COP 29: Accelerating Green Action with Digital Technology
Report｜2024-12-17
5 minute read
Azerbaijan played host to the 29th session of the COP29, a forum for global leaders to discuss funding for climate change countermeasures. In this article, we’ll take a look at the seminar that took place in the COP29 Japan Pavilion, where Takashi Yamanishi, EVP and CSSO, spoke about the Company’s efforts in business-to-business data linkage to visualize CO2 emissions across the supply chain.
Digitalization takes center stage at COP29
COP29 was referred to as ‘Finance COP,’ with many countries highly vulnerable to climate change impact, it is now more than urgent to mobilise climate finance and to scale innovation in order to address planetary crisis. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN's specialized agency on digital technology, this is the first time that digitalization has been set as a major theme. This is an area where Fujitsu has considerable expertise, making the Company’s presence at COP29 highly relevant and beneficial to attendees. Another area where Fujitsu possesses great strength is generative AI, a technology that is becoming ubiquitous worldwide across a growing number of applications.
Despite the many opportunities it is creating, generative AI consumes vast quantities of energy, leading to intense discussions about how to mitigate its impact on climate change. The result was the ITU announcing the COP29 Declaration on Green Digital Action during a high-level round table featuring ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev and other notable representatives from UN organizations, governments, and global telecommunications and IT companies. The Declaration outlines eight principles, including the use of digital technology to fight climate change. Secretary General believes, “There will be no green without digital and so we need to join forces, and every digital action has to have green at the core.”
Takashi Yamanishi, EVP and CSSO (Chief Sustainability & Supply Chain Officer) of Fujitsu, also participated in the roundtable, explaining Fujitsu’s efforts to reduce GHG emissions.
Introducing efforts to reduce CO2 emissions across the supply chain
Yamanishi also participated in various other events during COP29. On November 13, he attended a media session on Race to Zero, an international campaign promoted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where Yamanishi spoke about Fujitsu's sustainability efforts. He explained the Company’s goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions throughout its value chain by fiscal 2040.
“Thinking about our own emissions, it's important to work with our supply chain partners,” he remarked. Yamanishi also emphasized the importance of setting emission targets, visualizing emissions, and collaborating with partners. On the other hand, he pointed out, ”What's more important for Fujitsu as a digital services company is to help our customers reduce their emissions or adopt more renewable energy and help them become net zero, and eventually net positive.”
The session, which was broadcasted live, was watched online by 5,000 to 6,000 people globally, indicating a high level of interest.
Decarbonization through data linkage with global suppliers
On November 16, Yamanishi participated in the ‘ICT x Green Seminar’ hosted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications at the Japan Pavilion in the COP29 venue. A total of five organizations, including the World Bank, Hitachi, and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, participated in the meeting. The World Bank highlighted the potential use of technologies for decarbonization, and companies introduced technologies that contribute to their own efforts in fighting global warming.
Yamanishi gave a presentation on Fujitsu's supply chain initiatives and talked about the content of the press release issued the day before the seminar. Fujitsu has begun working with 12 global suppliers to visualize and reduce CO2 emissions using real data. By utilizing Fujitsu's ESG Management Platform, a service that supports sustainable management, the Company was able to calculate PCF (product carbon footprint) and link CO2 emissions data with 12 global suppliers using actual data in accordance with global standards. Yamanishi said, “Data is exchanged between companies in the supply chain to visualize emissions. This allows us to analyze the ‘hot spots’ in the supply chain where there are high emissions, and what measures can be taken to reduce them.”
At the same time, the growing use of AI and other digital technologies has raised concerns about the significant increase in power consumption in data centers. Fujitsu offers a variety of solutions to solve these challenges. Yamanishi stressed, ”One of these technologies is FUJITSU-MONAKA * 1, which is scheduled to be available in 2027.” This is a next-generation processor that is being developed based on the technology used to develop the K computer and supercomputer Fugaku * 2. He added, ”By 2027, we aim to be twice as energy efficient and faster than our competitors' processors.” He also mentioned a middleware technology called AI Computing Broker a solution that optimizes GPU usage when using AI. By halving GPU usage, power consumption can also be cut in half.
After finishing the presentation, the moderator asked him what needed to be done to advance the initiative. He answered, ”There are two key points: First is collaboration between companies—no business can do it alone. And second, it's important to visualize and analyze CO2 emissions and find ways to make optimizations. Also, return on investment is a major goal for each business, so I think we need an incentive to work with the government.” he said.
This year’s COP program linked climate change and AI and other technologies more so than in previous years. While there are some headwinds toward decarbonization, such as increased electricity consumption due to the spread of generative AI, expectations are mounting for technology and innovation as tools to accelerate efforts to address climate change. Fujitsu aims to contribute to the acceleration of climate change measures through Fujitsu Uvance, which works with customers to solve social issues and achieve sustainable growth. COP29 showed that achieving this ambitious goal is indeed possible. In addition, participating in an event with delegates from diverse sectors helped emphasize the importance of addressing these global issues through cross-industry collaboration. Fujitsu is proud to contribute to making this happen, and will continue to accelerate innovation and contribute to climate change initiatives.
※1 FUJITSU-MONAKA: This is based on results obtained from a project subsidized by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
※2 The K computer and the supercomputer Fugaku: jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu.
Takashi Yamanishi
EVP CSSO (Chief Sustainability & Supply Chain Officer), Fujitsu Limited
Takashi Yamanishi joined Fujitsu in 1989, with his primary focus being procurement from global vendors in areas such as software and semiconductors. He oversaw the global integration of procurement and supply chain management organizations as General Manager of the Global Supply Chain Division in 2018. Afterwards, in parallel with the shift to services within the business portfolio, he helped strengthen alliances with key partners while reforming procurement and supply chains. He assumed his current position in 2024.
Related Information
The BANI era is here—and a data-driven supply chain has never been more crucial
AI, Quantum and the Promise of Net Positive Supply Chains
