Aeon’s story of action
A growing number of companies are going all in for halving emissions by 2030. The We Mean Business Coalition spoke to Japanese food and staples retailer Aeon to find out how they are taking climate action.
We believe that as a retailer, Aeon can help to protect the global environment by acting together with our customers.
Already, we have installed solar panels at our shopping centers, supermarkets, and convenience stores. The total number of stores with installed units is now more than 1,000. In addition, we are installing solar panels at our commercial facilities to create power purchase agreements (PPAs) and provide renewable electricity. Under this model, our stores provide space on our roofs for PPA companies to erect solar panels, and the stores agree to purchase the generated electricity for our own use.
Our company headquarter buildings and other nine shopping centers are already using 100% renewable electricity. By 2030, all of our 600 major shopping centers in Japan will complete installing renewables, which will help the company achieve halving its emissions this decade.
We are taking several steps to help the retail industry reduce emissions, such as developing and selling products that help cut CO2 and promoting the use of natural refrigerant equipment. In addition, we are taking action to reduce CO2 through visualization in the logistics chain.
Working to build environmentally friendly stores, Aeon has defined Eco Stores as outlets that achieve at least 20% lower CO2 emissions in comparison with conventional stores. Since the opening of our first Eco Store in 2005, 12 such stores had been opened by 2013. In 2012, we started working on further developments for our next generation (Smart Aeon) Eco Stores.
We are expecting a reliable supply of renewable energies, including the government policies to ensure this, and further technical innovations in every aspect of reducing emissions.
Today, the expansion and complicated nature of various global challenges are at an unprecedented level. Given these circumstances, we feel that there is an urgent demand to contribute as much as possible to environmental issues as well as local communities and to grow as sustainably as possible.