Japanese automaker Nissan aims for sustainability, worker inclusivity

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan has outlined a “sustainability plan” to become a greener and more inclusive company, promising to recycle batteries, empower its workers and create safer cars.

Nissan Motor Co. won’t be trying to beat rivals in the effort but hopes to work with various partners, Joji Tagawa, chief sustainability officer, told reporters this week at the company's Yokohama headquarters.

Nissan is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which means net zero carbon emissions across all operations.

The governments of Japan, the U.S. and Europe have all set the same goal, as have Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., and General Motors Co. of the U.S.

Under the latest plan, Nissan says that by 2030 it will reduce per-vehicle manufacturing CO2 emissions by 52% and cut per-vehicle driving CO2 emissions for new models by 50% in Japan, the U.S., Europe and China.

Tagawa said the Nissan Social Program 2030 is centered around six pillars: safety, quality, responsible sourcing, intellectual property, communities and empowering employees.

The company is supporting education to nurture future engineers, especially in relatively new areas like artificial intelligence and information technology, he said.

“We aim to become a people-centric company,” he said, reiterating the company's commitment not to tolerate human rights violations in its operations and supply chain.

The latest plan is an update of Nissan's Ambition 2030, announced in 2021, which was centered around introducing more electric vehicles.

Tagawa acknowledged huge investments were needed, which likely won’t pay off immediately but will translate into long-run returns. He gave no specifics on the amount of investment planned.

Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car, Rogue SUV and Infiniti luxury models, says pay of managers will reflect their efforts in diversity and sustainability.

Sustainability is crucial in enhancing brand power, Nissan officials said.

Nissan also listed resource depletion and changing mobility needs as other concerns.

Awareness over climate change is growing in Japan. Earlier this week, record temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) were reached in parts of the country.

Japanese automakers, which dominated global markets in fuel-engines for decades, are adjusting their strategies for what the industry sees as an inevitable transition to more ecological powertrains such as electric vehicles and fuel cells.

Experts say the world must reduce CO2 emissions to avert extreme weather conditions and serious damage to human health, ecosystems and social infrastructure from climate change. Reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 will require drastic emissions reductions.

Last week, Nissan lowered its full-year profit forecast to 300 billion yen ($1.9 billion) from an earlier projection of 380 billion yen ($2.5 billion), as its first quarter profits suffered despite steady sales because of incentives and marketing expenses.

It expects to sell 3.65 million vehicles globally in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, up from about 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the last fiscal year.