Information processing systems, information processing methods, and programs

Abstract

The aim is to make it easy to input the data necessary for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. [Solution] An information processing system comprising: a storage unit that stores in association with the type of activity and emission factors for calculating greenhouse gas emissions related to the activity; an acquisition unit that acquires emission factors corresponding to the type of activity from the storage unit; an emission calculation unit that calculates emissions based on the emission factors and the amount of activity; and an input unit that can input values ​​related to each activity when the amount of activity consists of multiple activities.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Estimation of carbon dioxide emissions has been carried out (see Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] It takes time to register the data necessary for calculating the emissions in the system.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object thereof is to enable easy input of data necessary for calculating greenhouse gas emissions.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The information processing system according to this aspect includes a storage unit that stores in association the type of activity and an emission factor for calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to the activity, an acquisition unit that acquires the emission factor corresponding to the type of the activity from the storage unit, an emission amount calculation unit that calculates the emission amount based on the emission factor and the amount of activity, and an input unit that can input values related to each of the activities when the amount of activity consists of a plurality of the activities.

[0007] Regarding other problems disclosed in the present application and the solutions therefor, they will be clarified by the embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, data necessary for calculating greenhouse gas emissions can be easily input. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of the information processing system according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 200. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the software configuration of the management server 200. [Figure 4] This diagram explains the process for outputting target emissions. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates the process of outputting the emissions reduced by the solution. [Figure 6] This diagram illustrates the process of outputting reduction targets. [Figure 7] This is a diagram illustrating the process of presenting emission factors. [Figure 8] This diagram illustrates process 1, which generates and presents a third piece of information. [Figure 9] This diagram illustrates process 2, which generates and presents a third piece of information. [Figure 10] This diagram illustrates process 3, which generates and presents a third piece of information. [Figure 11] This diagram illustrates process 4, which generates and presents third information. [Figure 12] This diagram illustrates the process of calculating and presenting a carbon tax. [Figure 13] This diagram illustrates the process of analyzing and outputting the first piece of information. [Figure 14] This diagram illustrates the process for displaying emission intensity for each related company. [Figure 15] This diagram illustrates the process flow for calculating PCF. [Figure 16] This diagram illustrates the process of identifying activities. [Figure 17]This is a diagram for explaining the process of classifying activities. [Figure 18] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing solution information. [Figure 19] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing solution information. [Figure 20] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing solution information. [Figure 21] This is a diagram for explaining the process of managing the execution status of reduction means. [Figure 22] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing solution information. [Figure 23] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing procurement information. [Figure 24] This is a diagram for explaining the process of providing solution information. [Figure 25] This is a diagram for explaining the process of registering a template. [Figure 26] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 1 of Function 18. [Figure 27] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 2 of Function 18. [Figure 28] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 1 of Function 19. [Figure 29] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 2 of Function 19. [Figure 30] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 3 of Function 19. [Figure 31] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 1 of Function 20. [Figure 32] This is a diagram for explaining Operation 2 of Function 20. [Figure 33] This is a diagram for explaining the flow of the calculation process of the discharge amount. [Figure 34] This is a diagram for explaining the flow of the output process of the discharge amount. [Figure 35] This is a diagram showing an example of the output of the discharge amount. [Figure 36] This is a diagram for explaining the process of calculating the discharge amount at the construction site. [Figure 37] This is a diagram for explaining the process of calculating the discharge amount for each piece of luggage. [Figure 38] This diagram illustrates the process flow for setting up approval routes. [Figure 39] This diagram explains the process of linking emission intensity. [Figure 40] This diagram illustrates the process of generating and outputting information for obtaining third-party authentication. [Figure 41] This diagram explains the process of displaying performance based on data trends. [Figure 42] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 28. [Figure 43] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 29. [Figure 44] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 30th function. [Figure 45] This diagram shows an example of the overall configuration of the 31st function. [Figure 46] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 31st function. [Figure 47] This diagram illustrates the case of carbon offsetting when paying for taxi fares. [Figure 48] This diagram illustrates how to inquire about participation in carbon offsetting in advance. [Figure 49] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 32nd function. [Figure 50] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 33. [Figure 51] This diagram illustrates the process for calculating emissions for function 34. [Figure 52] This diagram illustrates the output process for the 34th function, which involves outputting supporting data. [Figure 53] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 35. [Figure 54] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 36th function. [Figure 55] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 37. [Figure 56] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 38. [Figure 57] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 39. [Figure 58] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 40th function. [Figure 59] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first embodiment of the 41st function. [Figure 60] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the second embodiment of the 41st function. [Figure 61] This diagram illustrates the process for displaying emission intensity for each related company. [Figure 62] This diagram illustrates the process flow for calculating PCF. [Figure 63] This is a conceptual diagram illustrating a scenario where a user acquires emission rights directly from the holder. [Figure 64] This is a conceptual diagram illustrating how users can acquire emission rights from holders through an intermediary. [Figure 65] This is a conceptual diagram of Information Processing System 1. [Figure 66] This is a conceptual diagram of Information Processing System 2. [Figure 67] This is a conceptual diagram of Information Processing System 3. [Figure 68] This is a conceptual diagram of Information Processing System 4. [Figure 69] This is a conceptual diagram of Information Processing System 5. [Figure 70] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 4 of the 19th function. [Figure 71] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 44th function. [Figure 72] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 45. [Figure 73] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 46. [Figure 74] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 47. [Figure 75] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 48. [Figure 76] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 49. [Figure 77] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of function 50. [Figure 78] This diagram illustrates the operation of the graph adjustment function. [Figure 79] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the 51st function. [Figure 80] This is a diagram illustrating how the review function works. [Figure 81] This diagram illustrates the operation of the group function. [Figure 82] This diagram illustrates the operation of the activity level input enhancement function. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] In this embodiment, greenhouse gas emissions will be used as an example, but the following information can also be targeted. The target information (data) is E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, S1, S2, S3, S4, G information, and human rights due diligence (hereinafter referred to as human rights DD). E1, E2, E3, E4, and E5 are environmental information. S1, S2, S3, and S4 are social information. G is governance information. This information is collected by the acquisition unit 250, which will be described later. The acquisition unit 250 collects this information in real time or periodically. In the following, the term "emissions" refers to greenhouse gas emissions unless otherwise defined.

