Auto Trader achieves Gold carbon literacy status

Auto Trader has been awarded Gold Carbon Literate Organisation accreditation from the Carbon Literacy Project (CLP).

It’s the first FTSE 100 company to reach this milestone.

The award recognises that more than 50% of Auto Traders colleagues have completed dedicated Carbon Literacy training and becoming certified as Carbon Literate.

Nathan Coe, Auto Trader’s chief executive officer, said: “We’re incredibly proud to have reached this important carbon literacy milestone as it represents three years of hard work and dedication from across our business - not only in implementing and delivering the training, but also maintaining our shared commitment and passion for our broader sustainability objectives.

“We take our environmental responsibilities seriously, and although we still have some way to go to reach our carbon targets, we hope we can support others in the process.”

Driving Carbon Literacy across its workforce is just one part of Auto Trader’s broader environmental commitments. As of this financial year, Auto Trader is a carbon neutral business, having offset all its scope one, two and three carbon emissions. It is also committed to becoming a Net Zero business by 2040 and has submitted its targets to the Science Based Target initiative, which are in the process of being validated.

Carbon Literacy covers a broad range of climate change related topics and creates greater awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities, as well as inspiring people to reduce their emissions on an individual, community, and organisational basis.

With every colleague successfully accredited, an organisation develops its low-carbon culture and progresses toward becoming a fully accredited Carbon Literate Organisation, achieving key milestones (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) along the way.

Dave Coleman, managing director at The Carbon Literacy Project, added: “The rapid adoption of low and no-carbon vehicles is a vital part of the country's journey to Net Zero. This requires not just new types of vehicles, but the understanding needed to buy, sell and support them, and Auto Trader's accreditation of more than half of its 1000-strong staff body and the resulting gold CLO award, is a hugely impressive achievement and underlines Auto Trader's low-carbon leadership role in the automotive sector.”

Auto Trader funded and developed the first of its kind Automotive Carbon Literacy Toolkit in partnership with the CLP. It was co-written and designed in close collaboration with a number of other automotive retailers and manufacturers, including Nissan, Marshall Motor Group, Lookers, Motorpoint, AvailableCar, and SYNETIQ.

The toolkit is available for any organisation, of any size, working within the automotive industry, and has been developed with the purpose of supporting individuals and businesses in their journey towards reducing their carbon footprint by making the adoption of Carbon Literacy faster and easier to achieve.

It contains all of the tools and materials an organisation requires to educate and accredit its employees in Carbon Literacy, including tailored training content, a trainer guide, detailed resources, and dedicated support from a member of the Carbon Literacy Project team.

On May 4, Auto Trader and the CLP will be hosting an open training day at Auto Trader’s London office. The day is another opportunity for automotive businesses to learn all about the benefits of adopting a low carbon business model, including the safety and security of jobs and the wellbeing of colleagues, as well as the positive impact on the bottom line. By the end of the session, attendees will be fully trained, and eligible to be Carbon Literacy certified.