Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation yesterday announced that it has formulated a policy toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

Under its medium- to long-term basic management strategy KAITEKI Vision 30 (KV30) released in February 2020, MCHC defined achieving GHG impact neutrality as one of the conditions for its vision of an ideal society in 2050. To achieve this, MCHC has been promoting measures such as GHG reduction and effective utilization of resources throughout the value chain. Under such circumstances, taking into account the situation of each country and region around the world, MCHC has established its global GHG reduction targets (Scope1 and Scope2).

 

In addition to reduction through the rationalization of manufacturing processes and the conversion of fuel for in-house power generation, we will reduce global GHG emissions by 29% by fiscal 2030 (compared to fiscal 2019 levels) through reduction based on the assumption that the CO2 emission coefficient in accordance with the composition of power sources for each country and region in fiscal 2030.

 

Based on the assumption that the following conditions will be achieved through the initiatives of governments, organizations and companies in each country, we will achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050, including continuation of the rationalization of manufacturing processes, implementation of innovations such as the utilization of biomass feedstock and CO2 as a feedstock, and carbon offsetting through afforestation, etc.

- CO2-free power supply

- Establishment of supply chains for hydrogen, ammonia, etc., and cost reduction

- Subsidizing R&D and capital investment aimed at achieving carbon neutrality

 

By promoting the introduction of power generation using renewable energy and LNG, which have a lower environmental impact, at domestic business sites and plants by fiscal 2030, MCC aims to move away from coal-fired power generation.

 

In order to promote both GHG emissions reduction and business growth, MCC will introduce an internal carbon pricing system from the first half of fiscal 2022. In addition to Scope 1 and Scope 2, reduction contribution will be included in the scope of evaluation and utilized as one of the indicators for judgements with regard to capital investment. In the future, the scope of the system will be expanded to include investment decisions on R&D, and the system will also be used as an indicator for the business portfolio strategy.

 

By the end of the first half of fiscal 2022, a system will be established to quickly calculate the carbon footprint of all products manufactured at MCC's domestic business sites and plants. MCC will accelerate efforts to reduce GHG emissions across the entire product chain by promoting digitization and employee education, and by making it possible to calculate the carbon footprint quickly.

 

In order to achieve carbon neutrality, MCHC is planning to make capital investments of approximately 100 billion yen ($875 million) through 2030.