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Decarbonization and zero-CO2 factories

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What does real action mean to us? – Part 1 of 3

Panasonic is committed to going above and beyond our responsibilities when it comes to reducing our impact and addressing the urgent challenges presented by climate change. But what does that action look like? Read on to find out…

In part 1 of this series explaining the actions and initiatives that make up Panasonic GREEN IMPACT, we’ll be discussing our decarbonization efforts, achievements and ambitions –  including our commitment to transforming all our manufacturing sites into zero-CO2 factories.

How are businesses expected to respond to the climate crisis?

Businesses account for an overwhelming majority of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, 88% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement between 2016 and 2022 can be linked to just 117 state- and investor-owned companies.2

All businesses are responsible for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in line with global targets and seeking out alternative ways to run, power and scale their operations.

The Paris Agreement codified this in 2015. 194 countries have now committed to keep global warming to 2°C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times while pursuing means to limit the increase to 1.5°C.3 This puts pressure on businesses to set and meet meaningful targets towards decarbonization.

Panasonic GREEN IMPACT is our commitment to a wide range of activities that seek to reduce our global impact, and make lives better for people now, and in the future. A big part of this is decarbonization, but we’re also focused on circular economy activities and sustainable innovation.

What is decarbonization?

Decarbonization means taking steps to reduce the global warming impact of human activities, measured in terms of the volume of carbon emissions produced.

It’s important that businesses seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a number of ways –  from reducing the fossil fuels used in and produced by manufacturing processes to responsibly sourcing the electricity that powers their offices, for example.4 And working with suppliers to reduce the impact of outsourcing their services, or obtaining, using and disposing of other materials or products they rely on.5

How is Panasonic approaching decarbonization?

Across three pillars of Panasonic GREEN IMPACT, we have identified over 300M tons of CO₂ we can neutralize or avoid.6 That’s around 1% of the current global total of around 31.7 billion tons.*

 

+ Influence – Alongside these three pillars, we take every opportunity to promote decarbonization and energy-saving behaviors among customers, businesses, governments and investors. For example, our employees and their families participate in environmental activities in a scheme we call Panasonic ECO RELAY.

  • We’re minimizing our impact on society through our commitment to decarbonize, with plans to cut 110M tons of CO₂ from our value chain by 2050.

  • We’re reducing the CO₂ emissions our products and services contribute to society when used by our customers.

  • We're mitigating future CO₂ emissions by introducing and developing new technologies.

    Read our article on sustainable innovation to learn more

We've achieved 44 Zero-CO2 factories as of 2024
Transforming our worldwide manufacturing facilities to zero-CO2 factories

Transforming our worldwide manufacturing facilities to zero-CO2 factories

We plan to achieve net zero CO2 across all our sites by 2030. At the end of 2024 we had achieved 44 zero-CO2 factories.

These facilities use a combination of photovoltaic solar power, hydrogen fuel cell generators and renewable energy storage solutions.

Technologies that promote a more energy-efficient society

Technologies that promote a more energy-efficient society

As we work to reduce our business emissions, we’re also promoting decarbonization in wider society through currently available technologies.

AI ECONAVI, for example, helps appliances like air conditioners identify waste and save power automatically.

Promoting electrification through increased EV battery production

Promoting electrification through increased EV battery production

Electric vehicle (EV) batteries help society avoid CO2 emissions by expanding the opportunities to use fossil fuel alternatives.

As the global EV market grows and society embraces electrification technologies, there is also increased demand for our cylindrical cell EV batteries. By adopting a cylindrical cell shape, we have increased the energy density of our EV batteries, reduced the volume of raw materials required and maximized safety. By making this technology more widely available, we hope to increase our indirect contribution to decarbonization efforts in wider society.

Planting trees through Panasonic ECO RELAY

Planting trees through Panasonic ECO RELAY

While planting trees is no substitute for decarbonization, and carbon offsetting strategies are widely criticized, well-managed reforestation projects could have a positive impact on our ability to slow the rate of climate change.7

For the past 31 years, Panasonic has conducted environmental education, tree planting and cleanup projects as part of its ECO RELAY initiatives.

To date, we have provided environmental education to more than 2 million people, planted more than 3.3 million trees and conducted cleanup activities in Japan, the UAE, Taiwan and other countries around the world.

Driving decarbonization with intangible assets

Driving decarbonization with intangible assets

To further decarbonization efforts in society, we have participated in the Low-Carbon Patent Pledge (LCPP) to make a number of our low-carbon technology patents open-source for decarbonization projects.

We hope that this will help to accelerate the creation of solutions that support decarbonization efforts around the world.