ENVIRONMENT

In 1988, prompted by experts' opinions that "the Earth's average temperature could rise on an unprecedented scale in the first half of the 21st century," the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN organization, was established, and research on global warming began.

Due to the effects of greenhouse gases, sea surface temperatures are already rising, glaciers and sea ice are melting, and sea levels have begun to rise. As a result, climate change is causing heavy rainfall, heat waves, large-scale floods, and wildfires in various regions.

Following the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased dramatically with the use of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

Climate change is caused by changes in weather (weather, temperature, wind, precipitation, etc.), and these changes can be divided into "natural factors" such as volcanic eruptions and changes in solar activity, and "anthropogenic factors" such as greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.

The IPCC has concluded that anthropogenic factors are the cause of global warming.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 and entered into force in 1994, with the ultimate goal of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Based on this, the "Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP)," which is positioned as the highest decision-making body of the convention, is held almost every year.

The Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement marked major turning points in the history of COP.

A decarbonized society will eventually achieve "net-zero CO2 emissions," encompassing a circular economy that makes efficient use of resources ("zero emissions") and "carbon neutrality," which involves offsetting CO2 emissions and absorption to achieve zero.

As of COP26 (November 2021), more than 150 countries (all G20 countries) have set decarbonization targets with deadlines. (Many developed countries have pledged to achieve this by 2050, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia by 2060, and India by 2070.)

Already escapedCarbon is the global consensus.

In 1995, the firstCOP1Held in Berlin.
The conflicting interests of various countries in addressing global warming are hindering international cooperation.

The Kyoto Protocol, adopted at COP3 in 1997, was groundbreaking because, while imposing reduction obligations only on developed countries, it was the first to set numerical targets for greenhouse gas emissions.

The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21 in 2015, stipulated that not only developed countries, but "all member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change should take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," marking a historic turning point in measures against global warming and climate change.
The policy has shifted from a low-carbon society to a decarbonized society.

In August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its Sixth Assessment Report, which for the first time definitively stated that "there is no doubt that human activity is the cause of global warming," attributing it to anthropogenic factors. The report states that the global average temperature has risen by 1.09 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era (1850-1900), and that almost all of this increase is due to human activity.

In November 2021, the Glasgow Climate Agreement, adopted at COP26, declared a commitment to "pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature increase since the pre-industrial era to 1.5 degrees Celsius," strengthening the global target from "2 degrees" to "1.5 degrees."
Furthermore, the plan explicitly mentions the gradual reduction of coal-fired power generation and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies for the first time.

In October 2020, Prime Minister Suga declared in his policy speech that Japan would "achieve carbon neutrality and a decarbonized society by 2050."

In April 2021, at the Climate Change Summit, the previous reduction target of a 26% reduction by 2030 (compared to 2013) was significantly raised to a 46% reduction.

Furthermore, the “Green Growth Strategy in conjunction with Carbon Neutrality by 2050” has been formulated to encourage bold innovation by private companies and support challenges for a new era. This approach views addressing global warming not as a constraint or cost on economic growth, but as an opportunity for growth.

Japan's energy industry is dominated by fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and liquefied natural gas (LNG), which produce large amounts of CO2, accounting for over 85% of its energy output.

It is realistic to assume that it will be difficult to meet all electricity demand with 100% renewable energy, and a rough estimate is that by 2050, renewable energy will account for approximately 50-60% of electricity generation.

Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, small-scale hydropower, and biomass do not emit greenhouse gases and can be produced domestically, making them promising, diverse, and important low-carbon domestic energy sources that can also contribute to energy security.

In order to make renewable energy a primary power source, it is first necessary to reduce the high generation costs of renewable energy compared to the rest of the world.

The Paris Agreement (framework for 2020 and beyond) does not impose any national reduction obligations.
The target is businesses, and the ones who suffer are the businesses.
The rules regarding climate change have changed because it has become impossible to continue businesses.

