Global 2010 CO2 Reduction Targets and Progress
Addressing Global Climate Change
Global climate change
Rapidly increasing emissions of carbon dioxide, flurons and
other greenhouse gases are considered to be the key cause of
global climate changes. This problem cannot be resolved solely
by action at the regional level. That’s why Honda is addressing
the problem on a global scale.
Growing demand for mobility
Currently, there is a significant gap between developed and
developing countries in terms of availability of convenient transportation.
Since improvements in the quality of mobility are essential
to improvements in the quality of life, the demand for automobiles
and other forms of transportation will continue to grow.
Honda is working to further develop its technology to reconcile
the threat of global climate change with the growing demand for mobility.
Our overall goal is
to manufacture products with the lowest in-use CO2 emissions at
manufacturing plants with the lowest CO2 emissions per unit of production.
Product efficiency
Setting goals for higher fuel-efficiency
averages for all products worldwide
Since the internal combustion engine is expected to continue
to provide the principal means of mobility until at least
2020, Honda is working to improve its efficiency and fuel economy.
Stringent regulations such as Corporate Average Fuel
Economy (CAFE) standards have been introduced in the U.S.,
Europe and other regions to mandate fuel-efficiency improvements
for automobile fleets. Recognizing the need for global
initiatives, Honda is moving from measuring regional fuel-efficiency
averages to measuring global fuel-efficiency averages,
and from fuel-efficiency averages based on vehicle categories
to average targets for its entire worldwide vehicle lineup.
Production efficiency
Reducing per-vehicle CO2 emissions in
manufacturing worldwide
Honda is also committed to further improving the efficiency
of its worldwide manufacturing processes and reducing CO2
emissions. To this end, in 2006 we established global targets
for average per-unit CO2 emissions in manufacturing and are
working steadily to reach these targets.
Targets that address the automobile life cycle
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According to assessments made on the basis of the Honda
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) system, approximately
78% of emissions are generated by the operation of vehicles
and about 6% in their manufacture. Thus Honda’s CO2 targets,
which focus both on its products and its production processes,
cover more than 80% of the CO2 emissions generated throughout
the life cycle of its automobiles.
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CO2 emissions over the life cycle of a vehicle
(as assessed with the Honda LCA system)
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