Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Asahi Kasei appears to have limited engagement on climate and energy policy in Japan. Despite its mixed top-line positions, it appears to advocate for transition of energy mix. The company retains memberships to and executive positions in several key industry associations, including Keidanren.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Asahi Kasei appears to have mixed top-line messaging on climate policy. On its website accessed on April 2023, Asahi Kasei clearly supported the science of the IPCC. According to Nikkei published on December 2020, Asahi Kasei honorary fellow scientist advocated for increased ambition on GHG emission reductions. In March 2023, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun reported that the chairman of Asahi Kasei stressed that the Green Transformation (GX) cannot be achieved by a single country and needs to cover Asia more broadly, but it was unclear whether the position supports climate policy. InfluenceMap has not found any evidence of Asahi Kasei’s positions on the Paris Agreement.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: InfluenceMap has found no evidence on Asahi Kasei’s positions towards, or engagement with, climate related regulations.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Asahi Kasei appears to have positive but limited engagement with transitioning the energy mix. At the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy Council held by METI in March 2023, the company advocated for government investment and support measures for a green hydrogen supply chain. Asahi Kasei Honorary Fellow Scientist generally supported the electrification of transportation, as reported by Nikkei in October 2021 and Chunichi Shimbun in February 2023.
Industry Association Governance: Asahi Kasei has disclosed its membership to some industry associations on its website, accessed in April 2023, but did not provide complete information on all of its memberships and indirect engagement activities. In its 2022 CDP response, the company disclosed its membership in Japan Climate Leaders Partnership (JCLP), which takes a positive position on engagement with climate legislation, but the company did not disclose links to Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA), and other key industry associations.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2023.