How Meaningful Are Modest Carbon Emissions Reductions Targets? The Case of Sumitomo Electrical Group’s Short-Term Targets towards Longer-Term Net Zero

Abstract

Japan is one of 196 parties who adopted the Paris Agreement and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to increase global temperatures by +3.8◦ in 2100 under RCP8.5. In response to the Paris Agreement, Sumitomo Electrical Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan, 107-8468) (a Japanese manufacturing company) has committed itself to being net zero by 2050. The aim of this research was to determine the overall GHG reductions of SEI to evaluate whether they have met their sustainability development goals and emissions reductions target. Evaluation of the GHG targets pledged by SEI was performed using secondary data analysis from their most recent company sustainability report. They estimated 1,372,000 tons of CO2-eq emissions in 2019 for the company globally. This accounted for scope 1 and 2 emissions estimates. They implemented a conservative target of a 0% change in emissions between 2017–2019, but recorded a reduction of 13%. Summitomo Electrical Industries Ltd. implemented transport changes, energy savings, and developed ‘ECO’ products to meet their sustainability and carbon management goals. SEI have demonstrated that modest targets can lead to meaningful carbon emissions reductions through potentially low-cost, easily implemented, and accessible op-tions. Addressing the target of net zero, however, will only be addressed in large-scale emissions reductions practices which will be the determining factor for SEI’s ambitions of net zero by 2050. Their conservative approach shows that there is room for more ambitious carbon management within Summitomo Electrical Industries. Moving forward, several carbon emissions management actions can be implemented to further reduce emissions including carbon capture and storage, purchasing offsets, and investment in renewable energies. There are limitations to this desktop study including data reliability. However, this is a useful first step for investigating carbon management performance.