Sierra Club Statement: Clean Cars Scorecard Sees American Automakers Overtake European Counterparts, Led by Ford and Tesla

Global “Lead the Charge” Campaign’s Annual Leaderboard Shows Progress on Auto Supply Chains, Despite Major Gaps and Continued Areas for Improvement

Lead the Charge–a global coalition of leading climate, environment, and human rights organizations–released their second annual Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard and report today. The Leaderboard found a surge ahead by American automakers, progress on human rights due diligence and steel decarbonization, along with evidence that EU regulations are having a positive effect on automakers worldwide. 

Specifically, Ford topped the Leaderboard with a score of 42%, surpassing last year’s winner, Mercedes. Tesla achieved the largest score increase, jumping from ninth to third place. However, the report shows major gaps in the automakers’ human rights practices, particularly on Indigenous rights, where no progress was made, even by top-scorers such as Ford and Mercedes.  

The Leaderboard analyzes publicly available reporting from 18 of the leading automotive manufacturers in the world. It ranks their efforts to eliminate emissions, environmental harms, and human rights violations from their supply chains. 

“This Leaderboard shows improvement, but there’s much more to be done to ensure the auto industry is not only transitioning to electric vehicles, but ensuring the auto supply chain is truly equitable and sustainable,” said Katherine García, Director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign. “Some automakers are further along than others and we are pleased to see many companies making progress. Yet it’s troubling to see Toyota’s reputation as a climate laggard further entrenched. For the second year in a row, Toyota is trailing behind much of the competition on moving towards electric vehicles and  cleaning up its supply chain. We urge all automakers to take this Scorecard seriously and work to improve the entirety of their operations.” 

“The improvement in automakers’ commitments to using steel made from processes that emit fewer greenhouse gases is a notable development that should put the steel industry on notice to meet this growing demand,” said Yong Kwon, Senior Policy Advisor for Industrial Policy and Trade at the Sierra Club. “Particularly in East Asia, automakers must step up to new industry norms and commit to buying clean steel without the climate and health impacts of the antiquated but conventional steelmaking process. Even the leading automakers in North America can do more to both raise their commitment levels and take responsibility for the climate impact of their supply chain.” 

These findings come at a crucial time, as leading industry experts call for automakers to disclose and tackle their supply chain emissions as part of their climate strategies. It is now clear that automakers won't meet their climate goals unless supply chain emissions are also addressed with urgency.

One of the dismal findings in the report was an almost industry-wide inaction on ensuring a just and equitable transition across automotive supply chains. Average scores on the responsible sourcing of transition minerals, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and workers’ rights have risen by only 2%, with 11 out of the 18 automakers remaining at 0% on Indigenous Peoples’ rights. 

Ford’s top ranking was due to its progress on steel and aluminum decarbonization, as well as its industry-leading performance on responsible transition mineral sourcing. Ford’s 86% in the transition minerals category is the highest score of the Leaderboard, besting Tesla and Mercedes which scored 22% and 44%, respectively However, Ford only achieved 42% overall, demonstrating that even the industry leader still has a long way to go in cleaning up its supply chains.  

Tesla’s significant improvements were driven by becoming the first automaker to disclose disaggregated scope 3 emissions for its steel, aluminum, and battery supply chains. The company also made notable progress on the responsible sourcing of transition minerals and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, for which it attained the highest score, although this was only at 26%. 

Additionally, Tesla improved its workers’ rights policies but criticisms of the company's opposition to collective bargaining rights indicate that it has not yet improved its practices. Nonetheless, the company’s progress demonstrates that rapid improvements on clean and equitable supply chains are achievable. 

There was also notable momentum to decarbonize the steel used in automakers’ vehicles. In 2024, over two-thirds of automakers have taken steps towards green steel, in stark contrast to 2023 when over half had made no steps at all. East Asian automakers are now being left behind in the race towards cleaner steel, which continues to be one of the highest polluting industries responsible for 7% to 9% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

2023 was a good year for government regulation as advances in EU legislation appear to be having an impact on the supply chain practices of automakers. Notable was the improved performance on human rights due diligence by Chinese automakers that want to expand exports to the EU market. Geely, BYD, and GAC went from 0% on human rights and responsible sourcing to scoring on several indicators in the general human rights due diligence and transition minerals sections. Geely is the strongest performer, increasing to 16% in the general human rights due diligence section. As we look to 2024, implementation and monitoring will play a key role in ensuring all automakers abide by EU regulations.