Overseas Offices

With 136 overseas bases, ITOCHU Corporation operates globally. Recently, there has been a growing demand for CSR outside of Japan as well, and we have responded by promoting CSR, creating and executing CSR action plans at our overseas bases.

Major CSR initiatives

Solar business initiatives in Europe

Ichiro Okura Greek Office,
ITOCHU Europe PLC

Various European countries encourage the adoption of clean energy through subsidies and other incentives. Against the backdrop, we actively promote solar businesses in the European bloc. Together with our local partners, we are investing in such solar power generation system integrators as Scatec Solar (Norway), Greenvision ambiente (Italy), Enolia Solar System (Greece), as well as solar parks in Greece, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere. In Greece, the Distomo 1.4 MW solar park began operation in 2010, and we plan to invest in other power generation businesses of over 10 MW in total by the end of the year. Moving forward, we will continue to promote the widespread adoption of environmentfriendly solar energy.

Distomo solar park in Greece

India: Toward smart cities

Nawaru Kutsuzawa Business Development and Investment Office,
ITOCHU India Pvt. Ltd.

Tarun Khanna Machinery Department,
ITOCHU India Pvt. Ltd.

ITOCHU Corporation has formed a consortium with Hitachi, Ltd. and five other companies. The consortium is now conducting a prefeasibility study for the project to create smart cities between Delhi and Mumbai using low-carbon, environment-friendly infrastructure. The study targets the Dahej region in the district of Bharuch, which is in the state of Gujarat, located in western India. The aim is to build next-generation power grids called “smart grids,” drinking water and sewage treatment plants using water treatment membranes, wastewater recycling facilities, and industrial-waste recycling facilities, in this rapidly developing areas. The consortium includes ITOCHU Corporation; Hitachi, Ltd.; KYOCERA Corporation; The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated; Hyflux Ltd; EX CORPORATION Environmental & Urban Planning, Research and Consulting; and the city of Kitakyushu, and aims to create environment-friendly cities, reflecting the expertise of the consortium in smart-city construction. As India builds a dedicated freight railway line between Delhi and Mumbai, it is planning roughly 300 infrastructure projects, worth a total of $90 billion, centered on 24 cities along the railway.

Freight railway route and development plan area

New office in New York awarded LEED^(*1) certification

George Sprance ITOCHU International Inc.

ITOCHU International Inc. (III) has renovated its New York City headquarter office from 2007 to 2009, giving the greatest possible attention to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and improving the environment. The company recycled 80% of construction waste, and made it possible to reduce annual water usage by 33% through the use of water-efficient facilities and waterless urinals, saving 1.2 million liters of water. III also purchased Renewable Energy Credits (RECs^(*2)) equivalent to two years of its electricity usage, reducing CO₂ emissions by 1,100 tons per year. This is equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of 120 households from electricity usage. The purchase of RECs also helps to popularize and increase the adoption of renewable energy.
After its completion of renovation in June 2009, the new office space was awarded the prestigious LEED Silver Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

*1 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): The largest system in the United States for evaluating green building design, construction, and operations.
*2 RECs (Renewable Energy Credits): III indirectly uses electric power generated from such forms of natural energy as wind, biomass, small- and medium-sized hydropower and geothermal.