As reflected in “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” adopted by the United Nations in 2015, societies are making a collective effort to transition to a circular economy.

According to the OECD assessment of the achievement of SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) targets by member states, there are positive changes in such areas as healthcare and urban development, monitoring of oceans and biodiversity conservation. Meanwhile, further effort is needed to tackle water pollution, energy efficiency and sustainable production, food security and social inequality among other targets.

As for Japan, its performance on SDGs surpasses the OECD average in such areas as healthcare, clean water, infrastructure and sustainable production. In a shift to circularity, corporations are looking into environmentally friendly measures to integrate in business practices.

Committed to ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing, airline ANA announced its initiative to replace about 70 percent of plastic items used in-flight and in its airport lounges, introducing instead new items made with sustainable materials such as wood (※1), paper and bio-plastics. The company plans to implement the goal until the end of 2020.

While the use of sustainable in-flight items will start in February 2020, ANA intends to further research and implement eco-friendly practices based on 3R principle of “reduce reuse recycle.”

Based on its “ANA FLY ECO 2020” environmental plan for 2012-2020, ANA is addressing CO2 reduction by improving energy efficiency, integrating green vehicles powered by alternatives fuels, promoting tree-planting and coral-growing activities.

As a supporter of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures), ANA aims to address associated climate risks in the airline business as part of its management strategy.

※(1) Wood material used at ANA is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international body for sustainable forest management.