Ranking
Comparison
Total Score
Environment
Human Rights
Summary
BMW has been making strong progress on the EV transition, taking the top spot in European EV sales in mid-2024. BMW only made modest improvements in the Leaderboard this year, however, achieving a 6 percentage point score increase overall and rising in the rankings by one position: from seventh to sixth place.
For the Climate and Environment section, BMW only improved its score in the General subsection, mainly due to the company’s above average performance on the new deforestation indicators.
BMW’s progress in the Human Rights section has been more substantial, with the company making consistent progress across all human rights areas since the 2024 Leaderboard, achieving an 8 percentage point increase in its total human rights score compared to last year. The company’s most significant improvements are on transition minerals and workers’ rights. This has made the company move up from fifth to fourth position in the human rights ranking, although it is still behind Ford, Mercedes, and Tesla.
Key Findings
- Top scoring company in the General subsection of the Climate and Environment section, achieving a total score of 60% against these indicators.
- Lags behind industry leaders in the specific areas of steel, aluminium and battery supply chain decarbonization, achieving no score improvements at all in the steel and aluminum subsections and only improving its score against one indicator in the battery subsection.
- One of the few automakers that have published a vehicle level lifecycle carbon footprint, with a breakdown of material use and carbon emissions for its i5 model. However, does not disclose disaggregated emissions for the steel, aluminum or battery used in this vehicle, unlike some competitors such as Volvo.
- Maintains a leadership position on human rights, with strong human rights commitments, policies and systems in place for its supply chain, with improved transparency this year regarding the level of detail provided about its human rights due diligence process, supply chain grievances, and remedial processes.
- Discloses a good level of detail in relation to the results of its minerals supply chain mapping efforts, its direct sourcing agreements, and identified conflict and transition mineral risks.
- Continues to fare poorly on Indigenous Peoples’ rights: is one of the few companies to expressly require suppliers to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights but does not disclose any information to demonstrate implementation or enforcement of this requirement.
- Generally strong commitments and policies on workers’ rights, despite some concerning comments made by BMW’s CEO last year with regards to the rights of workers to unionize and bargain collectively. This year, the company improved its disclosure in relation to salient workers’ rights risks and mechanisms to consult trade unions on workers’ rights policies.
- The only automaker to require suppliers to pay a living wage, although the company does not disclose how it defines a living wage or any measures it has taken to ensure compliance by suppliers with this requirement.
Score Breakdown
Fossil-Free & Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chains
General
Steel
Aluminum
Batteries
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Human Rights & Responsible Resourcing
General
Minerals
Indigenous' Rights
Workers' Rights
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Supply Chain News & Progress
Latest on BMW
Supply chain transformation is a risk management imperative and opportunity for a competitive edge. Leading brands are already securing a first-mover advantage and leveraging their power to transform legacy supply chains into a force for good. The revolution is underway.
By 2026, more than one third of BMW’s steel will be “CO₂-reduced” + “CO₂-reduced” aluminum agreement
As part of their value chain-wide climate neutrality by 2050 goal, BMW stated their focus on CO₂-intensive materials, including aluminum and steel.
On steel, from 2026, more than one third of BMW’s steel worldwide will be “CO₂-reduced steel,” eliminating approximately 900,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually. They state that this is based on contracts with suppliers in Europe, China, and the US. BMW also noted that they see their efforts as “promoting the transformation of the steel industry.”
On aluminum, BMW have signed a declaration of intent with Rio Tinto in Canada for “significantly CO₂-reduced” aluminum from 2024. BMW states that compared to conventional methods, “the process avoids around 70% of CO₂ emissions.” This aluminum will be used exclusively in vehicle production at BMW’s Spartanburg plant in the US.
BMW signs agreements for low-carbon steel & aluminum in Europe, US and China
BMW has signed agreements with Salzgitter AG in Europe, Steel Dynamics (SDI) and Big River Steel in the U.S. and HBIS Group in China for low-carbon steel to be used in its production cycles. In February 2023, BMW also signed an agreement to source reduced CO2 aluminum from Rio Tinto for its US vehicle production.
Allegations of negative environmental impacts & forced labor
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has documented allegations against BMW’s supply chains for being implicated in environmental harms affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and forced labor. Reports also link BMW’s nickel supply chain with pollution in Indonesia.
Our Vision
01 — Equitably
Respecting and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, workers, and local communities throughout the supply chain.
02 — Sustainably
Preserving and restoring environmental health and biodiversity across supply chains, while reducing primary resource demand through efficient resource use and increased recycled content.
03 — Fossil-free
100% electric and made with a fossil fuel-free supply chain.