Climate change summit from 22nd Greenhouse gas response Japanese companies are moving

The Climate Change Summit called by US President Joe Biden will be held on the 22nd and 23rd.

Forty world leaders, including Japan and China, have been invited, and the focus will be on each country's goals, such as reducing greenhouse gases.

As the momentum toward a "decarbonized society" increases internationally, Japanese companies are increasingly trying to calculate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout their supply chains, including their business partners. ..

In 2015, the United Nations and others started a system called "SBT = Science Based Target" that certifies companies that are working to reduce greenhouse gases based on scientific grounds.

The number of companies receiving certification has increased recently, and as of the end of March, there were 643 companies worldwide, more than double the number a year ago.

Of these, 95 are Japanese companies, an increase of 37 from a year ago.

In order to be certified, it is necessary to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in the entire supply chain including business partners, and set their own reduction targets and reduction targets including business partners. Nagoya City, which supports the calculation, etc. The company receives about 40 inquiries a month.

Regarding global warming countermeasures, a system called "carbon border adjustment measures" that tax imports from countries with insufficient countermeasures according to emissions is being discussed in the EU = European Union, and the flow of such regulations will be strengthened. It means that there are many companies that are rushing to respond.

Shuichiro Suzuki, the representative of "Wastebox" that supports calculations, said, "The situation is that measures that I thought would be required in the time axis of 5 or 10 years will be required in 1 or 2 years, and the corporate crisis. The feeling is growing. I would like to support not only major companies but also small and medium-sized enterprises. "

Manufacturers aiming to reduce emissions throughout the supply chain

"COMANY," a manufacturer of partitions used in offices headquartered in Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, received SBT certification in April last year.

In receiving the certification, the company calculated carbon dioxide emissions based on the amount of electricity and gasoline used in a total of 33 factories and offices of the group.

Then, we expanded the scope of calculation to more than 2000 business partners, such as suppliers of materials such as steel sheets and aluminum, and shipping companies.

On top of that, we set a goal of halving our own emissions by 2030 compared to 2018, and we also reduced emissions to 130 major business partners in order to reduce emissions in the entire supply chain. We are requesting that we set goals.

The company is working to improve efficiency by installing solar panels on the roof of the building and introducing an energy management system in the factory to reduce its own emissions.

On the other hand, some business partners have said, "We will work positively to reduce emissions, but it will be difficult to reach a high level," so we are tenacious in reducing emissions significantly throughout the supply chain. I think we need to work on it.

Toyonobu Sakamoto, General Manager of COMANY Quality and Environment Promotion Headquarters, said, "There are cases where you can get an understanding by repeating dialogues multiple times, even if it is not possible once. I think it is necessary to protect the environment and to improve our competitiveness. "

Discussion on the introduction of "carbon border adjustment measures" in the background

Behind the rush of companies to calculate emissions, there is a worldwide debate about the introduction of a system that imposes tariffs according to emissions during trade as a measure against global warming.

That is the system called "Carbon Border Adjustment Measures".

The EU plans to make a concrete proposal in June this year, such as taxing imports from countries with inadequate measures against global warming according to their emissions.

The Biden administration in the United States will also consider similar measures in its trade policy guidelines released last month.

However, some emerging countries have pointed out that unilateral tariffs on "carbon border adjustment measures" could lead to protectionist policies.

In Japan, a study group of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has confirmed the policy of assessing the consistency with international trade rules and the status of future discussions, without assuming the introduction at this time.