Indonesian ride hail app Gojek has announced plans to turn every car and motorcycle on its platform into an electric vehicle (EV) by 2030 in an ambitious tripartite sustainability strategy.
The company, dubbed the “Three Zeros” agenda, aims to achieve zero emissions, zero waste and no socio-economic barriers by the end of the decade, co-founder and co-CEO Kevin Aluwi told CNBC.
The 11-year-old company will invest in a number of EV pilot programs in Southeast Asia and introduce a “world’s first” in-app carbon offsetting feature. However, Aluwi said the plans would also require outside assistance.
“We will definitely use our money where our mouth is,” said Aluwi. “But it goes without saying that it is impossible for us to do this alone,” he continued, emphasizing the need for public and private collaboration to build the supporting infrastructure.
We will definitely put our money where our mouth is. But it goes without saying that it is impossible for us to drive this alone.
Kevin Aluwi
Co-founder and Co-CEO, Gojek
Gojek has already seen great interest from battery manufacturers, nickel suppliers and Indonesian authorities interested in supporting the transition to green energy in the world’s fourth largest country and the surrounding region, said Aluwi.
“Indonesia is one of the largest motorcycle haulage countries so there is a lot of interest from all types of parties and we see ourselves primarily as a facilitator to make this happen.”
The company also announced a number of social mobility initiatives, including the establishment of an employee-led council to advance corporate diversity, equality and inclusion programs and support the digitization of micro and small businesses. It also promised to only attend gender-specific panels for lecture events.
Aluwi said the plans would help Gojek remove some of the barriers to inclusivity that exist both within the company and in Indonesia as a whole.
“We’re very, very far from where we need to be if I can be brutally honest with ourselves. But I think our commitments are the first step in correcting that,” he said. “Indonesia is a very diverse and complex country when it comes to these issues.”
An Indonesian driver from the Gojek hail service and his passenger commute in Jakarta on March 5, 2021.
NurPhoto | Getty Images
The plans were announced on Friday in the company’s first sustainability report, which outlines the company’s environmental, social and government goals (ESG). The goals are to be announced and reviewed annually.
“It’s no longer about whether companies should report their sustainability impact,” said Allinettes Adigue, head of ASEAN at the Global Reporting Initiative, which benchmarks corporate and government ESG commitments, in the report’s press release .
“The issue now is whether the reports reported by companies are accurate, relevant and clearly communicate their economic, environmental and social impact,” he added.
The announcement follows news that Gojek will merge with Indonesian e-commerce company Tokopedia to form the multifunctional GoTo app.
An IPO is definitely an area, an activity, a milestone that we know is on the agenda at some point.
Kevin Aluwi
Co-founder and Co-CEO, Gojek
Under the combined company, the country’s two most valuable startups will reportedly aim for a valuation of up to $ 40 billion if they compete in the public markets against Southeast Asian hail giant Grab.
“An IPO is definitely an area, an activity, a milestone that we know will be on the agenda at some point,” said Aluwi, although it would not be limited in time.
Last month, SoftBank-Backed Grab announced that through a SPAC merger with Altimeter Growth Corp. will go public. The company is valued at $ 39.6 billion – the largest blank check merger to date.
