By Patrick Avenell
Tax or no tax, Panasonic is committed to reducing its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by the occasion of its 100th birthday in 2018, according to Panasonic Environmental Planning Group Manager Rui Nakao.
Speaking to Current.com.au today in Osaka, Japan, Nakao said that Panasonic was determined to be the “Number one green innovator in the electronics industry”, with recycling of products one of several key exercises.
“We have made the environment central to all our business activities and we’re bringing forth innovation,” said Nakao.
Panasonic’s global ‘Green Plan 2018’ is comprised of five central tenets: CO2 reductions, resource recycling, reducing water consumption, minimising the environmental impact of chemical substances, and identifying the impact of operations on biodiversity and exercising harm minimisation.
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Speaking in depth on CO2 emissions, Nakao said Panasonic emitted 35.18 million tonnes in 2010, with a forecast of 37 million tonnes for 2011. The 2012 target is 50 million tonnes, while the 2018 anniversary target is 120 million tonnes.
Although on face value, these increases appear exponential, Nakao said that without Panasonic’s contribution to CO2 emissions, the 2012 figure would have be around 300 million tonnes.
“We want to reduce emissions in both the production activities of our products and in the use of these products by consumers.”
The impetus for this green initiative is an interesting prediction about the global marketplace. Nakao said that whereas the 19th Century was marked by the outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, and the 20th Century by the impact of a technological revolution, the 21st Century will be most influenced by a green revolution.
“The world is at a significant turning point,” said Nakao.