GM Asks Suppliers to Sign Pledge Advancing Global Climate Action and Human Rights
General Motors is asking its global suppliers to sign a pledge to join the company in a commitment to carbon neutrality, the development of social responsibility programs and implementation of sustainable procurement practices in their supply chain operations.
By signing the Environmental, Social and Governance Partnership Pledge suppliers commit to:
- Achieving carbon neutrality for their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by dates based on their respective industry. These are 2025 or earlier for Professional Services, 2035 or earlier for Manufacturing and 2038 or earlier for Raw Materials and Logistics.
- By 2025, achieving a minimum score of 50 in the EcoVadis Labor & Human Rights and Ethics pillars, which demonstrates a mature sustainability management system that covers employee health and safety, social dialogue, diversity/nondiscrimination, child and forced labor, and avoids corruption and anticompetitive practices.
- By 2025, achieving a minimum score of 50 in the EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement pillar, which covers how GM’s suppliers understand and govern the social and environmental practices of their own suppliers and use their purchasing influence to advance sustainability.
EcoVadis is a third-party assessor that evaluates how well a company integrates the principles of sustainability and corporate social responsibility into their business and management system.
“There are economic and social imperatives in lowering emissions and addressing climate change while cultivating a just transition,” said Jeff Morrison, GM vice-president of global purchasing and supply chain. “As we accelerate toward our vision of an all-electric future, our commitment to bringing everybody along includes our global suppliers whose collaboration is critical to promoting a sustainable, safe and better world.”
GM also announced that of its approximately US$76 billion direct material annual purchase value in 2021, suppliers representing over 53 per cent of that value have already signed on.
“GM’s ESG Supplier Pledge is a best practice example of how to work with suppliers and turn their ‘Everybody In’ vision into action,” said Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-CEO of EcoVadis. “These specific and actionable targets are exactly the kind of engagement needed to accelerate their value chain towards positive impact, and to make business a force for creating a more sustainable world.”
The supplier pledge expands on GM’s goal to bring “Everybody In” for the all-electric future with a commitment to establishing a collaborative supply chain that endeavors to minimize environmental impact and enhance long-term sustainability. GM will continue to provide support as it identifies opportunities for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, provide educational webinars and resources, and develop tools to help remove barriers in the transition to renewable energy.
