Hyundai Motor and Kia won approval for their carbon emissions reduction targets from a global carbon-neutral coalition that verifies corporations' reduction goals. With the approval, the two companies can receive the United Kingdom's electric vehicle subsidies.
On the 25th, the finished-vehicle industry said Hyundai Motor and Kia obtained approval on the 4th from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for their interim greenhouse gas emissions reduction plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. It came about four months after they joined the SBTi and submitted their reduction plans. Within Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Mobis received SBTi approval in Sep.
The SBTi is an organization that scientifically verifies corporations' greenhouse gas reduction targets based on the Paris Agreement, jointly established by major international environmental organizations including the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Hyundai Motor and Kia submitted and won approval for reduction targets across all categories: direct emissions at business sites (Scope 1), indirect emissions such as from electricity use (Scope 2), and indirect emissions across the supply chain (Scope 3). Hyundai Motor will cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% by 2030 compared with 2024, and Scope 3 by 63%. Kia will reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 all by 63% by 2035 compared with 2024.
With this SBTi certification, Hyundai Motor and Kia became eligible for the United Kingdom's electric vehicle purchase subsidies. The ruling Labor Party in Jul. added a requirement for manufacturers to have SBTi approval to receive new electric vehicle subsidies. It reintroduced the subsidy policy scrapped by the previous Conservative government.
Kia's U.K. subsidiary said on the 18th that the EV4 Air, a compact electric sedan, and the PV5 Passenger, a midsize purpose-built vehicle (PBV), became eligible for £1,500 (about 2.93 million won) in subsidies. It is the first subsidy benefit granted to Korean vehicles in the U.K. The list of vehicles eligible for subsidies is expected to grow.