The Japan Gas Association
1-15-12 Toranomon Minato-ku, Tokyo105-0001, JAPAN22 April 2021

Summary of Remarks by JGA Chair HONJO Takehiro

1. Introduction

Japan's city gas industry has taken on the challenge of contributing to therealization of a "carbon-neutral society", while making every effort to deal withthe competition with other energies after the full liberalization of gas retailingand the response to COVID-19 disasters.
At the previous press conference on March 18, I said that we would do theutmost to satisfy "customers," "society," and "city gas companies," what we say
さんぽう"Sanpo-yoshi（三方よし）. "Sanpo-yoshi" is a well-known business philosophy
おうみof Ohmi（近江, highly developed area near Kyoto）merchants who were activefrom the Middle Ages to the modern era that describes a triple-win for "thebuyer", and "the seller" and "the society". That philosophy is that we must not
do business only for the benefit of the seller, but also for the satisfaction of thebuyer and contribute to the development of the local community throughbusiness, which is, I believe, similar to the CSR and SDGs.
The gas industry will also be able to achieve sustainable development byproviding various services to customers through efforts for liberalization, carbon
neutrality and regional revitalization, widely contributing to solving problems insociety as a whole.
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As I am from the Kansai region (western part of Japan), I would like tokeep this knowledge in mind and make efforts with sincerity.

2．At the start of Fiscal 2021 (April 2021-)
In October 2020, Prime Minister Suga, Yoshihide declared that Japan
would aim for a carbon-neutral in 2050, and the Japan Gas Association alsoannounced that Japan's city gas industry would "proactively respond to thatpolicy."

In addition, in March of 2021, the Agency for Natural Resources andEnergy of METI made up a report on the "Study Committee on the Ideal Gas
Business for 2050", which indicated the future direction and policies of gas
utilities and the gas industry.
In the midst of such major changes toward a "sustainable society," 2021
will be a year in which the gas business will take a new step toward future
development.

At present, I recognize that the national government isreviewing the greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030.

The gas industry will contribute to the achievement of the reduction target
for 2030 by promoting immediate and reliable CO2 reduction and energy saving
through a thorough shift to natural gas and advanced use of natural gas.
We will work on it utilizing the systems and policies that support thepromotion of the use of natural gas as well as reducing the cumulative CO2during the transition period based on the time axis, and toward 2050, we will
also make the gas carbon-neutral by methanation etc.

23．2021 fiscal year Japan Gas Association Business Plan
Looking at the situation surrounding the city gas industry, expectations forthe city gas business have been rising toward the realization of a sustainable
society, such as low carbonization, realization of carbon neutrality in the future,strengthening of resilience, and contribution to regional revitalization.
In addition, policy and institutional discussions related to gas projects in
the government, such as the formulation of the 6th Strategic Energy Plan andthe review of the global warming countermeasure plan are proceeding.
On the other hand, for JGA member companies, in addition to theinfluence of COVID-19, changes in social style and legal separation of thepipeline business of the three major gas utilities (Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, andToho gas) are approaching to April 2022, and business form of gas industry will
be diversified.
Under such circumstances, the Japan Gas Association stated, "In order totake a new step toward the future development of the gas business, thebusiness activities of member companies that contribute to low carbonation,
strengthening resilience, regional revitalization, and etc.
In addition to deepening support, we will promote efforts to improve theposition of the gas business by participating in policy discussions toward therealization of a carbon-neutral society in 2050 and actively disseminating
information to stakeholders. Specifically, we will work on the following five items.
The first is "strengthening resilience." By steadily implementing the Gas
Safety Advancement Plan 2030 and embodying smart security, we will support
the improvement of the security level of member businesses. We will also workfor further strengthen our ability to respond to natural disasters and cyberattacks caused by the COVID-19 disaster.
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The second is "Efforts toward carbon neutralization."

Promote naturalgas shift and advanced utilization of natural gas in order to reduce cumulative
CO2 during the transition period up to 2050 as much as possible. In addition,
we will proceed with the examination of a concrete action plan for carbon
neutralization.
The third is "contribution to regional revitalization."

Until now, we havewidely shared information with members, but in the future, we will support
member businesses to specifically work on regional revitalization, such assupport for acquiring skills to tackle regional revitalization through expert studysessions.
The fourth is "enhancing information dissemination and externalactivities."

Enhancing external activities such as disseminating information

on priority items and engaging in policy and institutional discussions.
The fifth is "improvement and strengthening of the organizationalfoundation."

We will improve the system of the Gas Association in responseto the diversification of management forms of member businesses, and realize
more effective and efficient communication by utilizing remote methods basedon the experience of COVID-19.

By proceeding with the above efforts, we will

aim to realize the purpose of the Japan Gas Association, "improving Japan's
さんぽう

economy and people's lives," that will be, " triple-win"（三方よし）.

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