At the 2026 Shenzhen Stock Exchange Global Investor Conference, Pan Xuexing, Sustainability Director of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.,Ltd. (CATL), outlined the company's approach to integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. He stated that the company established a Sustainability Management Committee in 2019 and published its first social responsibility report. The inaugural ESG report followed in 2022, and the company announced a zero-carbon strategy during the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show. Notably, the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in core operations by 2025 was met last year, while the target for full value chain carbon neutrality by 2035 remains in progress.
Pan Xuexing detailed six key pathways identified by CATL to achieve value chain carbon neutrality: zero-carbon design, zero-carbon factories, zero-carbon manufacturing, zero-carbon power, zero-carbon supply, and a circular ecosystem. He emphasized that carbon, similar to quality and cost, is fundamentally a product of design.
Regarding the circular ecosystem, subsidiary Brunp focuses on lithium battery material recycling, achieving recovery rates of 99.6% for nickel, cobalt, and manganese, and 95.6% for lithium. Brunp pioneered the DRT one-stop direct replenishment technology, which can directly regenerate recycled materials into battery raw materials. In the same year, CATL co-founded the Global Circular Economy Consortium (GECC) with organizations like the Elon Musk Foundation, aiming to provide a comprehensive solution set from product design to recycling networks, processes, data handling, and rule-making.
On standard-setting, CATL co-initiated a battery passport pilot project with entities like GBA and participated in drafting related standards. The future goal is to establish a global circular economy model that is replicable, reusable, and shareable.
Addressing how ESG enhances corporate value, Pan Xuexing explained that CATL has implemented a three-tier management structure and a four-level indicator management system. This system breaks down responsibilities from broad dimensions to specific data points, quantifying management accountability across business interfaces. Through a dynamic four-level workflow, indicators are categorized as irrelevant, leading, general, or important. Special task forces are established to improve performance on important indicators found lacking, such as the Climate Resilience and Biodiversity Task Force.
Pan Xuexing stressed that ESG cannot operate in isolation. Through a dual materiality assessment process, the company fully considers issues important to stakeholders like customers and integrates them into various business departments. While achieving operational carbon neutrality internally, the application of batteries in areas like the electrification transition, energy storage, eVTOLs, and electric ships is continuously expanding the market, allowing the company to deliver better products and services to customers and investors.