Volvo’s all-pervasive sustainable approach

The Sustainability Division of the Volvo Group cannot help but be hawk-eyed and fly higher than other sectors of their business. The reason being this division is responsible for offering strategies and solutions to help Volvo remain sustainable. It sure is in keeping with their motto – doing much more for much less in a much safer way.

 Meeting Mr. Niklas Gustafsson, the Chief Sustainability Officer – Volvo Group proved that global businesses are making it a point that a product, a service, a system or even a perspective can be successful only when if their solutions are inclusive of the human connection to their businesses.

volvo-niklasg
Mr. Niklas Gustafsson, Chief Sustainability Officer, Volvo Group

Fast changing world scenario is forcing global businesses to provide sustainable solutions and Volvo Group, having made India as one of its primary home markets, is keeping a tab on the evolving sociological and economic trends that have deep impact on businesses.

A case in point would be giving a fillip to Volvo Penta – a known name in marine and industrial engines. With waterways catching up as most economical and sustainable mode of transport around the world, Penta and Sustainability divisions together provide sustainable solutions. Mr. Gustafsson offers an insight, “Sea transport consumes huge amounts of fossil fuel. Efficient engine technology consumes as little fuel as possible. But you need to have discussions internally to make sure that the sustainability story of each person involved.”

 Considering the fact that sustainability as a concept has gained awareness and is being worked on only in the last few years, it seems an uphill task to get all stakeholders on to the same page. Present in 192 global markets, with production facilities in six continents and making multiple brands in buses and trucks, Volvo Group realises that its continued success is wholly dependent upon providing sustainable solutions.

Sustainability as a Cultural Philosophy

Sustainability, in practical terms, acknowledges the Big Elephant in the room by identifying problem areas – be in mass movement from rural to urban areas, increasing carbon footprints, heavy dependence on fossil fuels, climate change and the like. As Mr. Gustafsson says: “With more than 3-400 million people moving from rural areas into cities in a decade in India, we can only try to make the transition more sustainable which is riddled with many challenges – from the perspective of supply, clean water, and food production. Volvo is ready to take responsibility in this whole chain. We want to find a sustainable solution for goods transport and for people using different technologies such as hybrid buses.”

volvo-kamalbali-pic-1
Mr. Kamal Bali, MD – Sustainability Division, Volvo Group

He emphasizes on bringing in the ‘local content’ to make Volvo a truly global company in providing solutions. He broadens by including three aspects to the whole philosophy of sustainability, such as environmental, economic and social. He says, “The trick really is to understand the balance and how to consolidate internal resources so that we get a good business perspective of these three aspects.”

Through sharing knowledge and sustainable solutions, Mr. Gustafsson’s division offers strategic and financial support to their customers in transitioning from an old, unclean, and unsafe product, to more modern, clean and safe product.

Mr. Kamal Bali, MD – Sustainability Division, Volvo Group, expands: “We help spread these aspirations across the group, and galvanize people towards them. It is important because ultimately businesses have to find technical solutions and there has to be an overarching theme from the group which is driven by the team.”

Mr. Gustafsson explains further, “We understand the growing interest and demand in the society and we try to translate that to our business internally because then we can find risk minimalization. If we cannot give the silver bullet answer, at least we can compare different alternatives with a world outlook. But it may not be global solution for everyone because the bio mass is different for different parts of the world. We also look into efficiency and economic sustainability for say, the petrochemical industry. I am doing that in the sustainability department and giving facts to the management and strategy departments. The earth cannot really survive with waste in systems or energy waste. It’s all about efficiency. Electro mobility is an obvious example. Using electricity in buses is much more efficient than diesel. It is then that we can find segues and stepping stones from one technology over to another.”

Challenges in Sustainability

As the sustainability officer, Mr. Gustafsson realises that he and his team around the world have to be steps ahead of the trend that the world will take in creating and sustaining long lasting solutions. His top challenge is to recognise ‘the direction in which everything is going’. He shares: “The challenge is to understand which other stakeholders we need to add to the whole knowledge. What does it mean for the chief sustainability officer of Volvo having core value of safety since 1927? It means that we need to understand our part of that system solution. If it is about transport, then the solution may not be limited to only a driver feeling safe in every situation, but it also means to make the cyclist and the pedestrian feel safe which is challenging because you are out of your comfort zone. It means that you are not in the design of your truck or bus any longer but now you are into the system… thinking and talking to traffic and city planners… should there be special lanes for cyclists and how can we make intelligent solutions that connects with different traffic moods and so on.”

Vision Sustainability

Perhaps, a million dollar question is – whether sustainability, as a concept, must be welcomed as a proactive measure even before a problem has arrived at our doorstep, or should it be seen as a savior in the hour of the need?

Looking at the urgency with which the global policy makers and businesses are chasing this still-elusive concept, it seems to lean more towards being a savior.

Mr. Bali, however, shares another perspective: “We could be very miniscule in the overall agenda of sustainability but what is crucial is to see how seriously does it get deployed with each employee in your organization, that each employee starts talking about sustainability. That is the bigger success than what you can ultimately bring about as the solutions because technological solutions are dependent on other things. Our seriousness to get better fuels has us already building Euro 6 engines in India. We are excited about the government plan to leapfrog from Euro 4 to 6 from April 2017. This is an example of how Volvo Group will add to the cause of sustainability.”

Mr. Gustafsson has a dream of his own, though, “In the next 5-10 years, the concept of sustainability should be fully integrated into business, and the business should be driving itself in this direction. We should only be the gardeners and nurture or guide people to find new opportunities that they didn’t see yet.”

Volvo Group helps funnel down its environmental requisites and strict adherence towards the fulfillment of the ISO 14001 standard to its dealers. It also helps to know that only a truly pervasive sustainable approach is what will yield the desired results and treat the weave of life uniformly.