Auto industry specialists achieve carbon literacy certification

5,013 people from 260 businesses spanning the whole of the automotive industry have now achieved Carbon Literate status having been trained by the Automotive Carbon Literacy Toolkit, which was funded and developed in partnership between Auto Trader and The Carbon Literacy Project.

The toolkit, which was launched at COP26 in November 2021, marked the first of its kind for the automotive industry and was carefully designed in close collaboration with a number of leading automotive retailers and manufacturers, including Lookers, Nissan, Marshall Motor Group, Motorpoint and Available Car.

In just three years, individuals from businesses representing the full breadth of the automotive industry have been trained and certified as Carbon Literate through the Toolkit, including the following:

Retailers (incl. Carbase, Dick Lovett, Drive Green, Hendy Group, Inchcape, John Clark, Perrys, Sinclair Group, Snows, Smallbone & Sons, TrustFord)
Manufacturers (incl. Audi, BMW Group, Citroen, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, KIA, Nissan, Stellantis, Vauxhall Motors, Volkswagen Group)
Finance houses (incl. Ford Credit, Lloyds Banking Group, Mobilize FS, PSA Finance, RCI Bank, Santander Consumer Finance, Suzuki Finance, Toyota Financial Service, Volvo Financial Services)
Leasing companies (incl. Alphabet GB, Arval, Zenith)
Parts suppliers (incl. SYNETIQ, Ring Automotive)
EV charge point operators (incl. Co Charger, Zest)
Industry representative bodies (incl. BVRLA, IMI, NFDA, SMMT)

Commenting on the milestone, Ian Plummer, Auto Trader’s Commercial Director, said: “Since the creation of the first of its kind Automotive Toolkit three years ago, we remain committed to supporting the wider automotive industry on our shared sustainability journey.

“We’re delighted that through industry wide collaboration, more individuals and organisations have leveraged Carbon Literacy to help achieve their sustainability goals, especially as the industry continues to rapidly evolve.

“However, we’re also aware of the size of the challenge – 5,000 people and 260 organisations is brilliant from a standing start, but a drop in the ocean when you consider the size of our industry. There’s more work to be done and we need as many people as possible to come on board so we can drive change together responsibly.”

The Toolkit is designed to support in-house Carbon Literacy training, which is typically delivered during a one-day seminar and can be conducted virtually or face-to-face. The toolkit contains all the tools and materials an organisation requires to educate and accredit its employees in Carbon Literacy®, including tailored training content, a trainer guide, detailed resources, and dedicated support from a member of the Carbon Literacy Project team.

The course covers a broad range of climate change related topics centred around the automotive industry, including the science and impacts of climate change, current policy and guidance, and solutions within the sector. The objective is to create greater awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities, and to inspire people to reduce their emissions on an individual, community and organisational basis. The flexibility of the Automotive Toolkit course, and the ability for an organisation to tailor content to be specific to their own journey, has also helped empower individuals to make changes in their role.

The way in which brands are engaging with the Toolkit has ranged from a handful of individuals being trained within a business, to plans to roll it out across the whole workforce.

Nissan, who have engaged staff in the UK and beyond, commented: “Having employees across Nissan’s vast Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO) region complete the Carbon Literacy training has been highly effective in supporting our vision to create a sustainable company and drive towards a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world. We are focused on achieving our carbon neutrality goals by 2050, and educating and empowering our teams on the big differences small changes can have in helping achieve these ambitions. In the UK alone, more the 3,000 employees have completed the training, providing skills and knowledge as we drive forward with our EV36Zero hub at our Nissan Sunderland Plant and build the cars of the future.”

Commenting on the impact the Toolkit has already had, Ruth James, Automotive Coordinator at The Carbon Literacy Project, said: “We have seen a huge acceleration in the delivery of the Toolkit across the automotive sector this year.

“Thanks to the support of key individuals, we have grown from hitting the 1,000-learner milestone in May 2023, to now exceeding 5,000 learners. There is growing consumer interest in sustainability and partners and stakeholders are becoming increasingly inquisitive about the environmental credentials of a business. The Automotive Toolkit provides a way for each employee in the organisation to engage in and contribute to the sustainability strategy, allowing businesses to extend their strategy beyond their sustainability team while providing a tangible way to demonstrate continued progress.”

For more information on the Automotive Carbon Literacy Toolkit, visit https://carbonliteracy.com/toolkits/automotive/