１）Chemical Industry’s VISION on Global Warming Countermeasure
The chemical industry is a unique industrial sector, which consumes fossil resources as an energy source in the production process, and at the same time, uses fossil resources as raw materials, and manufactured products contribute to reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the stage of use. As the chemical industry has created energy-efficient products in various fields, it can be said that it is in a position of a solution provider against global warming. However, as we use fossil resources as a fuel and a raw material on a global scale, reduction of fossil resources consumption is required as a longterm GHG reduction strategy, and we are strongly expected to carry out specific activity toward the reduction. To meet the expectation, the Japan Chemical Industry Association consulted on measures to realize the establishment of a sustainable society by providing solutions for global warming issues while looking ahead to a long-term reduction target in the Paris Agreement, and wrote up them as “Chemical Industry’s VISION on Global Warming Countermeasures”, which it announced in May, 2017. In this VISION, as a state of mid-21st century society, chemical products will still be used and become important products to support a lot of industries and living, while for the carbon source, activities toward a carbon cycle society will be progressing and the consumption of fossil resources as an energy source will be largely reduced. The pillars to realize this situation are (i) Establishment of carbon-circulation, (ii) Process and energy innovation, (iii) Selection of environmentally focused business model and establishment of social infrastructure to allow the business model, and various technologies and measures to solve are listed. (Refer to the following URL.) For this realization, through collective efforts of the chemical industry, it is necessary to tackle program formulation toward technology development based on collaboration between government, industry, and academia, and to establish a cooperation system beyond industry to make a social innovation in the whole value chains, and we have already made proposals in various situations for this realization. In June, 2019, Japan’s “Long-term Strategy under the Paris Agreement” was announced at the G20 summit. We will continuously strive to realize a sustainable and rich society based on this VISION.
Chemical Industry’s VISION on Global Warming Countermeasures
２）The Result of the Commitment to a Low Carbon Society in FY 2017 and New Target Setting for FY 2030
JCIA started efforts to reduce CO2 emission at the time of the Keidanren Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment under Keidanren, and has continued the efforts since 2013 as “the Commitment to a Low Carbon Society.” In the Commitment to a Low Carbon Society follow-up survey in FY 2018, CO2 reduction of 5.73 million tons was achieved compared to the CO2 reduction target of 2 million tons by FY 2030 (on the basis of FY 2005), which resulted in significantly greater reductions than anticipated for three years in a row since 2015. In response to this result, in January, 2018 we established the Industry Target Review Task Force in the Commitment to a Low Carbon Society WG, and at JCIA Board of Director in March, 2019 the governing body decided a new target for FY 2030. We set FY 2013 as a base year according to the Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures, and as new targets, we decided on 6.5 million tons reduction of a BAU and 6.79 million tons reduction as an absolute amount target. Moreover, we aim to achieve two targets at the same time. If the production volume increases under management only by BAU ratio index, the absolute amount of CO2 emission can increase even if the BAU target is achieved. Therefore, an absolute amount index is necessary in order to apply a brake to CO2 emissions. In addition, if the production volume varies under the management only by absolute amount index, we cannot simply explain the efforts for reduction as an industry, so the BAU index is necessary. Introducing these two management indexes makes the target higher than the target using only BAU index, and it is a big change in the way that the efforts of the chemical industry are shown in a plain way.
３）Three Gases Substituted for CFC Achieved the Target for FY2030
In the emission reduction activities at manufacturing of PFCs, SF6and NF3 of global warming gas, NF3 intensity was reduced by 89% per emission rate to production compared to that of FY 1995, which achieved 85% of the reduction target for FY 2030. PFCs and SF6 achieved the target for FY 2030 (90% reduction) in 2010 and 2009, respectively, and have been kept at 90% or more since then. Therefore, all three gases achieved the target for FY 2030.
