Carbon is one of Toyota Motor North America's four environmental sustainability focus areas. We are working at every stage of the vehicle life cycle to help the world transition to a low carbon future.
Carbon is the term we use to refer to emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), including carbon dioxide (CO2), the main GHG linked to climate change.
GHG emissions are caused by activities that generate energy, such as the combustion of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas to make electricity, and gasoline and diesel to power cars and trucks. These emissions are increasing, driven largely by economic and population growth. GHGs in the Earth’s atmosphere trap the sun's heat, causing the planet's average temperature to rise and leading to large-scale shifts in weather patterns.
Global warming and its effects — referred to as climate change — are being felt in every region around the world in the form of more severe and frequent floods, hurricanes, wildfires and droughts. Businesses are expected to play a significant role in achieving the bold and transformative steps urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) is committed to doing our part to help the world transition to a low carbon economy. That's why we named "Carbon" as one of our four environmental sustainability focus areas.
Transportation is responsible for one quarter of the world's GHG emissions and as an automotive company, TMNA is committed to doing our part to help the world transition to a low carbon economy. TMNA acknowledges climate change as a priority management issue and supports the goals of the Paris Agreement, a pact adopted by 196 countries affirming the goal to keep warming well below 2° Celsius, and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius.
In North America, our carbon strategy addresses multiple aspects of the vehicle life cycle to find ways to reduce GHG emissions. Our projects focus on:
Zero emissions from our vehicles is the ultimate goal and we believe the path to getting there is with a portfolio approach – fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery electric vehicles. Offering a range of low emission vehicles allows us to use our limited battery resources to put more cars on the road that reduce carbon emissions in the short term.
We aim to make all of our North American facilities carbon neutral by 2035. We are investing in on- and off-site solar and wind projects, implementing energy efficiency projects and investigating ways to reduce our thermal load.
Through our Green Supplier Requirements, TMNA requires direct parts, materials and accessory suppliers to commit to reducing CO2 emissions by at least 3% per year. We have set a target for logistics suppliers to reduce emissions from the transportation and distribution of parts, accessories and finished vehicles by 15% by FY2026, and another target for our dealers to participate in our Dealer Environmental Excellence Program (D.E.E.P.), which encourages improvements in environmental performance, including energy efficiency and GHG emissions reductions.
There is a lot to do between now and 2050 to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality, but we have already made significant progress. Click here to see what we’re doing to reduce emissions in every stage of the vehicle life cycle.
Toyota and FuelCell Energy, Inc. announced the completion of the “Tri-gen system” at TMNA’s Port of Long Beach operations. The Tri-gen system produces renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen and water from directed biogas.
Already a leader in electrification, Toyota has taken a major step forward with the introduction of the Toyota bZ4X Concept, the vision for the first of a global series of battery-electric vehicles to be introduced under the “Toyota bZ” brand umbrella.
Toyota aims to make all facilities carbon neutral by 2035 and eliminate CO₂ emissions from the use of energy at our facilities by 2050. To help achieve these aims and address climate change, Toyota invests in a combination of on- and off-site renewable energy projects.
Toyota Logistics Services (TLS) successfully piloted four hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks for vehicle delivery in the Los Angeles metro area.
D.E.E.P. is Toyota’s voluntary initiative to reduce the environmental impact from its North American dealer operations.
A cooperative research project between Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will study the scaling and integration of fuel cell systems for stationary power generation.
Toyota Motor North America and WattTime have entered an agreement that will allow Toyota and Lexus customers to identify ideal times to charge electrified vehicles to help reduce the impact of CO2 emissions on human health and the environment.
Toyota and Oncor Electric Delivery, a Texas-based electric transmission and distribution company, have agreed to collaborate on a pilot project around vehicle-to-grid (V2G), a technology that allows vehicles to flow energy from their battery back onto the electric grid.
Through a partnership with Northwestern University, Toyota Research Institute has significantly reduced the time it takes to test and find new materials that can be used in batteries and fuel cells to decarbonize transportation.
As part of our aim to achieve carbon neutrality across our value chain by 2050, we support our business partners in their journey to eliminate CO₂ emissions.
As part of TMNA’s Green Supplier Requirements, suppliers are joining us in our efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions across the vehicle life cycle and are expected to commit to a target to reduce CO₂ emissions 3% per year. We are piloting a third-party software platform for suppliers to use to report energy and emissions data that will allow us to track their progress. Through our collaboration, we are better positioned to reduce our carbon footprint from our supply chain.
Toyota’s Dealership Environmental Excellence Program (D.E.E.P.) provides guidance to Toyota dealerships and recognizes them for positive environmental performance. The program targets continuous operational improvement in six categories: energy use, water consumption, waste, indoor environment, community outreach, and connecting with nature. Participating dealerships can earn up to five stars in each category for tracking environmental performance data, achieving minimum performance benchmarks, implementing improvement projects and aligning with the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050. See our feature story to learn more about D.E.E.P.
Everyone can do their part to fight climate change.
Turn off lights when you’re not using them.
Switch to LED light bulbs, which are more energy efficient.
Use solar energy or purchase green energy from your utility.
