Realization of a Carbon-free Society Sustainability
Basic Concept
The apparel industry’s negative environmental impact has received scrutiny over the last few years, with CO2 emissions said to account for approximately 10% of all industrial emissions. Global warming is also an urgent problem, and our industry must take action to achieve the 1.5% target adopted in the Paris Agreement.
We analyzed the impact of climate change on our business activities using science-based scenarios and set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from business activities in our medium-term management plan to protect our field and continue our business activities.
Key Environmental Issues
We have been working to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions at our main offices for some time. To further boost these efforts and to reduce CO2 emissions across the supply chain, we included “Realization of a carbon-free society” as a key issue in our new medium-term management plan. We will strengthen cooperation with suppliers, aiming to procure raw materials that do not come from fossil fuel sources, and to achieve carbon neutrality.
We are also promoting initiatives towards the realization of a carbon-free society, centered on our EMS Committee, chaired by our President and Representative of Board. The EMS Committee manages actual greenhouse gas emissions of each of our offices every month and strives to reduce these emissions. Progress is also reported at our ESG Management Committee, which meets each quarter.
We also began calculating Scope 3 emissions based on the GHG Protocol in FY 2022 to better understand energy use at directly managed stores, with the aim to achieve our targets.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions
GOLDWIN Group continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from our main business locations in Japan was 172 t-CO2 in FY 2022. Until FY 2021, the majority of our emissions came from electricity used at our business premises and heavy oil used for some air conditioning. In FY 2022, we reduced our use of heavy oil and we further switched to renewable energy for electricity used at our business premises, resulting in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 86.7% compared to FY 2020. In FY 2023, we will continue efforts to further reduce emissions by promoting the switch to renewable energy for electricity used at our business premises.
Greenhouse Gas Emitted from Procurement Logistics
The GOLDWIN Group is working to understand greenhouse gas emissions related to logistics, and found that 2,747 tons were emitted in FY 2022. At the same time, we are also working on reducing emissions, purchasing the same amount of emission allowances, and completing carbon offsets.
Reduction of Energy Use
GOLDWIN Group continues working to reduce energy use. Electricity, city gas, LPG, heavy oil A, kerosene, gasoline, and diesel oil are used at our main business locations in Japan.
In FY 2022, we reduced the amount of heavy oil we use by switching from heavy oil to electricity for air conditioning. However, due to increased use of employee cafeterias in both Tokyo and Toyama as the COVID-19 situation settled, our use of city gas (for onsite facilities) increased. Our use of vehicles for sales activities also increased, as did our use of gasoline, resulting in total energy consumption of 36,372.2 GJ. In FY 2023, we will continue our energy conservation efforts to achieve further reductions in consumption.
| Unit | FY 2018 | FY 2019 | FY 2020 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | 1,000 kWh | 58,796 | 3,711 | 3,501 | 3,502 | 3,473 | |
| City gas | For onsite facilities | 1,000 m3 | 6.500 | 5.527 | 3.192 | 2.197 | 3.759 |
| LPG | For onsite facilities | t | 1100.0 | 187.0 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 5.8 |
| Heavy oil A | kL | 48.4 | 50.4 | 50.8 | 52.0 | 18.4 | |
| Gasoline | For vehicles | kL | 25.0 | 16.0 | 11.0 | 18.9 | 20.3 |
| Diesel oil | For vehicles | kL | 0.980 | 0.862 | |||
| Total energy | GJ | 116,773.5 | 48,898.9 | 37,765.5 | 37,979.9 | 36,372.2 | |
Conversion to Renewable Energy
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, GOLDWIN Group has switched to renewable energy for the electricity used at its business locations in Japan, and has installed independent power generation systems using solar panels at its business premises in the Toyama region. As a result, renewable energy use as a ratio of total electricity use at our offices in Japan was 97% in FY 2022, a 49-point increase from 48% in FY 2020. We will continue to promote the switch to renewable energy sources for electricity used at our business premises.
Appropriate Management of Ozone-depleting Substances
GOLDWIN Group manages chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) used to fill air-conditioning units in accordance with standards set under the Act on Rational Use and Appropriate Management of Fluorocarbons. No CFC leakages were detected in FY 2022. Going forward, we will continue to comply with the law and to manage CFC emissions.
Future Issues
In FY 2022, we were able to cut greenhouse gas emissions at our Japanese offices above our targets. Going forward, we will continue to cut greenhouse gas emissions at our Japanese offices based on our Medium- to Long-term Management Plan. In the future, we must continue to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions at directly managed stores and in our supply chain, as per our targets for FY 2030 and FY 2050, and be aware of the actual emission amounts.