"The crisis can be an opportunity for VW - an opportunity for a reorientation towards climate-friendly mobility. This is what I'm offering my advice for," says Ottmar Edenhofer who's also a Professor at the Technical University Berlin and Director of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change. "Since Volkswagen is the world's largest automobile manufacturer, it is of course relevant for the greenhouse gas reductions that are needed if we want to avoid the biggest climate risks. The new council is independent, Volkswagen cannot interfere with our discussions, and we choose our topics ourselves. Any attempt to exploit the sustainability council for greenwashing would backfire. VW knows this very well."
Other members of the council are:
• Connie Hedegaard – former EU Commissioner for Climate Action
• Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost – Professor at the University of the Arts in Berlin
• Georg Kell – Founding Director UN Global Compact
• Yves Leterme – former OECD Deputy Secretary-General and former Prime
Minister of Belgium
• Prof. Dr. Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff, former Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court
• Margo T. Oge, former Director of Transportation Air Quality, US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
• Michael Sommer, former President of the Confederation of German Trade Unions
(DGB)
• Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Weblink to VW release: http://www.volkswagenag.com/content/vwcorp/info_center/en/news/2016/09/sustainability_council.html
