In line with the government’s 2050 Carbon Neutral Declaration and presentation of its 2030 target, we have been working to reduce CO₂ emissions by 2030 with the goal of “reducing emissions by 46% or more (compared to fiscal 2013),” and we were able to achieve the goal ahead of schedule with a 48% reduction in CO₂ emissions in fiscal 2023.

To acquire SBTi certification (standards equivalent to 1.5°C scenario targets), in February 2023, we made a commitment to develop targets.

For our medium-term GHG (Scope 1 + Scope 2) reduction target that we aim to achieve by 2030, we have set a new target of 48% or more reduction compared to fiscal 2021.

We will also set a Scope 3 reduction target by the end of fiscal 2024 and work to reduce emissions in the supply chain.

We also reviewed our targets for material loss (waste and valuable materials) and chemical substance emissions by standardizing the base year to fiscal 2021.

We will continue to improve the resource utilization rate by curbing the amount of material loss, promote effective use of raw materials, and also promote systematically reducing environmental impact while reducing chemical substance emissions.

CO₂ emissions in Japan are steadily decreasing as all of our production and research bases in Japan have switched to electricity derived from renewable energy. We are also promoting the introduction of solar power generation.

Further efforts will be made to reduce CO₂ emissions from fiscal 2024 and beyond by sites still using heavy oil by switching to gas power generation, as well as studying ways to switch to renewable energy sources.

In fiscal 2023, domestic production volume slightly decreased and the amount of material loss decreased in line with the decrease in production volume.

MFCA*¹ activities will also be conducted through fiscal 2024 at each business site to identify losses and promote reduction measures, to make more efficient use of resources and eliminate wasteful inefficiency.

Although chemical substance emissions for fiscal 2022 remained mostly the same as the previous fiscal year, some business sites have reduced the amount of organic solvents used by changing production methods, resulting in a decrease for fiscal 2023.

In regard to overseas business sites, we switched to electricity derived from renewable energy at three sites in China and Southeast Asia. In addition, we have started solar power generation at five facilities including Europe. The effectiveness of these initiatives has helped us make progress in reducing CO₂ emissions overseas.

Plans are underway to further expand these activities in FY2024, which are expected to further reduce CO₂ emissions.

The amount of material loss also decreased in line with the drop in production volume, but MFCA activities similar to those conducted at sites in Japan helped to reduce waste, with the goal of decreasing losses compared to the previous year.

Although we continue to use chemical substance emissions to maintain quality in specific processes, we are continuing to implement measures to reduce emissions over the medium to long term.