[0011] E1 is climate change data. There are two types of climate change data: transition risk and physical risk. Examples of climate change data of the physical risk type include location information of the target site, site attribute information (building information, etc.), financial information (asset value, etc.), and greenhouse gas emissions.

[0012] E2 is pollution data. Examples of pollution data include emissions, transfers, and consumption of hazardous substances, disposal records of hazardous substances, identified and status of pollution, emissions of air pollutants, emissions into water, emissions of inorganic pollutants, emissions of ozone-depleting substances, microplastics, total amounts of substances of concern generated or used during production, total amounts of substances of concern procured, total amounts of substances of concern shipped, significant risks, opportunities, and financial impacts arising from pollution-related impacts, operating and capital expenditures related to accidents and deposits, incidents (such as production disruptions that resulted in pollution), targets for determining regional ecological thresholds (TNFD / SBTN basis), site location information of adopted policies, contextual information of targets, and responses to shortcomings of the DNSH criteria.

[0013] E3 consists of water and marine resource data. Examples of water and marine resource data include water withdrawals, discharges, location information for water-stressed areas, water recycling rates, COD (biochemical oxygen demand), BOD (chemical oxygen demand), water and marine resource targets (TNFD / SBTN basis), water withdrawal reduction targets, discharge reduction targets, total water use in areas with significant water risks, information on water quality and volume in watersheds, total water recycling and reuse, total water storage and changes in water storage, potential financial impacts of significant risks / opportunities, and risks to related products and services.

[0014] E4 is biodiversity data. Examples of biodiversity data include location information of business activities, business sector information, financial information (asset values, etc.), TNFD / SDPI-based target setting, target values ​​by avoidance / minimization / recovery / offset, area of ​​permanently protected land, area of ​​restored land, number of sites with improved ecosystem integrity, number and area of ​​material sites, land use based on LCA, changes in land cover over time (e.g., deforestation), changes in ecosystem management over time, changes in the spatial composition of the landscape, changes in the structural connectivity of ecosystems, financial impacts of risks / opportunities, and products / services exposed to risk.

[0015] E5 is circular economy data. Examples of circular economy data include the amount and percentage of recycled materials used in procured goods, the total amount and percentage of waste, repairability, degradability, SBTN-based target setting, resource use and circular economy-related targets (e.g., increasing circular design, improving the use of circular materials), ecological thresholds and allocations, targets related to sustainable procurement, targets for the value chain, absolute and percentage weight of renewable input materials, absolute and percentage weight of reused or recycled products and materials (non-virgin), material information discharged from production processes (e.g., durability, reusability, repairability, degradability, remanufacturability / repairability), total amount and percentage of waste (hazardous / non-hazardous), financial impacts of significant risks / opportunities, and related products and services that pose risks.

