General Motors’ chief sustainability officer Kristen Siemen has appealed for infrastructural and policy support to help make an all-electric future a reality.

General Motors chief sustainability officer Kristen Siemen

Speaking at COP28’s Future Mobility Hub this week (see video here), Siemen said: “We’ve been very clear at General Motors that our future is electric and we have plans to turn over our portfolio and have been introducing a number of new EV vehicles.

“That transition is going to take some time. And we also can’t make that transition on our own. So we need support from an infrastructure standpoint, policies, etc to make that all-electric future a reality. ”

For General Motors, achieving this feat alone requires collaboration – Siemen expressed a desire to work alongside her competitors in order to find climate solutions.

“I think we have to continue to work together and think about that future so we have a planet that we can all live in and be successful in. And as a company, General Motors, I’m extremely proud of what we’re doing in the sustainability space. Everything from our pursuit of renewable energy, we have a goal to be 100% renewable globally by 2035, and we’ve actually achieved that by 2025 in the US.

“So, [we’re] continuing to do everything we can to be part of the solution. One of the great things about being here at COP is the collaborations. We all have products we can compete on, products we need to collaborate on solutions. And so whatever that is and whatever we can do to accelerate a better future for all of us is great for everyone.”

The Future Mobility Hub is an inclusive, innovative platform that serves as a complementary business venue to the policy-focused COP28. It’s designed to encourage learning, facilitate exchange of ideas, and promote partnerships among professionals from different industries, with the aim of shaping the future of transportation and mobility in a sustainable and innovative way.