Initiatives for the Formation of a Carbon-free Society

As a global healthcare company, the Eisai Group has established the ENW (Eisai Network Companies) Environmental Protection Policy and conducts business activities with an emphasis on global environmental protection. It is stated in our Environmental Guidelines that we will “3.  Contribute to the mitigation of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy conservation” and as such, we are promoting initiatives to realize a carbon-free society on a global scale.

The Eisai Group has been advancing these initiatives by setting SBT (Science Based Targets; targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on scientific grounds) in May 2019. We are further strengthening our efforts, aiming to achieve our medium- to long-term goals of switching all electricity used in our business activities to renewable energy by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2040.

We believe that our corporate concept of human health care (hhc) cannot be realized without sustaining the global environment. We will work closely with our business partners to achieve these medium- to long-term goals.

Mitigating climate change is an urgent issue shared by all humankind and is essential to realize a sustainable society. In accordance with Eisai’s Statement of Commitment to Carbon Neutrality by 2040 announced on May 11, 2021, the Eisai Group will work to achieve the following medium- to long-term goals. Through these efforts to realize carbon neutrality, we will further strengthen activities for ensuring the sustainability of the global environment that serves as the foundation of our business activities.

In September 2021, we joined RE100, an international initiative aiming to ensure that all electricity used in business activities is derived from renewable energy. Subsequently, we increased our introduction of renewable energy derived electricity so that 63% of our electricity was renewable energy in fiscal 2021. We plan to raise the adoption rate to 80% in fiscal 2022 and will achieve RE100 in fiscal 2023. This represents a significant step forward in achieving our plan, since the initial plan was to achieve RE100 in FY2030. Through these initiatives for carbon neutrality, we will intensify activities to ensure the sustainability of the global environment, the foundation of our business activities.

The Eisai Group has set medium- to long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets shown below (SBT 2°C target) based on scientific grounds to help mitigate climate change and is working to reduce CO₂ emissions derived from its business activities.

The Eisai Group established the Company-Wide Environment and Safety Committee as a decision-making body for deliberation of important environmental issues. The committee is promoting global activities such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and effectively using resources, and is also strengthening activities to identify environment-related risks and develop countermeasures. Moreover, as a consultative body promoting the environmental activities of Group companies in Japan, the Eisai Group also established the Environment and Safety Conference of Group Companies in Japan to share information and discuss relevant activities.

Each operational site of the Eisai Group has established its own unique management system to promote environmental activities. The Eisai Group's main production sites in Japan as well as the Suzhou Plant in China and Vizag Site in India have all acquired ISO 14001 certification and are conducting activities based on the ISO standard while striving to raise awareness through environmental education and environmental risk management training. In addition to complying with environmental laws, ordinances and agreements, we periodically conduct internal environmental audits to identify and solve issues.

In fiscal 2021, our domestic and international activities for production and research, mainly in the areas of oncology and neurology intensified and became a major cause of the increase in CO₂ emissions. Against this backdrop, we pursued the reduction of CO₂ emissions by introducing a heat pump system and replacing our air-conditioners with more energy-efficient ones. We also continue to introduce renewable energy-derived electricity mainly at the production and research sites in and outside Japan. In fiscal 2021, 3,000 MWh of renewable electricity was introduced at our Kawashima Plant. Moreover, the operational sites of Eisai Co., Ltd. promoted the introduction of renewable electricity in their business activities by purchasing non-fossil fuel certificates.
Additionally, in the COVID-19 pandemic, the sales department is actively providing information to medical professionals through remote interviews using digital devices. We are actively promoting the use of public transportation and the introduction of hybrid (HV) company vehicles.

Scope 1 and 2 emissions in fiscal 2021 was 74,501 tons, a 5.8% decrease from the fiscal 2020. In comparison with the base year, this was a 44.6% reduction and a significant leap toward the achievement of the SBT 2°C targets. We will renew the targets to the SBT 1.5°C targets within fiscal 2023, one year earlier than planned.

The amount of Scope 3 emissions based on Category 1, purchased products and services, increased by 7.4% compared with fiscal 2020 against a background of growth in sales of new products and in-licensed products. On the other hand, the graph on the right below shows the change in CO₂ emissions in Scope 3 (Category 1) per net sales. This is an 8.3% decrease from fiscal 2020. We will continue working to reduce emissions by increasing the percentage of products that are in-house created products and encouraging the efficient use of raw materials.

The adoption rate of renewable energy in total electricity for the Eisai Group rose to 63.1%. In fiscal 2022, we will promote the use of renewable electricity, the introduction of renewable energy using PPA, or the introduction of our own in-house equipment taking into consideration responses in times of emergencies, aiming to achieve 100% renewable energy for our total electricity consumption by fiscal 2023.

The adoption rate of hybrid vehicles (HVs) in FY2021 was 75.2%, up 1.5% from the previous fiscal year. Also, electric vehicles were adopted.
On the other hand, CO₂ emissions from company vehicles were 1,876 tons, an increase of 19.3% from the previous fiscal year. Remote interviews using digital devices were introduced to provide information to healthcare professionals in an effort to reduce emissions from the use of vehicles. However, increased promotional activities for new products and an increase in the number of sales personnel resulted in more frequent use of vehicles.