Why Carbon is an Important Issue

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.

Our Carbon Strategy

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:

Reducing Vehicle CO₂ Emissions 

Zero emissions from our vehicles is the ultimate goal.  Offering a range of low emission vehicles, including fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery electric vehicles, allows us to use our limited battery resources to put more cars on the road that reduce carbon emissions in the short term. See the full vehicle line up here.

Eliminating GHG Emissions from our Operations 

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.

Reducing GHG Emissions from Logistics Activities

We are working with our logistics partners to reduce emissions from the transportation and distribution of parts, accessories and finished vehicles. Since hydrogen and electric powertrains for trucks are available only in limited quantities, we are exploring other options for reducing GHG emissions from logistics activities. 

Reducing GHG Emissions in our Value Chain

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 began collecting supplier CO2 data in FY2022. We are working on increasing the number of suppliers submitting data and continue to track suppliers’ progress on reducing emissions. 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.

There is a lot to do between now and 2050 to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality, but we have already made significant progress. 

See what we’re doing to reduce emissions in every stage of the vehicle life cycle here.