Initiatives for SDGs Environment

Companies should not operate at the expense of environmental sustainability. This has been a firm conviction in the way we do business for a long time. Today, based on Panasonic Environment Vision 2050 formulated in 2017, we are working toward dual aims: a better life and a sustainable global environment. While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) point the way to a more sustainable environment and society, these goals can also be seen as a business opportunity. We can create new value for our customers by connecting the SDGs to our business and pursuing environmental conservation in a more strategic manner.

Climate action is a major theme of Environment Vision 2050. We’ve focused on energy as a means of linking climate action to business growth and making it easier for our increasingly eco-conscious customers to understand their own impacts. To reduce energy use, we are designing products based on set targets related to their energy-saving contributions. And to increase energy generation, we are developing fuel cell technologies, which use hydrogen to generate electricity, and storage battery technologies. These are some of the products, technologies and solutions we will be developing in the years ahead to generate, store, conserve and manage energy to help mitigate the climate emergency.

Because our energy use in global manufacturing emits large quantities of carbon dioxide, we are carrying out a zero-CO₂ factory initiative to create more energy than we use. So far, four sites (six factories), in Japan, Belgium, Brazil and Costa Rica, have become zero-CO₂ factories, and aim to expand this initiative at all 250 sites worldwide. To accelerate progress, we joined the Environmental Digital Platform launched by Konica Minolta in June, as a managing company. Sixteen participating companies will share environmental information and technical expertise related to energy management and conservation with the goal of improving their environmental performance and creating new business opportunities.

Alongside energy, resource is another key theme of Environment Vision 2050. As customer values shift from owning to using, businesses that adopt circular economy models are gathering more attention. To promote effective utilization of resources, we will expand our offering of product sharing services and the refurbishment and reuse of products and parts. We will also reassess existing business segments, such as office building renovation, from a circular economy perspective to expand our operations for promoting effective utilization of resources and maximization of customer value.

While the target year for the SDGs is 2030, the target year for Environment Vision is 2050. When it comes to environmental issues, targets should be set on 50 to 100-year timelines. The Paris Agreement, for example, is an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of this century. We look forward to supporting and working with our business departments to realize both a better life and a sustainable global environment.