20 February 2018
Hotels, Japanese Corporations, P4G Advancing SDGs and Climate Targets
Photo by IISD | Lynn Wagner
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P4G, a partnership on inclusive, sustainable economic growth, is accepting concept notes for its Partnership Fund.

The hotel industry to increase its sustainability and reduce its GHG emissions in line with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement.

Several Japanese companies have identified ways in which their industry advances the SDGs.

February 2018: Private sector groups and partners have announced funding and targets to support SDG implementation and achieve targets under the Paris Agreement on climate change. The hotel industry and Japanese companies are among the business entities taking action recently.

Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) is advancing inclusive, sustainable economic growth through a partnership approach across governments, business and civil society. P4g has invited concept notes to join its Partnership Fund, which will be accepted through 30 March 2018. The P4G initiative aims to catalyze inclusive, sustainable economic growth through partnerships and solutions in support of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. P4G supports partnerships through funding, facilitation and recognition. P4G partners include the governments of Chile, Denmark, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Mexico and Viet Nam, the C40 network of 91 major cities, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and the World Resources Institute (WRI).

Also working in alignment with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) established four ‘ITP Goals,’ addressing climate change, water, youth employment and human rights. The goals “embrace science-based targets” on carbon, and encourage the hotel industry to reduce carbon emissions at scale. According to the UN, the global hotel industry accounts for approximately one percent of global emissions, and this amount is predicted to increase as demand grows. ITP encourages the use of its Hotel Footprinting Tool for hotels to identify their carbon emissions and identify areas of improvement, including through energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy.

On water, the ITP goals focus on addressing water scarcity and improving water-use efficiency. On youth employment, the ITP goals aim to double the industry’s impact on youth unemployment through employability programmes. On human rights, the ITP goals seek to raise awareness of human rights risks, address risks in the labor supply chain and hotel construction, and include human rights in corporate governance.

The Japanese company Omron considers the SDGs in developing medium-term business plans.

In Japan, companies have set targets in line with the SDGs and are working to advance sustainability across a number of the Global Goals. Companies that have set SDG targets include:

  • Ajinomoto, which works on infant nutrition in developing countries;
  • Fujitsu, which advances environmental technologies;
  • Lixil, which will increase the number of developing countries in which it manufactures portable toilets;
  • Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal, which is using slag byproducts from steel manufacturing to create a product that can increase the ocean’s iron content, supporting the proliferation of seaweed and advancing ocean conservation;
  • Omron, which considers the SDGs in developing medium-term business plans;
  • Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, which has set SDG targets for each area of its business, including one target to double the number of employees engaged in an environmental protection activity over two years and a target on developing products and services related to disaster prevention and mitigation; and
  • Sumitomo Chemical, which has identified 34 of its products that can help SDG achievement, including through improved packaging materials.

In November, the Japan Business Federation, known as Keidanren, revised its corporate conduct charter to raise awareness of the SDGs. [P4G Website] [P4G Partnership Guidelines] [UNFCCC Press Release on ITP Goals] [ITP Goals] [Asia Nikkei Press Release]

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