Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sustainable Management Promotion Organization ("SuMPO", Office; Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Chairperson: Hideki Ishida) for the purpose of developing and commercializing a platform whose key functions include the visualization of life cycle assessments (LCAs) for assessing the environmental impacts of products and services, and the provision of environmental certification.

The reduction of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) has become an important global priority in recent years. Japan has set a target of achieving zero GHG emissions by 2050, and various initiatives have been launched with the aim of creating a sustainable society. Because there is a limit to the ability of individual companies to reduce GHG emissions, it is extremely important to focus on GHG emissions across product life cycles.

From this standpoint, Mitsui and SuMPO decided to collaborate on the development of a platform that will realize visualization of product LCAs across entire supply chains, in order to contribute to the decarbonization of the industrial arena. Mitsui has accumulated extensive knowledge of products and services from upstream to downstream areas and is working to find solutions to issues affecting stakeholders in its supply chains. SuMPO has specialized LCA knowledge and is Japan's only ISO-based carbon footprint certification body. Mitsui and SuMPO will promote changes in business and consumer behavior and the creation of new business toward realization of social decarbonization, while also helping all companies that are facing challenges in their decarbonization processes to visualize their emission reduction efforts, through the provision of a simple way to visualize GHG emissions for individual products with a certain level of reliability.

In its Medium-term Management Plan, Mitsui has designated energy solution as one of its strategic focus areas and has identified, as new growth opportunities, business, products, and services that contribute to social decarbonization through the reduction of energy consumption and GHG emissions. This platform business will constitute the infrastructure for such activities. Through the provision of various solutions, including those found through this business, Mitsui will contribute to the enhancement of people's lives and the creation of a sustainable society by developing essential social infrastructure to support sustainable growth and development.