Investment is fleeing from carbon-related projects while it is shifting towards decarbonization.
319 institutional investors with a total of $28 trillion (3,080 trillion yen) in assets under management issued a joint statement (June 2018) calling on G7 leaders to strengthen climate action.

The Dutch regional court's ruling in May 2021, which upheld a lawsuit against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, shocked the world not only by ordering the company to set numerical targets for CO2 reduction (a 45% reduction), but also by recognizing climate change as a human rights issue and establishing an obligation to reduce emissions.

Calculating your own greenhouse gas emissions based on the GHG Protocol (a globally standardized method for calculating greenhouse gas emissions) is the most important first step in creating a decarbonized organization.
Companies that fail to comply in the future will face appropriate penalties.

Environmental awareness is increasing regarding air pollution, ocean pollution, and waste, but concern about global warming is the highest among them.

A public opinion survey published by the Cabinet Office in March 2021 showed an extremely high level of interest in global environmental issues, with over 90% of respondents across all generations saying they wanted to take action to decarbonize.

In English-speaking countries, the term "eco-guilt" has emerged to describe a self-awareness that arises from feeling guilty about having done something harmful to the environment in one's daily life.
This can be attributed to an overly heightened awareness of environmental issues.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are seen as a social cost, and they are now surfacing as previously hidden economic costs.

An increasing number of companies are adopting "internal carbon pricing" (ICP), which involves treating CO2 emissions as a "cost," assigning a price to it, and using this information to inform decisions regarding capital investment.
Hitachi introduced the system in 2019, setting the price for CO2 at 5,000 yen per ton, but raised it to 14,000 yen in August 2021.

Carbon pricing is a mechanism that assigns a price to CO2 emissions and uses market mechanisms to curb them.
In Europe, the world's leading emissions trading market, the price is currently over 80 euros/ton (approximately 10,000 yen/ton).

Ube Industries has announced in its integrated report that its GHG emissions for fiscal year 2020 were 11.27 million tons. If the price is 10,000 yen/ton, this amounts to a cost of 112.7 billion yen, which is more than four times its operating profit.

The concept of decarbonization itself isIt is an international treaty from 25 years ago.It all started with the Kyoto Protocol (COP3, 1997).
There have been many opposing viewpoints in the past, such as the claim that the global warming crisis is fake, that it is being used as a tool for political conflict and bargaining, and that it is an unrealistic and irresponsible assertion.
However, the fact that "CO2 emissions must be reduced" seems unlikely to change in the future. Given this premise, discussions will likely continue on how to achieve reductions and what kinds of systems should be implemented.
This means that the very concept of "what constitutes a proper decarbonization" is in a process of evolving.

Previously, there were criticisms that wind power plants emit a lot of CO2 during their manufacturing process, and that coal-fired power plants are used to charge electric vehicles, but these issues have been resolved by expanding the range of CO2 emissions that are counted.
Previously, only "direct emissions" (SCOPE1) of CO2 emitted by the parties themselves were counted. However, "indirect emissions from energy sources" (SCOPE2) were introduced based on the idea of whether the electricity being used is decarbonized in the first place.
Furthermore, there is a growing trend towards considering "other indirect emissions" (SCOPE 3), which extend to upstream and downstream areas such as manufacturing contractors and exhaust boot disposal contractors.

A joint declaration by environmental NGOs has been issued stating that "biomass power generation involving large-scale fuel imports should be stopped."(2020/12/3)
While biomass power generation is being promoted as "environmentally friendly" through surcharges added to electricity rates, imports of fuels such as wood pellets and PKS (palm kernel shells) are rapidly increasing.
It has been suggested that large-scale biomass power plants that rely on imported fuels should be shut down, as they will further exacerbate the biodiversity and climate crisis.

When considering decarbonization efforts, I believe it's crucial to consider whether, when these methods are further expanded, it will actually lead to a better society.
A true decarbonization business is one that can achieve decarbonization, has a sustainable system, is economically viable, and can be undertaken by many private companies.
It is hoped that many small-scale, truly decarbonized businesses will emerge, made possible through technological ingenuity.