count about $1 billion in byproduct reuse and recycling revenue annually. We’ve also saved more than $196 million in energy costs through the voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the U.S. EPA and $70 million in renewable energy investments.
