SustainabilityFocus
Climate change is a major challenge facing the world at the moment, with a profound impact on the human race, ecology and earth environment. To take on this challenge, countries at COP26 in 2021 reached a consensus to issue the Glasgow Climate Pact, reaffirming the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. In 2022, COP 27 called for public disclosure of a comprehensive plan for net zero transition. In 2021, the government also announced the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The “ Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050” was then published in 2022, formulating transition strategies for the four major aspects of “energy, industry, lifestyle and society.” As one of the local retail channels, PCSC is duty-bound on the path to net-zero transition. We analyze our own key environmental issues and take actions, focusing on responding to the “energy transition,” “industrial transition” and “lifestyle transition” in the net zero transition strategy by promoting sustainability actions towards “carbon reduction,” “plastic reduction” and “food waste reduction.” To this end, PCSC starts from its own operations to reduce carbon together with suppliers/logistics partners, and taking advantage of close tie between PCSC and daily life of the general public to encourage people to transition to a low-carbon green life, working with stakeholders to move towards a net zero sustainable society.
Energy Transition
Promote store energy saving, energy efficiency improvement and renewable energy
PCSC started conducting greenhouse gas inventory in line with ISO 14064-1:2006 since 2017, as well as adopting the new version of ISO 14064-1:2018 since 2020 and passing third-party verification. We also continue to expand the coverage of bases that are inventoried to include all stores and offices in the mainland and outlying islands. In 2021, the main source of carbon emissions came from purchased electricity, which was mostly used for store operations. Therefore, we promote energy saving and energy efficiency improvement in the stores, as well as increasing the proportion of renewable energy while responding to the energy transition strategy in the net zero transition strategy. The relevant highlight projects in 2022 include the first near-zero carbon store, micro-carbon offsets in stores, and installation of renewable energy devices in stores.
(Note) Please refer to 4.3 Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation for information on in-store energy-saving measures.
Near-Zero Carbon Store
The Antong store in Tainan has obtained the Near-Zero Carbon Building label issued by the Ministry of the Interior, making it the first convenience store in a “Near-Zero Carbon Building.” The “Near-Zero Carbon Building” label means that the building has almost achieved carbon neutrality in which carbon reduction offsets carbon emissions, meaning existing buildings are equally capable of reducing carbon emissions.
Antong store improved energy efficiency by reducing the use of air-conditioning, refrigerating and freezing equipment, and energy consumption of lighting. The measures include adding a windbreak room to reduce cold air leakage, replacing the inverter systems for air-conditioning, refrigerators and freezers, and installing circulating fans to improve the indoor cooling effect from air-conditioning, choosing LED lamps and concentrating the lamps in the aisles to reduce the number of lamps, adopting large glass surface for the seating area so that less lighting is necessary during daytime, as well as managing the use of air-conditioning and lighting for different zones and periods of time.
Micro-carbon Offsets in Stores
In 2022, PCSC started working on the micro-carbon offsets in stores together with the Department of Commerce, MOEA and Taiwan Green Productivity Foundation. Lighting tests were carried out in 4 stores in Taipei that were scheduled to be renovated. The number and illuminance of light fixtures were inventoried and measured by professionals with illuminance simulation, as well as replacing tubes with LED ones. According to Guidelines for Micro-carbon Offsets, the carbon reduction amount was assured by the external verification unit BSI before submitting to the Environmental Protection Administration for review. PCSC passed review in the same year as the first local convenience store with ISO14064-2 certification for micro-carbon offsets. 。
In-store Renewable Energy Devices
In 2022, PCSC integrated the concept of green power into the store design for Yawan store by introducing solar power energy. PCSC worked with Taiwan Cement to develop a new energy model for Yawan store, using solar power energy and an energy storage system to prioritize power supply. In the event of a power outage, the micro-grid system will automatically switch to providing power through solar power energy and energy storage batteries, allowing Yawan store to maintain uninterrupted power for at least 4 hours, including lighting, monitoring systems, cash registers, automatic doors, etc. In addition, the use of green power and energy storage system also greatly reduces carbon emissions.
PCSC also plans to expand the application of renewable energy by purchasing green power for the headquarters building in 2023, in order to gradually transition to renewable energy in line with policies.