Hidaka City (Mayor: Teruo Yagasaki), Hidaka Toshi Gas Co., Ltd. (President: Takashi Waida, hereinafter "Hidaka Toshi Gas"), and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (President and CEO : Takashi Uchida, hereinafter "Tokyo Gas"), today entered into a "Comprehensive Partnership Agreement for Carbon-neutral Town Development" (hereinafter "the Agreement").

The amended Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures entered into effect in June 2021, and requires local governments to engage in efforts towards the realization of a carbon-free society. Hidaka City announced the "Zero-carbon City Joint Declaration" aimed at achieving virtually zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, covering the five cities of the Saitama Prefecture Western Area Town Development Committee (Hidaka, Tokorozawa, Hanno, Sayama, Iruma) in February 2021, and has been proceeding steadily with these efforts.

The Agreement will involve the mutual partnership of three entities, namely Hidaka City, Hidaka Toshi Gas, and Tokyo Gas, in which knowledge and technology concerning carbon-free society will be used with the objective of carbon-neutral city development. Moving forward, these three entities will determine the specific content to be performed through regular consultations.

[Area for Partnership in the Agreement]
(1) Matters concerning total coordination for efforts towards the realization of a zero-carbon city
(2) Matters concerning local production for local consumption of energy
(3) Matters concerning the procurement of low-carbon energy and its provision to public facilities, etc.
(4) Matters concerning the optimization of energy through the use of energy data, etc.
(5) Matters concerning the strengthening of resilience, such as strengthening the disaster prevention functions in regions
(6) Matters concerning the co-creation of value that will create new value and activities from a regional perspective
(7) Matters concerning awareness-raising activities through environmental energy education and food education, etc., at schools, etc.
(8) Matters concerning the strengthening of support for specialist human resources in the various efforts
(9) Other matters concerning the improvement of services for Hidaka City residents

Hidaka City, Hidaka Toshi Gas, and Tokyo Gas, based on the Agreement, will strengthen their partnership in various fields, including carbon-neutral town development, and will engage in ongoing efforts towards the realization of a carbon-free society.

■Comments from Teruo Yagasaki, Mayor of Hidaka City
Our city, in February 2021, jointly declared together with our neighboring cities "Zero-carbon City," which aims for virtually zero- carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Having started our efforts towards the realization of a zero-carbon city, we are now at the stage of starting to create a plan that will set out the specific action targets and methods, etc. At such a stage, we were delighted to receive proposals from Hidaka Toshi Gas and Tokyo Gas, and to enter into a trilateral Comprehensive Partnership Agreement towards carbon-neutral city development.
The Agreement includes "matters concerning total coordination of efforts towards the realization of zero-carbon city," and therefore, we would like to ask for help in the development of plans through the use of the knowledge of private companies.
In addition, in various areas such as environmental education and the strengthening of resilience, we would like to take this opportunity to receive specific proposals that are suitable for our city over the course of ongoing discussions, and hope that this will accelerate efforts towards our city becoming zero-carbon city.

■Comments from Takashi Waida, President of Hidaka Toshi Gas Co., Ltd.　
Hidaka Toshi Gas is a city gas company based in Hidaka City, located in the mid-western part of Saitama Prefecture. Our company celebrated the 50th anniversary of its establishment last year, and has grown over the course of many years through being long-cherished by local residents, and meeting their expectations. In recent years, the number of households has decreased in conjunction with the "declining birthrate and aging population," which is a nationwide issue, including in Hidaka City, however I feel that there will be many opportunities for this region in the future, with it being blessed with great nature despite being quite close to the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.
Under such circumstances, Hidaka City, together with four neighboring cities, made the incredibly important declaration of "Realizing zero-carbon city by 2050." Towards the great objective of revitalizing the city while achieving decarbonization and maintaining natural beauty, in keeping with business plans, etc., such as the Basic Environmental Plan formulated by Hidaka City, and in order to create a vibrant city that its people can enjoy living in, it is a huge pleasure to bring together the collective strengths of our company together with the Sinanen Holdings Group, which we are a member of, and to be able to provide assistance together with Tokyo Gas.
We look forward to continuing to contribute to Hidaka City and its residents through various opportunities in the future.

■Comments from Masako Konishi, Executive Officer and General Manager of the Wide Area Energy Division , Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.
This Comprehensive Partnership Agreement consists of four primary items that have been agreed by Tokyo Gas with the local government and local energy company towards the realization of "carbon-free city development." Hidaka City, a place where various environmentally aware efforts have been promoted, evaluated proposals from Hidaka Toshi Gas and Tokyo Gas towards the realization of "carbon-free city development," and I think being chosen as a partner for further decarbonization makes this Comprehensive Partnership Agreement incredibly meaningful. Tokyo Gas, in its "Compass2030" group management vision, has listed the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions, including of its customers, to zero, across the entirety of the group's business activities. In the future as well, we will continue to maintain close contact with the various stakeholders that make up the local community as a "solution provider" towards the realization of a carbon-free society, and will work on solving local issues from the perspectives of carbon neutrality, resilience, and regional co-creation.

[Media contact]
Yoshida, Kimura, and Kiryu, PR/IR Team, Corporate Planning Dept., Sinanen Holdings Co., Ltd.
Tel: +81-3-6478-7807 E-mail: kouhou@sinanengroup.co.jp