December 2020 marked the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Over the past five years, governments, businesses, cities, and citizens worldwide have accelerated their efforts to address the global challenge of climate change. But a lot remains to be done to prevent the planet’s temperature from rising more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. One first necessary step is attaining carbon neutrality in developed countries by 2050.

1. DECEMBER 2020 • EUROBIZ JAPAN 35
SME CORNER
TE X T BY STÉFAN LE DÛ
Towards carbon
neutrality together
Japan and Europe collaborate on climate action
This month marks the fifth
anniversary of the Paris
Agreement. Over the past five
years, governments, businesses,
cities, and citizens worldwide
have accelerated their efforts
to address the global challenge
of climate change. But a lot
remains to be done to prevent
the planet’s temperature from
rising more than 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels by the
end of the century. One first
necessary step is attaining
carbon neutrality in developed
countries by 2050.
I
n October, Prime
Minister Yoshihide
Suga announced that
Japan will strive to
become a carbon neu-
tral society by 2050. It joins the
EU in its efforts to reach this
ambitious but necessary long-
term goal.
Although it will be chal-
lenging, the transformation
is doable. Public authorities
and business representa-
tives from Europe and Japan
expressed their thoughts on
how to achieve this goal in a
webinar titled “2020: Raising
the ambition for climate”, held
in October, a few days before
Suga’s announcement.
The webinar was the first of
a year-long schedule of events
funded by the EU and organ-
ised by the EU–Japan Centre
for Industrial Cooperation.
Upcoming events, which will
bring together industry experts
and policymakers from the EU and Japan,
will cover topics such as renewable energy
deployment, clean hydrogen, low-carbon
cities, the role of local governments, and
partnerships in third countries. They will be
accompanied by a series of online publica-
tions that detail success stories of EU–Japan
business partnerships working to combat
climate change.
There are already many such stories.
One example centres on the push by the
EU and Japan to increase energy efficiency,
an essential component of their climate
policies, which aim to improve efficiency by
a minimum of 30% by 2030. It is a goal that
will require effort from all sectors but one
that will open new business opportunities
for energy efficiency service providers.
French clean-tech startup METRON —
founded in Paris in 2013 to help manufac-
turers reduce energy costs and their carbon
footprint — has developed an energy-saving
solution that combines human expertise
with a robust technology based on artifi-
cial intelligence and machine learning. By
collecting data and digitising factory assets,
METRON’s platform detects abnormal
energy behaviours, identifies factors affect-
ing consumption, and recommends real-
time energy efficiency actions, steps that can
help manufacturers in all sectors to improve
energy efficiency.
METRON is now collaborating with
more than 130 companies worldwide. It is
recognised as a global game changer by key
leaders in the energy sector and is listed
in international rankings such as the 2020
Global Cleantech 100.
As METRON was beginning to expand
to other parts of the world, the Japanese
engineering and consulting firm NTT
Facilities was developing a plan to diversify
its business into advanced energy manage-
ment solutions, but it could not find a firm to
partner with in Japan. The two
companies finally met in 2017.
“After travelling to many
countries and assisting at many
events, I found METRON at
the European Utility Week
in Amsterdam,” says Kentaro
Ono, head of NTT Facilities’
European office.
In April 2020, METRON and
NTT Facilities signed a part-
nership agreement, with the
goal of bringing the technology
developed by METRON to the
Japanese market.
“In Japan, decentralisation
and distribution of energy are
possibly more challenging than
in any other country. METRON
is willing to optimise the full
supply chain of energy with its
AI platform,” explains Vincent
Sciandra, CEO of METRON.
METRON and NTT Facilities
are now reaching out to indus-
trials in Japan to help them
better manage their energy
and reduce their emissions.
The clock is ticking to reach
carbon neutrality by 2050, and
the challenges are real. But if
Japan and the EU — two of the
world’s largest economies —
work together, they can help set
the world on a path to realise
the Paris Agreement. •
For more information on EU–Japan
climate cooperation, visit
www.europe-japan-climate-cooperation.net
Stéfan Le Dû is in charge of climate
cooperation at the EU–Japan Centre
for Industrial Cooperation.
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