Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) has signed a basic agreement (the "Agreement") with Hokkaido Gas Co., Ltd. ("Hokkaido Gas", President: Hiroshi Otsuki) for the supply of carbon neutral LNG. This is the first time that Hokkaido Gas will receive carbon-neutral LNG, and also the first time for Mitsui to supply carbon-neutral LNG.

This agreement is based on the long-term LNG Sale and Purchase Areement concluded in October 2017. With respect to the carbon-neutral LNG that is to be supplied by Mitsui to Hokkaido Gas in March this year, Mitsui will offset the CO2 emission (carbon offset) on a life cycle basis including feed gas production, liquefaction and combustion by using the carbon credits.

The carbon credits covered in this agreement were purchased by Mitsui from an international forest conservation project, and have been generated based on the rigorous standard and verified by the reliable third-party.

Currently, there are more than 120 countries, including Japan, that have set carbon neutral goals by 2050, which accounts for approx. 40% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. In order to achieve carbon neutrality globally, it is increasingly important to preserve and expand forests and other sources that sequester CO2. However, deforestation is still taking place mainly in developing countries, and 5 billion tons of CO2 is emitted every year, nearly five times Japan's total emissions.

Mitsui is engaged in forest planting projects in Australia and other countries and carbon credit generating projects through initiatives such as forest conservation activities in Cambodia, and the company will continue to maintain and develop forests and other sources that absorb CO2.

In the Medium-Term Management Plan announced in May 2020, the Energy Solutions field has been identified as an area of strategic focus where we can leverage our comprehensive capabilities, and our mission is to support our customers' efforts to decarbonize. We will continue to promote the transition to LNG to help reduce environmental impacts around the world, and in addition to this move towards carbon neutralization, we will strive to provide a variety of solutions such as renewable energy, NexGen/low-carbon fuels, suppy of hydrogen and ammonia, CCUS (Carbon Dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) , and Carbon Recycling.