The "Vehicle Carbon Footprint Snap" campaign has sparked questioning: Why is the carbon footprint of Mercedes-Benz cars consistently high? Which sector of production has a greater impact on a vehicle's carbon footprint? Why do cars that look extremely similar have such vastly different carbon footprints in different market contexts? What is the current situation and what are the problems regarding carbon footprint management in Chinese automotive enterprises? How should work proceed in the future? To address these questions, CPCD invited special guests Ma Jun, Director of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) and Ning Lizhe, automotive industry practitioner for an interview.

In 2025, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) and Green Jiangnan, together with 9 other environmental organizations, jointly launched the "Automotive Carbon Footprint Snap" campaign. Netizens on the Blue Map app participated actively, unlocking the product carbon footprints of over 110,000 vehicles through street photography, totaling over 4.12 million tons of carbon emissions. Among them, the total carbon emissions of Mercedes-Benz vehicles exceeded 270,000 tons, standing out significantly among hundreds of Chinese and foreign automotive brands. To accelerate the low-carbon transformation among automakers in China and to provide consumers with greener products, 11 environmental organizations jointly sent a letter to a group of leading brands. Some Chinese and foreign automakers responded positively, engaging in exchanges and discussions with the environmental organizations on relevant issues. However, regrettably, Mercedes-Benz has yet to make any response.

In July 2025, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) and the Green Jiangnan co-released the "Photovoltaic Enterprise Environment and Low-Carbon Evaluation Report 2025". The report revealed that leading enterprises such as LONGi, Jinko Solar, and Tongwei are actively advancing low-carbon transformation. While environmental information disclosure in the photovoltaic industry has improved and the use of green electricity has grown significantly, carbon emissions in the sector continue to rise. The report recommends that leading companies strengthen decarbonization across their industrial chains to make greater contributions to energy transition both in China and globally.

The debate between BYD, Geely Auto, and Great Wall Motors (GWM) has drawn significant attention. The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) conducted an analysis of the three automakers' low-carbon and environmental performance based on publicly available data. IPE recommends that BYD, Geely Auto, and GMW leverage their industry leadership amid fierce market competition to reduce their environmental impact and carbon footprint from operation. IPE also calls for the automaker to drive core suppliers to start with environmental compliance, assess their carbon emissions baseline, set science-based decarbonization targets, and implement energy-saving and emission-reduction measures.

Transportation industry accounts for 16% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the processing and manufacturing of raw materials as emission hotspots. At the same time, the steel and aluminum smelting industries are major contributors to China's industrial carbon emissions. The automotive industry urgently needs to innovate and explore pathways for collaborative carbon reduction with suppliers, to incentivize and accelerate the innovation and application of low-carbon green technologies, and to drive the low-carbon transition of steel and aluminum enterprises. With the support of the Energy Foundation, IPE conducted research on the 'Collaborative Decarbonization of Automotive, Steel, and Aluminum Green Supply Chains'. The research focuses on engaging the automotive industry to set and disclose supply chain carbon reduction targets, implement low-carbon procurement requirements, and incentivize hard-to-abate industries such as steel and aluminum smelting to accelerate the production and supply of low-carbon products, thereby assisting the automotive industry's decarbonization process, supporting China's 'dual carbon' goals, and contributing to global climate change governance.

In September 2024, Apple released the new carbon-neutral Apple Watch Series 10. We studied Apple's Environmental Product Reports, Supplier Code of Conduct, Environmental Progress Report, and People and Environment in Our Supply Chain: 2024 Annual Progress Report alongside our observation over Apple's green supply chain performance over the past year and identified several positive actions.

Apple announced its first ‘carbon neutral’ product, triggering five questions.