GKN Automotive awarded Gold rating for progress against sustainability goals

• Independent sustainability assessor, EcoVadis, awards GKN Automotive a Gold rating
• GKN Automotive ranks in the top 1% of participants in its category
  
• New rating marks an improvement on Silver rating in 2023 and Bronze in 2022
  

LONDON, Nov. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GKN Automotive, the global leader in drive systems, has been awarded an EcoVadis Gold rating for sustainability, highlighting the continuous progress the organisation has made since it was awarded a Silver rating in 2023 and a Bronze rating in 2022.

This achievement places GKN Automotive in the top 1% of participants in its category, and the top 5% of participants overall. It recognises a number of actions taken by GKN Automotive towards its sustainability goals in 2024, including the:

• Announcement of SBTi-approved net-zero roadmap
• Commitment to renewable electricity strategy, signing its first VPPA with Recurrent Energy
• Strengthened sustainable procurement practices, introducing Supplier Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) platform
• Strengthened reporting processes in its annual sustainability report

EcoVadis is a global sustainability assessor that enables organisations to benchmark their sustainability performance through a rigorous assessment of 21 sustainability criteria. The assessment is split into four main categories, with each category receiving an overall score out of 100: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement.¹

GKN Automotive’s overall score increased by 6% since 2023 - from 68% to 74%. The category showing the most improvement was the organisation’s impact on its environment, with a 20% overall score increase.

Dr. Clare Wyatt, Chief People, Communications & Sustainability Officer at GKN Automotive, comments: “This recognition is a great validation of all the work we are doing across our sustainability strategy and the collective effort from colleagues across our organisation to ensure sustainability is embedded throughout the business.

“Being a sustainable business is critical to our long-term future, and this improved rating reflects our work to position our business – as well as our customers’ – for this future. Importantly, this assessment further enables us to identify areas for improvement and ensure we’re clear on the steps in reaching our long-term goals.”

¹These criteria are based on international sustainability standards such as the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, the ISO 26000 standard, the CERES Roadmap, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

ABOUT GKN AUTOMOTIVE 
GKN Automotive is a world-leading global automotive technology company at the forefront of innovation. Its origins date back to 1759 and for the last 70 years it has been putting key technologies into series production. It is the trusted partner for most of the world’s automotive companies, specialising in developing, building, and supplying market-leading drive systems and advanced ePowertrain technologies.

GKN Automotive is part of Dowlais Group plc, a specialist engineering group focused on the automotive sector.

https://www.gknautomotive.com

For further information, please contact: 
GKN Automotive 
Corrie Raine 
External Communications Manager 
Email: corrie.raine@gknautomotive.com 

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