Interpreting the "Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality" Results: Current Status of Carbon Neutrality Penetration and Future Outlook (Part 2)

• Interpreting the "Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality" Results: Current Status of Carbon Neutrality Penetration and Future Outlook (Part 1)

Decarbonization and carbon neutrality are considered crucial factors in halting advancing climate change. The "Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality, " led by the cross-group Dentsu Group team "Sustainability Promotion Office" and "Dentsu Team SDGs," revealed awareness levels and shifts in consumer attitudes regarding these concepts.We spoke with Mr. Yu Hayashi of Dentsu Inc., who led the survey, about the trends revealed by the results of the sixth survey conducted in January 2022.

In Part 1, Mr. Hayashi stated, "Advancing understanding of the necessity of carbon neutrality is the immediate challenge." In Part 2, we delve deeper into what is crucial for advancing this understanding, examining it from two perspectives: "businesses" and "consumers."

It's crucial that "carbon neutrality" doesn't become overly focused on "economics"

Q. You've now conducted six surveys. What are your thoughts on the "future outlook"?

Hayashi: When the term "carbon neutrality" gains broader acceptance than "decarbonization," I want to clearly identify where and who the consumers committed to it are. This field is progressing with governments and industry taking the lead, followed by consumers. However, even when we say "follow," consumers currently have limited options beyond "accepting price increases""investing in or working for companies advancing carbon neutrality," or "choosing products and services that incorporate carbon neutrality." Therefore, by identifying whether people have the mindset to truly commit to carbon neutrality and what kind of clusters these people belong to, we aim to establish guidelines for advancing carbon neutrality.

Q. Mr. Hayashi, you work on various projects related to carbon neutrality, not just this survey. From your perspective, what are your thoughts on the future penetration and establishment of carbon neutrality understanding, or its future vision?

Hayashi: At least at this point, I believe there is a significant gap between the perspectives and levels of urgency regarding carbon neutrality held by corporations and consumers.

For companies, ESG investing—considering Environment, Social, and Governance—and sustainability are major themes, so they're starting various initiatives. However, from the consumer's perspective, efforts in the B2B domain or supply chain are largely invisible.I think the only trigger for them is seeing commercials for electric vehicles and thinking, "Oh, that's right." In that sense, I would like companies to communicate their initiatives to consumers in a way that is easier to understand, and, although it may sound a little arrogant, I think consumers also need to actively learn about these issues.

The government has announced its "Green Growth Strategy for Carbon Neutrality by 2050" and presented 14 fields that are expected to grow.Certainly, it is important for companies in these fields to take the initiative and move forward, but ultimately, in order for carbon neutrality to be driven forward, all other companies must also play a leading role. That is why I hope companies will actively disseminate information, but I think the difficulty in disseminating information in this field lies in the fact that "economics" and "environmental studies" coexist.

What this means is that corporate communications about their initiatives are often framed primarily from an "economics" perspective. This is because the goal of these initiatives is how they connect to "enhancing corporate value." To achieve this, companies communicate information about developing new technologies, changing business structures, making donations, or contributing to social impact. They do this to enhance their reputation, attract investment, or gain acceptance for passing on costs.However, for ordinary people, this might be perceived as an "environmental science" issue: "The Earth's temperature is rising, threatening our current way of life." To put it bluntly, whether a company achieves carbon neutrality and how that affects its corporate value might not matter to ordinary people at all.What consumers feel more tangibly and consider crucial are issues like the clearly changing weather patterns compared to the past, the declining availability of crops and marine resources, and the fundamental danger to the Earth's environment itself. My hypothesis is that this fundamental disconnect is often overlooked, making it difficult for corporate messages to reach consumers.

Even so, companies I consider skilled at communication don't just say, "We've developed this technology/product." Instead, they communicate, "We're advancing carbon neutrality and want to create a city like this." By letting people imagine "what kind of lifestyle this will enable," their message becomes more accessible to consumers. It also likely earns them the expectation that "they seem capable of leading the society of the future."

Now is the time to effectively utilize "passive media"

Q. Earlier, you mentioned that consumers also need to actively learn. However, learning can be quite challenging in some cases.

Hayashi: I'm responsible not only for the "Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality" but also for the "Consumer Survey on SDGs." The latest survey results show SDG awareness at 86.0%, a remarkably high percentage.It feels like awareness has surged recently, and I believe mass media, especially television, has played a huge role. Previously, SDGs only appeared in contexts like "news" or "education," but now variety shows and other programs are featuring SDGs-themed content.Regarding carbon neutrality, much like the SDGs, unless information naturally surfaces in people's everyday lives, widespread adoption will likely remain challenging. Moreover, in today's internet-centric information environment, there's an increasing amount of information that "won't reach you unless you actively seek it out." If the status of mass media like television, where people "passively encounter information," were to relatively decline, it could also make it harder for new concepts like carbon neutrality to gain traction.

Incidentally, awareness and interest in the SDGs tend to be higher among young people, and I believe education plays a significant role in this. School education is a key factor, and the fact that SDGs are increasingly appearing on entrance exams naturally creates opportunities for young people to think about them, which is likely contributing to this trend.

Q. It might be fair to say that the role of mass media is particularly important precisely because we are in the internet age.

Hayashi: That's precisely what struck me most personally in this survey's findings. In modern times, we often have to actively seek out information, which paradoxically makes learning new things harder. That's why I believe we need to engage with media that allows us to passively receive information, not just television.

For example, in the fifth installment of our "Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality," we asked about awareness and understanding of "COP26 being held and discussions on global warming countermeasures." COP26, formally known as the "26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," is a meeting held by countries participating in the UN's "Framework Convention on Climate Change."The results showed that 53.4% of respondents were aware of COP26, roughly half the total. Whether one interprets this as "only half know despite all the coverage" or "half do know" depends on perspective. What's interesting is that those who answered "I know about COP26" also demonstrated significant knowledge of its content.In other words, it's completely polarized: "Those who know are well-informed about the details," while "those who don't know are truly unaware." It might be said that the world is becoming divided even in the realm of "information." Regarding recent global affairs, those who have followed international news reasonably well might see this as one of the developments they could have predicted contextually, while others might feel like "the world suddenly changed." I think we are living in such an era.

As the world moves toward decarbonization, Japan faces an urgent situation to meet its ambitious 2030 goals. While the concept of carbon neutrality is gaining traction, it must be further embedded throughout society.

At the same time, the perspective that "information fragmentation equals world fragmentation" is crucial. As social issues grow increasingly complex, how we proactively create an environment where we can grasp socially important problems—regardless of our personal interests—may be vital for navigating the times ahead.