"Sony China has set a carbon neutrality target to achieve 100% use of renewable energy for its own operations by 2030, which is a full 10 years ahead of schedule," Jin Yanmin, Vice President of Human Resources and ESG at Sony China, told China Business Daily at the Shanghai International Carbon Neutrality Technology, Products and Achievements Expo.
In 2022, Sony announced that it will achieve carbon neutrality across the entire value chain by 2040, achieve net zero emissions, and achieve its goal of 100% use of renewable energy for its operations by 2030. Currently, Sony China is advancing this process once again. It is reported that as of 2023, Sony has achieved 100% renewable energy electricity consumption in China for three consecutive fiscal years, reducing a total of 120000 tons of carbon dioxide.
The reporter noticed that in addition to achieving the goal of green electricity ahead of schedule, Sony's innovative technologies in areas such as circular economy, energy conservation and efficiency enhancement, smart agriculture, and barrier free empowerment have begun to move from internal practice to external application. As a multinational corporation with diversified business, Sony China is also exploring diversified ESG (Environmental), Social and Governance， A three-dimensional framework of environmental, social, and corporate governance.
Technology Helps "Dual Carbon"
"Following the proposal of China's' dual carbon 'goals, a series of green development policies have been implemented one after another. This not only injects new impetus into the Chinese economy, but also provides new opportunities for global enterprises in China," said Takeshi Yoshida, President of Sony China.
Public information shows that Sony Group currently has six major business segments: gaming and network services, music, film and television, entertainment/technology and sensing solutions, and financial services. At present, Sony has invested in three large production enterprises in China and established engineering, design, research and development, and software bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuxi, Dalian, Shenzhen, and other places.
"Sony China currently mainly achieves its goals by purchasing green electricity," Jin Yanmin revealed in an interview with reporters. In addition, Sony is running a Partner Eco Challenge Program to assist suppliers in various carbon reduction designs and improvement measures, as well as future plans including solar energy.
"The reason why Sony China has achieved the 100% green electricity target ten years ahead of its headquarters is mainly due to the strong support and investment of the Chinese government in green electricity." Jin Yanmin believes that the country's strategic investment in renewable energy allows major multinational enterprises to have access to abundant clean energy resources while operating domestically.
In Jin Yanmin's view, China is one of the world's leading countries in terms of government support for sustainable development, market awareness, and consumer concepts. According to Bloomberg's 2022 Energy Transformation Investment Trends Report, China's investment amount in the global energy transformation investment field ranked first in 2021.
In addition, Sony is also attempting to promote sustainable development in areas such as circular economy, energy conservation and efficiency enhancement, and smart agriculture through technological and raw material innovation.
Combining multiple innovative environmental technologies, Sony's "Synergy Agriculture Method" showcased this time has attracted attention from all parties. This project is developed by Sony Computer Science Research Institute, which produces useful plants through high-density mixed planting without the need for farmland, fertilization, and pesticide spraying. This technology helps to reduce the impact of traditional agriculture on the environment, improve soil environment, preserve the original nutritional value of crops, and promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
The intelligent symbiotic app used in conjunction with the "Micro Synergy Corner" is also on display, independently developed by Sony and equipped with the Sony Spresense IoT low-power development board combined with sensors and AI cloud computing technology, which can achieve digital and visual carbon management and plant growth observation.
"This year marks the fourth year of the introduction of the 'Cooperative Agriculture Law' into China's development. It has been introduced to multiple cities in China, with over 6000 square meters of planting and experimental bases, cultivating over 200 types of plants." Sony China's Director of Sustainable Development, Gao Feng Yingji, told reporters that the Cooperative Agriculture Law is actively exploring external commercialization, such as the cultivation of high-value nutritional crops such as tea trees.
Sustainable entertainment
As an entertainment company defined as built on technology, Sony's sustainable development strategy for entertainment also sets it apart from other multinational corporations.
"Sony Entertainment's related businesses account for half of the group's overall performance. Therefore, we have achieved sustainable and common development in our overall strategic positioning," Gao Feng Yingji told reporters.
According to its introduction, it deeply integrates music, gaming, film and television businesses with sustainable development. For example, Sony music artist Deng Dian's MV shooting utilizes Sony's "virtual production" technology, which combines Sony's black crystal screen, CineAltaV camera, Sony HDR monitor, and real-time rendering engine to achieve realistic shooting and production. Virtual production helps to reduce environmental impact, while also reducing the need for staff to travel to shooting locations. The energy required for transporting employees and scenery is greatly reduced, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In addition, Sony has set long-term environmental goals to achieve "zero environmental load" by 2050. The mid-term goal is to use renewable materials for packaging small products such as headphones, mobile phones, and other consumer electronics products. For example, materials such as OBM, flame retardant recycled plastic SORPLAS, and porous carbon material TriporousTM, which is made from bamboo, sugarcane fiber, and recycled paper after consumption, have been applied in the design, production, packaging, and external partner products of some models of Sony TV, cameras, headphones, and other products.
In addition to the integration of entertainment business and sustainable development strategy, a longer-term issue may lie in how to inject ESG's long-term goals into the entertainment ecosystem and content construction.
"The proportion of global console games in the gaming market exceeds 30%, while China's market share is still less than 2%, and there is still a lot of room for growth," Takeshi Oda, Vice President of Sony China, told reporters.
"When Sony began expanding its console business in China in 2014, the first challenge it faced was how to bring more people into contact with console games. However, this required both a good hardware foundation and sufficient content support," said Takeshi Oda. Sony immediately launched the China Star program to provide technical and distribution support for potential Chinese game developers. As Sony continues to deepen its business in the Chinese market, it has also established a rich and in-depth cooperation ecosystem with the Chinese interactive entertainment industry.
"The role played by Sony, in addition to leveraging its own commercial value, can also help its partners in the overall industry explore ESG sustainability from a sustainable perspective. It is now gratifying to see that many domestic developers are also starting from green, environmentally friendly, and barrier free perspectives." Takeshi Tian said that Sony hopes to explore more possibilities with its partners in the development of the industry. The richer the level and frequency of communication, the greater the possibility of the future.