Let’s talk to Mr. Marukawa Yoichi, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam, to look back on the journey of spreading a green and healthy lifestyle to the community.
LEADING THE WAY IN COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
“Panasonic’s unchanged mission is to create an ideal society with both material and spiritual prosperity. As a manufacturer, we see addressing global environmental issues as our responsibility,” Mr. Marukawa shared.
Panasonic’s GREEN IMPACT commitment was born with Panasonic’s pioneering vision in the context of environmental pollution, dwindling finite resources, and increasing global warming issues. Therefore, the Group set a target to reduce over 300 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2050, equivalent to about 1% of the total CO2 emissions worldwide. The above target is achieved by reducing CO2 emissions in the Group’s value chain and supporting customers and partners in reducing their emissions, divided into “Own Impact, Contributory Impact, and Future Impact.”
In addition to continuing to develop technology and solutions, Panasonic has been and is making efforts to implement many social responsibility initiatives to realize the vision of a comprehensive and sustainable healthy society.
In Vietnam, for many years, the company has successfully planted and donated over 610,000 green trees in 20 provinces and cities through two main programs: the annual tree planting program “Supporting Ecology – Panasonic for a Green Vietnam” since 2014; and the special tree planting program “Healthy Life with Green Contribution with Panasonic,” calling for the joint efforts of partners and customers, which was launched in 2022.
INSPIRING GREEN LIVING TO YOUTH
In December 2022, Panasonic launched the campaign “Let’s Live Green with Gen G” for the first time, introducing the concept of Gen G – the generation of living Green, with Vietnamese dynamic young people as representatives. They are empowered to create impact and protect sustainable environment. This is also one of the pioneering programs to inspire young people in responding to climate change, aiming to realize Panasonic’s Green Impact commitment and the Government’s Net Zero target by 2050.
Following the success of the first year, the Season 2 campaign with the message “Live Green, Reduce Carbon Fast” approaches closely and practically the thoughts of some young people, when they think that “global warming, carbon emissions are macro issues, only impacted by the government and businesses.”
With a diverse range of online and in-person activities, along with the cooperation of the Resources and Environment Communication Center (CNREC) and the network of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Youth Union, NGOs, and inspiring individuals in the community, the program has helped “spread” to young people throughout the country.
“I believe that young people have felt empowered to take action and propose initiatives to create real impacts for environmental issues in the communities where they live and work. You have also connected and built a network with young people who love the environment nationwide and shared experiences and practical experiences,” Mr. Marukawa enthusiastically shared.
One of the notable achievements of the campaign is turning the green lifestyle into a trend on all platforms, with more than 3,100 green actions shared, contributing to a reduction of 147 tons of CO2, equivalent to planting 25,000 new trees.
In addition, young people with a desire to “devote” solutions to environmental issues have continued to find inspiration and empowerment to become “Gen G Ambassadors.” The program has received more than 490 green living ideas and initiatives, of which more than 150 initiatives have been evaluated in subsequent rounds, nearly double the number in the first year. The top 8 outstanding initiatives were chosen to receive financial support through Panasonic’s Gen G Innovation Fund.
