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Mitsui & Co. to make its electricity use carbon neutral across all of its Japan business locations

Jun. 24, 2020


Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) will make the electricity it uses at its Head Office and all of its Japan business locations carbon neutral from July. In particular, the power supplied to its new Head Office, which it relocated to in May, will meet RE100 criteria*.

From July, electricity consumed at Otemachi One, the large-scale complex and the joint business with Mitsui Fudosan in Otemachi, Tokyo where Mitsui's Head Office is located, will be sourced from the Fukushima Natural Gas Power Plant (Shinchi-cho, Soma-gun, Fukushima Prefecture), a facility which has Mitsui as one of its main investers. Mitsui will apply renewable energy-derived credits generated by the biomass power generation of its affiliate Konan Utility Co., Ltd. ("Konan Utility") equivalent to the volume of electricity that it consumes at its Head Office, making it meet RE100 criteria. In addition, Mitsui will also apply the credits generated by Konan Utility and Mitsui's company-owned forests to the electricity used at all of its business sites including all branch offices and training centers across Japan, essentially making it carbon neutral.

In recent years, the corporate response to climate change has become increasingly important to the sustainability of society, including the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Mitsui believes that both economic development and the response to climate change are essential for sustainable social growth, and in December 2018 it endorsed the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Mitsui has set "Sustainability management; Evolution of ESG" as one of the corporate strategies of its "Medium-term Management Plan 2023". In addition, it has set "Net-zero emissions" as its vision for 2050, with an interim goal of reducing its GHG impact by 2030 to half of what it is in 2020. Efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from electricity used at all of its business sites to essentially zero is also one of the concrete measures aimed at realizing this 2050 vision. Mitsui will continue to promote initiatives for "Sustainability management; Evolution of ESG" through its business activities.

*RE100 criteria
RE100 is an international initiative whereby member companies aim to procure 100% of energy consumed in business operations through renewable energy sources. The RE100 criteria defines the amount of electricity that can be accounted for as renewable energy, taking into account the systematic differences between countries.


 

Mitsui & Co.'s Materiality

“Build brighter futures, everywhere” as our corporate mission, and to gain the trust and expectations of our stakeholders to realize a better tomorrow for earth and for people around the world, we have identified five material issues (“Materiality”) for Mitsui & Co.’s sustainable growth. We anticipate this particular business to contribute especially to the realization of "Create an eco-friendly society".

  • Secure sustainable supply of essential products
    Secure sustainable supply of essential products
  • Enhance quality of life
    Enhance quality of life
  • Create an eco-friendly society
    Create an eco-friendly society
  • Develop talent leading to value creation
    Develop talent leading to value creation
  • Build an organization with integrity
    Build an organization with integrity
The Fukushima Natural Gas Power PlantThe Fukushima Natural Gas Power Plant
The Konan Utility Woody Biomass Cogeneration FacilityThe Konan Utility Woody Biomass Cogeneration Facility