The UK motor industry has produced its first triple bottom line report.
Publication of the document, by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), is part of an ‘automotive strategy for sustainable development’ launched in March 2000, to which 11 motor companies, including BMW, Ford, Nissan and Vauxhall Motors, are signatories.
The report, which will now be published annually, outlines the social, environmental and economic performance of the sector, and includes commitments to develop cleaner technology, to reduce the environmental impact of company operations, to improve the fuel efficiency of new vehicles and to ‘engage positively with external stakeholders’.
John Elkington, chairman of the SustainAbility consultancy, who was invited to make a ‘stakeholder statement’ in the report, said the document was ‘useful as a scene-setter’ but ‘needs to evolve rapidly’.
He was critical of the limited scope of targets set by the report and said SMMT should produce ‘more stretch targets, more benchmarking, more evidence of real stakeholder engagement and a deeper treatment of the dilemmas that confront us all in this area’.
However, Elkington said the platform being established by the SMMT ‘could move the UK industry a long way in the coming decade’ .
The report, Towards Sustainability, points out that the motor industry has promised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new passenger cars by 25 per cent within seven years.