1. Outline

The "Study Group on Product Carbon Footprint Calculations and Verification for Supply Chain-Wide Carbon Neutrality" (chairperson: Dr. Inaba Atsushi, Director, Japan Life Cycle Assessment Facilitation Centre) held four meetings in total from September 2022 to January 2023 in order to create markets that prioritize green products over others with the goal of reducing emissions across the whole supply chain to achieve carbon neutrality, and to help Japan grow. It advanced discussions on the following two documents:

[i] A report which clarifies the direction of policy measures concerning carbon footprints as and determines the situations surrounding carbon footprints inside and outside Japan and, based on those situations, examines rules to refer to from the viewpoints of reducing emissions across the whole supply chain of Japanese companies and enhancing the competitive edge of our products and industries —— "Carbon Footprint Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"); and

[ii] Guidelines which organize issues and frameworks that are considered specifically necessary based on the material above related to calculations and verification of carbon footprints, and whose compliance ensures the appropriate veracity of carbon footprints by referring tothe guidelines —— "Carbon Footprint Guidelines (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines")."

Concerning the Report and the Guidelines, METI opened a call for public comments from February 16 (Thur.) to March 2 (Thur.), 2023. Following this, the study group held discussions based on written documents, and METI hereby releases the results.

Moreover, the study group has released the Report, which is a compilation of the discussion results, while METI and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) hereby jointly release the Guidelines.

2. Outline of the Report

The Report provides streamlined information based on the following three points:

1. Details of CFP
2. Current state of efforts to address CFP measures and the challenges therein as well as future directions
3. Policy issues toward future actions

3. Outline of the Guidelines

The Guidelines consist of the following parts and present guidance for personnel that are responsible for the calculation of carbon footprints and other related matters.

Part 1: Basic ideas and significance and purpose of carbon footprints
Part 2: Guidance for advancing efforts for quantification of carbon footprints
(Appendix) Practical Guide

Related Materials

• Overview of the Carbon Footprint Report and the Carbon Footprint Guidelines (in Japanese)(PDF:1,119KB)PDF
• Carbon Footprint Report (in Japanese)(PDF:6,695KB)PDF
• Carbon Footprint Guidelines (in Japanese)(PDF:5,364KB)PDF
• Appendix to the Guidelines: Practical Guide (MOE and METI will make this public in the near future on the following webpage here (in Japanese)

Related Links

• Study Group on Product Carbon Footprint Calculations and Verification for Supply Chain-Wide Carbon Neutrality (METI) (in Japanese)
• MOE press release (in Japanese)Link

Division in Charge

Information on the Report, and the Guidelines:
Environmental Economy Office, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau