Mitsubishi talks the talk when it comes to its commitment to the environment. But what most consumers probably don’t know is that a huge chunk of Mitsubishi's carbon emissions go unreported.

Indirect emissions in corporate supply chains often make up the majority of a corporation’s carbon footprint. From raw material extraction to packaging and transportation, these processes often go wholly unreported. Mitsubishi can’t claim to be committed to reducing its carbon footprint while it refuses to disclose indirect supply chain emissions.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Since 2011, Ford Motors has taken proactive steps to reduce the carbon footprint of its supply chain, joining the Carbon Disclosure Project and tracking carbon emissions in 128 of its global suppliers. To live up to its supposed commitment to sustainability, Mitsubishi must follow Ford’s lead and disclose carbon emissions in its supply chain.   

Ask Mitsubishi to address carbon emissions in its supply chain.

Electric cars aside, Mitsubishi has a long history of greenwashing its image -- portraying itself as environmentally conscious while proving otherwise through its actions. In 2011, the company co-sponsored the 2011 Sustainable Living Festival in Australia, where protesters called attention to Mitsubishi’s unethical stockpiling of endangered bluefin tuna.

Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Motors recently admitted to a decades-long emissions scandal. Over the course of 25 years, Mitsubishi cheated emissions test by over-inflating test models in order to yield unrealistic emissions measurements.  

Clearly, Mitsubishi needs to do more to live up its proclaimed commitment to working towards a “low-carbon, sustainable society.” Disclosing carbon emissions in its supply chain would be a huge step towards reducing this global company’s carbon footprint and would help set a new standard for climate change action in the auto industry.