Panasonic : Shares Its Contributions to Net Zero through Panasonic GREEN IMPACT and Advocates for Importance of “Avoided Emissions” at COP27

Osaka, Japan - On November 6-18 Panasonic Group took part in COP27 and reaffirmed its aim to help re-design global economies and realize carbon neutrality through contributing to avoided emissions with hydrogen and the circular economy. The company showcased to a global audience the importance of hydrogen and the circular economy as critical aspects of achieving avoided emissions and a self-sustaining and secure energy future.

Panasonic's participation at the global summit reflects its strong commitment to achieving a sustainable future by advancing the company's long-term environmental vision, "Panasonic GREEN IMPACT ". Under this vision, the group aims to reduce CO₂ emissions from its operations to virtually net zero by 2030 and to create an impact that reduces CO₂ emissions by more than 300 million tons, approximately 1% of current total global emissions, by 2050.

A key part of reducing CO₂ emissions is "avoided emissions," or emissions reductions achieved through adoption of a company's products or services. Panasonic Holdings Corporation CTO Tatsuo Ogawa touched on this topic during a high-level sector panel discussion on mitigation contributions for achieving both economic growth and emissions reduction that was hosted by METI and MOE at the Japan Pavilion. He spoke about the background and purpose of Panasonic GREEN IMPACT, the importance of avoided emissions in reaching net-zero, and challenges that the concept poses. Participants also discussed how to establish a method to accurately measure avoided emissions, thereby ensuring transparency and credibility, and positioning the concept as an opportunity for meaningful corporate evaluation.

One specific example of Panasonic's contributions to avoided emissions is its hydrogen energy technology. The company has been researching this technology for more than 20 years and has made household fuel cells readily available in the Japanese market. Today, nearly 400,000 Japanese homes use Ene-Farm, a fuel cell that utilizes hydrogen, with Panasonic accounting for roughly half of the installed units. Further practical examples exhibited at the Japan Pavilion include Panasonic's RE100 solution, which utilizes pure hydrogen fuel cells that provide energy to cover all the necessary energy used in the business activities from renewable energy sources, and introduction of RE100 solution demonstration facility at the company's plant in Kusatsu, which has been in operation since April of this year.