Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Sustainability strategy and accountability
As part of Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s remuneration policies, performance criteria are linked to targets and objectives that focus on nature, including biodiversity, as well as social issues.

Stakeholder engagement
Stakeholder engagement activities are described, including how often and through which platforms Goodyear Tire & Rubber engages with various stakeholder groups.

Water
Progress is reported on Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s time-bound water withdrawal target.

Solid and air pollution
Goodyear Tire & Rubber reports some actions to reduce plastic use and waste.

Safe, healthy, clean environment
Local communities’ right to a healthy, safe and clean environment is respected by Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which tracks its actual or potential negative impacts.

Indigenous peoples’ and land rights
Goodyear Tire & Rubber respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It describes how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent when activities in its own operations may impact their rights. It also describes how it identifies and recognises those rights. Goodyear Tire & Rubber requires its business relationships to identify and recognise Indigenous Peoples and to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent. In order to provide adequate compensation, the company requires its business relationships to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders. It also requires them to pay special attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and negotiate with them.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Despite disclosing its materiality assessment, Goodyear Tire & Rubber did not update the results after it was conducted in 2018. There are no group-wide sustainability targets for most material parts of the company’s value chain. But the company reports consistently against all targets. It is not disclosed whether the company’s highest governance body has expertise in nature-related matters.

Lobbying
A list of the trade associations in which Goodyear Tire & Rubber participates is disclosed, but no detailed framework is provided for evaluating the alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. There is no reference to the (potential) misalignment between the company’s lobbying activities and its nature-related policies in its annual report.

Impact and dependencies assessment
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has not assessed its impacts on nature or how it is reliant on it. It has the opportunity to start such an assessment along its entire value chain, focusing on quantifying its impacts and reliance on ecosystem services.

Key areas and species
Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not disclose key species or areas important for biodiversity affected by its operations or suppliers. It has an opportunity to increase its transparency.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not have a commitment to ensure zero conversion. While the company discloses efforts to source conversion free rubber through its participation in the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), no evidence that its efforts are aligned with a commitment to eliminate land conversion from its value chain could be found in the public domain. Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not have time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. It does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. Goodyear Tire & Rubber is not committed to restoring ecosystems. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
While Goodyear Tire & Rubber discloses some information on its inputs and material footprint, it should provide more detailed information on each material used. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. Goodyear Tire & Rubber discloses its compliance to prevent soil contamination, however, no evidence that the company actively improves soil health and/or increases agrobiodiversity in its production and/or sourcing practices could be found in the public domain. The company does not have a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
Goodyear Tire & Rubber demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations, and reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not report a decrease in water pollution, nor discloses its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company does not regularly report on water pollution, nor has targets to reduce water pollution. Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water, nor its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
Goodyear Tire & Rubber is not reducing the production of hazardous waste, plastic use and waste in its own operations. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. It does not report on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants. Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
Goodyear Tire & Rubber increased its total GHG emissions in 2021 compared to 2020. While the company set the goal to reach net-zero scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050, no data could be found in the public domain on more specific target objectives (reduction percentages on the short term). The company is not reducing its scope 3 emissions, and does not have a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Invasive species
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has not identified any activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive alien species in its own operations.

Safe, healthy, clean environment
Goodyear Tire & Rubber is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous peoples’ and land rights
Goodyear Tire & Rubber does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber has an opportunity to describe a comprehensive process for identifying and assessing its human rights risks and impacts across all its activities, especially through its business relationships. It should also disclose what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. A description of this process would include how relevant factors are considered, such as geographical, economic and social factors. Goodyear Tire & Rubber states that all of its procurement associates takes annual training course on human rights issues. Also, it states that its hotline is accessible to both associates and suppliers to report on human rights issues, however, there is no evidence that the company discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights risks (meeting 4a or 4b) and it is, therefore, unable to meet this element, which requires a global system to take action to prevent, mitigate or remediate its salient human rights risks, which must be transparently shared. There is no evidence that Goodyear Tire & Rubber provides an example of the conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. There is no evidence that Goodyear Tire & Rubber provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. In its policy statement, the company states that it expects its suppliers to comply with its commitment to worker safety and health. Regarding decent living wages, tt has an opportunity to disclose a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. The company has also an opportunity to describe how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. Goodyear Tire & Rubber discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. While it states that it encourages its suppliers to respect employees’ right to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to those.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber has an opportunity to publish a global tax strategy and should assign responsibility for this strategy to an executive-level individual or body. There is no evidence that the company describes the process for identifying its bribery and corruption risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations. Goodyear Tire & Rubber includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. There is no evidence that Goodyear Tire & Rubber has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach. The company states any political donations is made with prior approval in writing by an Associate General Counsel, however, there is no evidence that it has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions.