EV Battery Makers Pressured to Curb Emissions Amid Net-Zero Push

EV battery companies such as sector leaders BYD, EVE Energy, and CATL are under growing pressure for their own greenhouse emissions as climate action campaigners demand more rapid decarbonisation of the EV supply chain. While EVs are part of the solution for falling transport emissions, battery makers are under growing pressure to reduce carbon from their manufacturing and raw material sourcing process.

Few of the leading lithium-ion battery manufacturers have pledges to reduce emissions from electricity consumption and supplier operations — two of the largest contributors to carbon emissions in manufacturing batteries, a Greenpeace East Asia report released recently found. An examination of the report found 7 among the world's top 10 battery manufacturers with no clear pledges in at least one of the two categories.

The report pointed out that although batteries are at the center of making low-carbon energy and transport systems, manufacturing processes continue to produce large emissions. Most of the production facilities of market leaders are in China and Poland, which have grids dominated primarily by coal and other fossil fuels. Greenpeace pointed out that it is still the best option to cut the link between production and carbon-fueled grids to turn to green power in those facilities.

Greenpeace East Asia campaigner Erin Choi said the lack of clear sustainability targets among the big companies is problematic as far as their devotion to actual decarbonisation is concerned. She further included that the industry requires specific timeframes and emission-reduction targets for the producers of high-carbon products like nickel, lithium, and cobalt.

While other companies like BYD and EVE Energy have kept mum to queries, some like CATL — the globe's biggest battery maker — have been acting. CATL supplies batteries to the likes of Tesla, Ford, and Volkswagen and has apparently embraced more robust sustainability policies. The company indicated that factory emissions increased by around 5% last year, while at the same time production increased 30%. This CATL is doing by offering economic benefits to those suppliers who reduce their carbon footprint, as has been confirmed by its chairman Robin Zeng.

Greenpeace has called for the EV battery industry to make similarly transparent emissions reporting. The group envisions not only cleaner manufacturing at the factory floor but also accountability measures for suppliers' emissions reports. The green watchdog feels such reforms are necessary for the makers of batteries to be part of net-zero efforts worldwide.

EV batteries are required to charge up the transport sector and to get renewables into the grid, both of which are necessary in order to cut overall carbon emissions. Yet if their overall net benefits are being undermined, says Greenpeace, if the supply chain continues to be reliant on fossil fuels and illegible sustainability standards.

The BloombergNEF report quoted in the report justifies the contention that while EVs and grid storage help reduce emissions, the battery manufacturing industry must address its own carbon expense. Companies from countries dependent on coal find it more challenging to switch to cleaner methods of operation unless policy or internal measures speed up change.

This focus on battery makers comes as the clean tech sector is under increasing pressure to make sure the machinery making decarbonisation possible is sustainable in itself. With growing demand for batteries worldwide — particularly with increasing EV use and energy storage requirements — supply chain emissions will increase unless something is done.

Producers such as BYD, whose more than $21 billion market value disappeared since late May, are also being watched by investors and regulators as well as reputationally attacked. The firm, which only recently expanded in Brazil and is grappling with international trade tensions, has not announced any significant emissions-reduction targets even though it is one of the fastest-growing players in the EV market.
The document also indicates that a few of China's automobile companies, such as BYD, Chery, and Geely, have made general commitments to sustainability in response to increasing pressure from regulators and investors. These, however, must be supported by concrete objectives and action plans, according to Greenpeace.

Around the world, regulators are beginning to link incentives and access to market with climate performance. The same applies to car and component manufacturers in Europe and North America, already subject to elevated levels of reporting and emissions, and already experiencing such expectations being mapped out in Asia as well. Thus, non-conforming battery manufacturers will experience diminished market prospects and more stringent supply chain audits.

The Greenpeace report concludes that greater transparency, adoption of renewables, and involvement of suppliers are what battery manufacturers must achieve in order to continue being the drivers of global climate action. Without abatement of emissions internally, the environmental gains of electric vehicles can be greatly offset by upstream carbon costs.

Source: BLOOMBERG | Published: July 10, 2025 | By: Reuters & Bloomberg