AUO Corporation (“AUO”) today announced that it has become a formal member of RE100 global renewable energy initiative and the first enterprise in the global display manufacturing industry to commit to using 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. AUO will also fulfill its responsibility on environmental sustainability by adopting annual carbon emission reduction targets approved by the Science-Based Targets (SBT). By 2025, absolute carbon emissions will be reduced by 25% and all office locations will be carbon neutral by 2030. AUO also strives to reach the 2050 net zero target, aligning with the global trend in the coming future.
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AUO Chairman Paul Peng indicated: “Year 2022 is a crucial milestone in AUO’s fight against climate change. In addition to joining RE100 to set clear targets for the use of renewable energy, being one of the founding enterprises of the ‘Taiwan Climate Partnership,’ AUO will also extend our carbon management mechanism to supply chain partners. With solid expertise in smart manufacturing, we will guide the value chain to realize green productions from the inside-out. Also, we’ll collaborate with value chain to implement risk and business continuity management that make AUO more sustainable.”
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ESG and Climate Committee as Pivotal Role to Accelerate Low-Carbon Transformation, Building Roadmap for Net-Zero Emissions
AUO upgrades the corporate sustainability governance body “Sustainability Committee” as the "ESG and Climate Committee.” The Board of Directors and the ESG Committee act as the core decision-makers to strengthen climate governance under the existing sustainability goals. With profound sustainability awareness and in-depth participation from all personnel, AUO establishes a cross-unit platform for the systematic deployment of digital applications and the development of low-carbon technologies by working groups. AUO also persists to identify emerging green business opportunities to strengthen the greater roles that display technologies can play during the global low-carbon transformation. The ESG and Climate Committee also define a systemic blueprint and net-zero roadmap based on the comprehensive scopes of greenhouse gas emissions in its business operations to drive the transformation holistically.
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Implementing Sustainable Productions through Smart Manufacturing and Continued Refinement of Green Technologies
In terms of direct emissions, AUO grounds its core expertise in smart manufacturing and leverages the Internet-of-Things (IoT), big data analytics and other technologies to deploy predictive management and implement refined carbon reduction technologies in its production equipment, as well as every aspect of plant management. The many years of experience in smart manufacturing accumulated AUO to be a gold-mine in sustainability and led to its inclusion in the “Global Lighthouse Network” by World Economic Forum. As part of its continued improvements to the completeness and transparency of emissions data, AUO has also become the first panel maker in the world to pass the latest ISO 14064: 2018 GHG verification in 2021. At the same time, the turn-key green production process solution of AUO Envirotech, an AUO subsidiary, is also used to develop a variety of environmental-friendly technologies. In the future, AUO will continue to identify more varieties of low-carbon solutions on fluoride gas emissions, fuels, as well as raw material, and actively adopts low-energy consumptions technologies and production processes.
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Expand Use of Renewable Energy through Self-built Solar Power Plants and Corporate Renewable Power Purchase Agreements
With regards to the electricity consumptions resulted from indirect emissions, two main strategies, improving energy efficiency and expanding renewable energy usage are adopted. In addition to gradually reducing the carbon emissions from power consumption by mandating an annual reduction of 1.5% in the power consumption during production processes, AUO is also progressively increasing the ratio of renewable energy such as solar and wind power it uses. The medium and long-term goals are to reach 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. Since its solar business portfolio in 2008, AUO has built the largest rooftop solar power plant in Taiwan on its own factory. With AUO’s capabilities to provide Engineering Procurement Constructions service for solar power plants, the company will continue to increase its use of solar power every year through self-built power plants and Corporate Renewable Power Purchase Agreements (CPPA).
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Mobilize Value Chain on Carbon Reduction. Key Suppliers to Cut Carbon Emissions by 20% Before Year 2030
AUO makes climate action a key component in its supply chain partnerships, launching joint initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. With supports, key suppliers will agree to complete GHG inventory, establish the ISO 50001 energy management system, improve their energy performance and work together to realize a 20% reduction in carbon emissions before 2030. At the same time, AUO also forms partnership with supply chain and branded customers on the co-development of circular economy. There is ongoing research to increase the ratio of recycled materials used and develop low-energy products that can meet green branded customers’ needs.
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In facing climate changes, AUO identifies risks and opportunities through “mitigation” and “adaptation,” as well as “Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures” (TCFD) framework so that counter-measures can be devised to improve organization resilience. It is the hope of AUO that it can exert its influence in the industry and join forces with its ecosystem partners to embrace low-carbon transformation and realize the sustainability vision of net-zero emissions.
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