Driving a cleaner, more sustainable world

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Sustainability is at the heart of our business strategy and our corporate purpose. It runs through the sourcing decisions we make, the environment we create for our people, the way we engineer our products and manage our manufacturing operations, and our work to support our local communities. We have a long history of embedding sustainability into every aspect of our company and we are committed to operating ethically and responsibly to protect and enhance the long term sustainability of our people, business and the industry.

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Markus Bannert, GKN Automotive, CEO

As an employer of ~25,000 people with operations in 21 countries, including JVs, and more than 48 manufacturing sites globally, we understand the deep responsibility we have for our people and for our communities.

We engineer efficient and high performing eDrive technologies and drive systems that turn the wheels of more than 50% of the cars on the road today. We are a diverse organisation and we are clear on our role in addressing the impacts of climate change, one of the defining challenges of our time. We are actively working to contribute to the decarbonisation of the automotive industry, helping our customers reduce their emissions by working to reduce our own.

Our corporate purpose is to drive a cleaner, more sustainable world, and we have a clear strategy in place to deliver it.

Our sustainability strategy

In 2021 we created the sustainability strategy to provide a new framework for the company to coordinate our existing sustainability activities. We engaged with our key stakeholders, undertaking a materiality assessment in accordance with best practice principles, to ensure that we address our highest priority impacts. Our strategy also aligns to six UN Sustainable Development Goals.

With a strong foundation of ethics, compliance, and safety in place, we have four areas of focus that shape our work with our people, customers and suppliers, and the communities in which we operate.

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Our people

Our people are at the centre of our business. We rely on their dedication and expertise to continually innovate and create the products that keep us at the forefront of the industry.

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Climate action

Taking action to limit our impact on the climate goes beyond just the products. We are committed to driving innovation projects to help increase resource efficiency and improve waste management.

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Responsible sourcing

So that we can truly drive positive change, we are working with our suppliers to ensure they uphold our values and adhere to the social and environmental standards required of them at every stage of the process.

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Our impact

We are committed to delivering positive societal impact through our products and services which will help decarbonise the automotive sector, and through contributions to local communities.

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Compliance, Ethics, Safety and Security

Underpinning all our ESG commitments and goals, is our belief that whatever we do should be done to the highest business and moral standards, from boardroom level to all individuals at any one of worldwide facilities.

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Reporting

We are committed to transparently reporting on our progress against our sustainability strategy and key targets.

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Our CEO and Executive Team have closely led the development of our robust strategy. Each of our four focus areas is sponsored by one of the Executive Team, who are accountable for the delivery of our objectives and targets, providing strong governance and reporting performance. Our Sustainability Steering Committee, chaired by our Chief People, Communications and Sustainability Officer, meets monthly to oversee the delivery of our strategy.

We have been awarded a Gold EcoVadis rating for our sustainability performance in 2024. EcoVadis is a globally-recognised sustainability assessment and benchmarking platform, which rates businesses on four key categories: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement. This year’s score demonstrates consistent significant improvements made across the business, as we have improved from our Bronze medal in 2022, to our Silver medal in 2023, to our now Gold medal in 2024.

We now rank in the top 1% of participants in our category and in the top 5% of participants overall. This improvement is down to many key milestones we have reached this year, such as the signing of our very first Virtual Power Purchase Agreement, as well as having our near and long-term carbon reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).