Environment

Climate change, driven by global warming, is increasing extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, profoundly affecting people’s lives and various ecosystems around the world. The climate change poses a significant business risk that the Asahi Group cannot afford to overlook. Furthermore, a critical situation is emerging around the world that has been described as a ’global boiling‘ and requires an immediate response. The Asahi Group recognizes this issue as an unavoidable business risk and emphasizes the urgency of reducing CO₂ emissions from our business operations and proactively addressing the challenges of climate change.
In an effort to address these issues, the Asahi Group has formulated “Asahi Carbon Zero” with the goal of achieving net zero CO₂ emissions by 2040. Moreover, we have newly established our "Beyond Carbon Neutral" goals, targeting reduction of CO₂ emissions not only within our value chains but also beyond our value chains for a low carbon society. To achieve these goals, we are driving a wide range of initiatives in collaboration with stakeholders.

Asahi Carbon Zero Medium and Long-term Goals for Climate Change

The Asahi Group has set medium and long-term goals with regard to climate change in the form of the “Asahi Carbon Zero” initiative.
With “Asahi Carbon Zero”, the Asahi Group aims to achieve net zero CO₂ emissions in Scopes 1 and 2 and 3 by 2040, and reduce emissions by 70% for Scopes 1 and 2 and by 30% for Scope 3 by 2030. In addition, we have set an interim target of 40% reduction by 2025 in Scopes 1 and 2.
In order to achieve these targets, the Asahi Group is implementing various measures, including finalizing early-stage introduction of renewable energy, promoting decarbonization in fuel used at manufacturing processes, and the development and deployment of technologies related to carbon emissions reduction, absorption, and collection. We are also collaborating with our suppliers and partners as we seek to balance CO₂ reductions in the value chain and preservation of the ecosystem.

We understand the critical need for decarbonization targets based on scientific evidence. Therefore, “Asahi Carbon Zero” has been certified by the Science Based Targets (SBT) initiative, an international initiative that certifies whether decarbonization targets are consistent with scientific evidence.
Our 2030 near-term target of “Asahi Carbon Zero” has been approved by SBT initiative in line with a 1.5°C (Scope 1 and 2) and a 2°C trajectory (Scope 3). In addition, we validated that our Scope 3 target is in alignment with a Well Below 2°C pathway. Furthermore, we are planning to get certification from the SBT initiative for our long-term target.
In October 2020, we joined RE100, becoming the first corporate group in the beverage industry in Japan. Moving forward, our commitment is to achieve 100% of electricity from renewable sources in all our operations by 2040—ten years in advance of our initial 2050 target established in 2022—and continue accelerate the introduction of renewable energy in the future.

At Asahi Group, packaging plays a crucial role in delivering quality products to customers - protecting contents, providing durability for ease of transportation and communicating information. At the same time, reducing environmental impact caused by packaging is a critical issue to realize circular economy. Given its high environmental impact, we believe working on plastic is particularly important.
Within the field of packaging described in the Asahi Group Environmental Vision 2050, the Asahi Group describes a society free of packaging waste as what we would like the world to be like in 2050. In particular, we aim to achieve a world in which marine biodiversity is preserved by minimizing the use of resources to make packaging and helping to build a recycling-oriented society by reusing old packaging.
For plastic packaging, toward our group goal “3R+Innovation”, we are taking actions to shift to containers and packaging with lower environmental impact through reducing plastic weight, expanding use of recycled materials, and selling label-free products.

“3R+Innovation” Targets

• Targeted plastic containers: PET bottles, plastic bottles, certain caps used for PET and plastic bottles, and plastic cups (used for sales), etc.

• Effective use: Reusable, recyclable (including technical recyclability）, compostable, thermal recyclable, etc.
  Target companies: Asahi Breweries, Ltd., Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., Asahi Europe and International Ltd., Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd., and Asahi Holdings Southeast Asia Sdn. Bhd.
• Target companies： Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd., Asahi Europe and International Ltd., Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd., and Asahi Holdings Southeast Asia Sdn. Bhd.

It goes without saying that agricultural products are essential for humanity. At the same time, environmental risks such as those stemming from climate change may greatly affect the yields or quality of agricultural raw materials. It is vital to give consideration to ecosystems, the environments of agricultural production areas, and the human rights of local communities.
Within the Asahi Group Environmental Vision 2050, the Asahi Group would like the world in 2050 to be with sustainable agricultural raw materials that are produced through farming with consideration to the environment, respecting human rights and realizing regional revitalization so that there is a balance between stable production and preservation of the ecosystem.

Today, population growth, economic growth, and drought due to climate change are causing water shortages on a global scale every year. Issues surrounding water resources are a common global social issue.
Water is an indispensable resource for the Asahi Group, which uses water as a raw material and also in manufacturing processes at its factories. To ensure that we can continue to make use of this precious resource for years to come, we are working to reduce water use, and to identify, respond to and mitigate water risks at our manufacturing sites and basins in collaboration with stakeholders. Furthermore, we are undertaking a wide range of measures in pursuit of our "Healthy Watersheds for People and Nature" goal.