President Hyodo Speaks at 2021 Hiroshima Business Forum for Global Peace

President Hyodo made the following comments during the discussion: “Since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has been burning fossil fuels and releasing large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, but the era of this being cost free is over. Moving forward, we will have to tackle the reduction of CO2 emissions in earnest. However, in order to address the larger theme of coexistence with the Earth on a global scale, the SDG concept of ‘No one left behind’ is crucially important. There are concerns that if decarbonization efforts are pursued based solely on the values of developed countries, disparities will arise between countries. We will need to discuss issues thoroughly and broaden our horizons to establish a system of mutual support. In particular, energy is essential for human prosperity and economic activities, so it is vital that we build a stable supply system with a portfolio suitable for the circumstances of each country. It is also important to control the demand side, and the entire social infrastructure will need to be reformed to become more energy efficient. The government and private sector should work together to comprehensively address the creation of these systems and business models. Sumitomo Corporation will make every effort to achieve carbon neutrality for the economies in which we are involved by 2050.”