Canon and Samsung under accusation, between climate denial and greenwashing
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A well-known Japanese brand of cameras that supports a scholar accused of climate denialism, a Korean electronics giant that preaches well, but raids badly in terms of emissions, and some non-profit organizations who have gone to war because they are convinced that by doing so we will end to definitively compromise the balance of the planet. They are the protagonists of this story, with the addition of a worldwide photo contest on the theme of the environmental crisis which will reward the winner by exhibiting his shot in Times Square in March.
The contest was titled Cameras Don’t Lie, which we could translate as “cameras don’t lie”. To throw it there Action Speaks Louder, an Australian non-profit born in 2021 with the aim of fighting greenwashing, or the facade environmentalism of those companies that lift just a finger to safeguard the planet but which publicly support instead of doing a lot. In the case of Samsung and Canon in particular, the accusation is heavier. The latter not only makes very little use of renewables, but its Canon Institute for global studies (Cigs) has published studies signed by the research director Taishi Sugiyma who question the weight of human activities in raising the temperature. In The Earth Climate System as Coupled Nonlinear Oscillators under Quasi-Periodical Forcing from the Spaceit is argued, for example, that the temperature also changes thanks to other variables such as El Niño and solar activity.
“There has been a major change in the last three or four years: all the major companies say they have implemented measures to combat the climate crisis. However, very few of them are actually keeping their promises,” he says James Lorenz from Sydney, one of the founders of Action Speaks Louder. Born in Great Britain, 45 years old and with two children, he has a long past as director of organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Greenpeace. “And instead it is essential that they do so, if we really want to achieve the objectives of limiting the rise in temperatures. Because they are often multinationals that have strong political influence. Fujio Mitaraithe head of Canon, is among those using that power to stall the energy transition.”
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Canon’s use of renewable sources is just 4.8%, against 100% for other Japanese giants such as Sony, Ricoh, Fujifilm, Nikon and Panasonic. According to the report drawn up by Transition Asia, another non-profit this time based mostly in Hong Kong, Canon has lowered its emissions targets for 2030, going from a 50% cut to around 23%. But the thing that infuriated Action Speaks Louder the most, and which led to the organization of the international photographic competition, are the positions of the Canon Institute for Global Studies, a research center wanted by the managing director Mitarai who would like to have “a active in shaping the future of Japan and the rest of the world, accurately charting future directions and visions, disseminating information, providing roadmaps”.
Seita Emori, a professor at the University of Tokyo and a researcher at the National Institute for Environmental Studies argues that “a significant part of what appears to be a scientific controversy on the climate crisis is aimed at delaying action”. According to him, therefore, a company that aims at a sustainable future should keep away from such theses”.
The case of Samsung is different and is counted as an example in the field of ecological facade. In 2018 he claimed to now only use energy produced from renewable sources, however he forgot to underline that this happened only in certain territories, such as the United States and Europe, while in others the road ahead is still very long. And as it happens, these are the countries where part of the production is concentrated. “Samsung is lagging behind. And this is bad because when it comes to technology, there are few companies bigger and more global than Samsung,” he writes. Transition Asia. “80% of Samsung Electronics’ total electricity consumption is in South Korea and Vietnam, where energy production is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. In short: it is helping to make the climate crisis even worse.”
Also the European association Carbon Market Watch is of the same mind and points out in its latest report that “Samsung does not plan to switch to 100% renewable electricity consumption until 2050, but is taking proactive steps to address system-level issues for renewable electricity supply in Asia Samsung currently has a low share of renewable electricity consumption, 15-20%.”
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Reading the sustainability reports of both multinationals, one actually comes across a series of proclamations in the first pages and towards the end in reports full of data where one’s environmental impact is calculated in a way that is not very intelligible if not sometimes questionable. Establishing as a deadline the abatement of emissions by 2050 is already a small promise if there are not progressive steps forward starting today. For example, Canon claims that since 2008 it has reduced CO2 emissions by 3% per year2 for each product throughout its life cycle. But the doubts that it will manage to reduce the greenhouse gases it emits by half by 2030 and then cancel them by 2050.
It is no coincidence that figures of the caliber of Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, for two years now have been supporting the need to arrive at a measurement and certification of greenhouse gas emissions through technology made by third parties. “Greenhouse gas emissions are like Covid. They do not respect the borders between nations, they spread through the air and require global interventions and efforts to find a remedy”, he explained at the end of September 2022. And in this field anyone can say more or not what he wants without there being any real confirmation of what he is really doing to change things.
The photo contest Cameras Don’t Lie it’s a way to attract attention by bringing creativity into play. The images, which as we said at the beginning must have the climate crisis as their theme, will be examined by a jury composed of three international photographers and artists: Celina Chienwho is also a judging panel for Wildlife Photographer of the Year; Hisham Akira Bharoochawhich has exhibited in museums such as the MoMa, MoCA, The Sydney Opera House and the Barbican among others; Naoki Ishikawa whose works have been acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.
“What we are trying to do is look at the big international companies that have political influence and make them move faster in cutting emissions,” concludes Lorenz. “They are often linked to very long supply chains as in the case of Samsung. If they really used renewable energy, the difference would be enormous in terms of reducing emissions. Also because coal is still used in many countries”.
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Action Speaks Louder claims it is funded by a number of philanthropic organizations such as The European Climate Foundation engaged in the fight against climate change and none of these would have any interest whatsoever in the multinational sectors being watched. We have no way of verifying, but this is certainly an important aspect as well. Sustainability is an issue around which a lot of money revolves and if on the one hand a reliable emissions certification system seems absolutely necessary to avoid easy marketing operations, on the other hand a lot of transparency is also needed as regards the non-profits involved in this forehead.
One last thing. We asked the Italian subsidiaries of Canon and Samsung for a comment, a response to the accusations made, knowing full well that the former has little to do with the Canon Institute for Global Studies and the latter has no say in the matter on the use of energy in plants in South Korea or Vietnam. Paolo Tedeschihead of the Corporate & Marketing Communications division of Canon Italy, replied as follows: “Canon Institute of Global Studies is an independent think tank, whose collaborators do not represent the views of Canon, nor are they approved by the brand. We are committed to achieving zero net emissions of CO2 by 2050. In addition, since 2008 Canon has set a target of average improvement in CO emissions2 of 3% per year of life cycle per product unit, which has been consistently achieved”. We will also take care of adding the Samsung replica when it is ready.
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