Kia

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

No leading practices were identified for this company.

Kia has set a detailed carbon reduction guideline for its suppliers. This includes a mandate for all suppliers to create a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction plan that aligns with Kia’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. Additionally, Kia has joined the CDP Supply Chain Program to regularly gather carbon-related disclosures from its suppliers. Beyond information collection, Kia’s supplier engagement strategy also involves incentivisation and fostering innovation and collaboration.

While Kia has established a target to achieve net-zero emissions in its own operations and at every stage of its value chain by 2045, it is unknown if this target relies on planned carbon offsets, which means it cannot be assessed. Additionally, the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity decreased by 14.6% between 2021 and 2023, which is not fully aligned with its 1.5°C pathway.

Kia commits to achieving carbon neutrality across its value chain and operations by 2045. The company has a comprehensive low-carbon transition plan informed by climate scenario analysis that has considered the implications of a 1.5°C scenario. The company can improve on this by expressing the results of its scenario testing in quantitative terms and including financial metrics. Kia has a board-level committee with the highest level of direct responsibility for climate change mitigation issues within the organisation. However, there is insufficient evidence that its board has adequate climate expertise. A lack of expertise at board or equivalent level could be a barrier to the company’s successful management of the low-carbon transition.

Kia’s sales share of low-carbon vehicles increased from 1.6% in 2019 to 6% in 2023, and this is projected to increase to 12% by 2028. However, the company needs to step up its its ambition to align with its 1.5°C pathway, which requires 67% of its sales in 2030 to consist of low-carbon vehicles. Kia has not publicly disclosed its emissions intensity from the use of sold vehicles over the last 3-5 year period, nor has it provided its total scope 3 emissions data, which is necessary for emissions intensity calculations. It is therefore not possible to compare the company’s locked-in emissions from the use of sold products with its 1.5°C pathway. Additionally, the company does not disclose financial information on its investments in research and development (R&D) to mitigate climate change. R&D expenditure on low-carbon vehicles and energies will be essential for the company to expand and develop a low-carbon vehicle fleet.

Kia publicly supports significant climate policies and commits to the Paris Agreement. The company also has a process to monitor and review the climate policy positions of associations, alliances, coalitions and think tanks it is a member of. The oversight of this process lies with the company’s board of directors, and the responsibility for its implementation lies with the sustainability management committee under the board. There is also evidence of the company having a monitoring and review process to ensure its policy positions are consistent with the Paris Agreement goals; however, it is unclear how this process is implemented. While Kia has a clear supplier engagement strategy, the company does not detail how it works with its clients to reduce emissions. The company can improve its performance by creating a client engagement strategy, governed by a clear policy and integrated into business decision-making.

No evidence was found of the company’s commitment to social dialogue or of the categories of stakeholders the company engages with on a just transition. Furthermore, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s ongoing social dialogue and meaningful engagement with affected stakeholders.  No evidence was found of the company undertaking low-carbon transition planning to mitigate the social impacts of the transition on workers, affected stakeholders and its business relationships. Additionally, no evidence was found to demonstrate the company’s engagement in social dialogue and with stakeholders in its just transition planning.

No public commitment by the company was found stating its intention to create and support access to green and decent jobs as part of the low-carbon transition. Moreover, no evidence was found of the company’s actions to promote these jobs in a way that ensures gender balance and inclusion of vulnerable groups. Additionally, no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s assessment of employment dislocation risks.  No public commitment by the company was found stating its intention to reskill and upskill workers displaced by the transition to a low-carbon economy. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company reskills and upskills workers in a way that ensures gender balance and inclusion of vulnerable groups.

No relevant disclosure was found to show if the company identifies impacts of the low-carbon transition on social protection for workers and affected stakeholders, nor how it contributes to social protection. Additionally, no evidence was found that the company expects its business relationships to contribute to the social protection of their workers and affected stakeholders.  No relevant disclosure was found to show how the company identifies any misalignment of its lobbying activities with policies and regulations that support the just transition, nor of the measures it takes to address misalignment. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company lobbies for policies and regulations for green and decent job creation; retention, education and reskilling; and social protection for workers.

Kia commits to respecting human rights and the ILO fundamental rights at work, and it expects its business relationships to respect the ILO fundamental rights at work. However, no evidence was found of the company’s process to identify, assess and mitigate salient human rights risks in its own operations and its supply chain. Moreover, no evidence was found of the company disclosing the stakeholders whose human rights have been affected by its activities. The company does, however, have a grievance mechanism available to workers and external stakeholders.

Kia commits to respecting the health and safety of its workers and expects the same commitment from its business relationships. However, no evidence was found of the company having a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage. The company discloses the proportion of its direct workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements for some locations, but no relevant disclosure was found of the company’s required working hours. The company discloses some indicators of workforce diversity, including the age group of its workforce by employee category. However, no relevant disclosure was found of additional indicators of workforce diversity. Nevertheless, the company commits to gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

While Kia has a public commitment to protecting personal data, it is not clear that this covers, at a minimum, the data of customers and employees. The company discloses its global tax strategy; however, no relevant disclosure was found of the corporate income tax it pays in each relevant jurisdiction. The company does not have a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it does not state if it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the company has a publicly available policy statement setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach. However, Kia does have a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions, and the company discloses its expenditures on lobbying activities.