[0016] S1 is data about the company's own employees. Examples of employee data include data from the company's HR system, history of interactions with labor unions, and incidents related to employees. S2 is data about employees in the value chain. Examples of employee data in the value chain include data collected in the form of questionnaires based on the SAQ set by the United Nations (customized for each industry and company). S3 is data about the affected communities. S4 is data about consumers and end customers. G is data about business activities.

[0017] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the information processing system according to this embodiment. The information processing system according to this embodiment is configured to include a management server 200. The management server 200 is connected to the user terminal 100 via a communication network 300. The communication network 300 is, for example, the internet and is constructed using public telephone lines, mobile phone lines, wireless communication channels, Ethernet (registered trademark), etc.

[0018] The user terminal 100 is a computer operated by a user of a business entity such as a company that generates emissions. The user terminal 100 can be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer. The user can use the user terminal 100 to access the management server 200 and calculate the amount of emissions.

[0019] The management server 200 is a computer that calculates and manages emissions. The management server 200 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or personal computer, or it may be logically implemented through cloud computing.

[0020] <Management Server> Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 200. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 includes a CPU 201, memory 202, storage device 203, communication interface 204, input device 205, and output device 206. The storage device 203 stores various data and programs, such as a hard disk drive, solid-state drive, or flash memory. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 300, such as an adapter for connecting to Ethernet®, a modem for connecting to a public telephone network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or RS232C connector for serial communication. The input device 205 is for inputting data, such as a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, button, or microphone. The output device 206 is for outputting data, such as a display, printer, or speaker. Furthermore, each functional unit of the management server 200, as described later, is realized by the CPU 201 reading programs stored in the storage device 203 into memory 202 and executing them, and each storage unit of the management server 200 is realized as part of the storage area provided by memory 202 and storage device 203.

[0021] Figure 3 shows an example of the software configuration of the management server 200. The management server 200 comprises a calculation unit 210, an input unit 220, a storage unit 230, an output unit 240, an acquisition unit 250, a generation unit 260, an estimation unit 270, an analysis unit 280, and an execution unit 290. The information processing system including the management server 200 has multiple functions. These functions will be described below.

[0022] <<Goal Setting Function (Function 1)>> Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the first function will be explained. The management server 200 includes a storage unit 230 (emission coefficient storage unit, emission storage unit, solution storage unit), a calculation unit 210 (emission calculation unit, unit reduction amount calculation unit, target emission calculation unit), an input unit 220, and an output unit 240.

[0023] The emission factor storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information including emission factors for calculating greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter referred to as emission factor information). The emission factors may be primary data (data obtained from direct measurements collected by the emitter itself, or data obtained from calculations based on direct measurements at the first source of information) or secondary data (data other than primary data, for example, data standardized (statistically processed) from the emissions of multiple companies that provide similar products). The emission factor storage unit can store emission factors in association with the type of activity. The emission factor storage unit can store emission factors in association with information that identifies the business entity (business ID) and information that indicates the type of activity (type identification information).

[0024] The emissions storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores greenhouse gas emissions by the business entity. The emissions storage unit can store direct first emissions (Scope 1) by the business entity, indirect second emissions (Scope 2) by the business entity, and third emissions (Scope 3) by other businesses located upstream or downstream in the business entity's supply chain. The emissions storage unit can also store a fourth category of emissions related to the third emissions (Scope 3) by other businesses. In this embodiment, the emissions storage unit can store a company ID indicating the business entity, information identifying the time period in which the activity took place (time information), scope, category, and emissions in association with each other. The time information can be set to any period, such as a fiscal year, year, month, year, month, day, or date range. The scope and category can be the scope and category defined in the GHG Protocol. Note that the category may be omitted.

[0025] The solution storage unit constituting the memory unit 230 stores information (referred to as solution information) regarding solutions that achieve emission reductions. Solutions can include, for example, various services and products related to reducing or offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, such as consulting services related to the formulation and implementation of reduction plans, procurement of renewable energy, and offset trading such as J-credits. The solution storage unit can store information that identifies the solution (solution ID) and reduction information for calculating the amount of emission reduction that can be achieved by the solution, in association with the industries in which the solution can be adopted. The reduction information may be, for example, a percentage of emissions or an emission coefficient to be multiplied by the amount of activity.

[0026] The emissions calculation unit constituting the calculation unit 210 can calculate the emissions of a business entity (or at least one of the first to fourth emissions). For example, the emissions calculation unit can accept input of activity amounts, obtain emission coefficients corresponding to the type of activity amount from the emission coefficient storage unit, multiply the activity amount by the obtained emission coefficients to calculate the emissions for each activity, and calculate the total emissions by summing the emissions by scope and / or category. The emissions calculation unit may also accept input of emissions calculated externally.

[0027] The input unit 220 accepts input from the business entity regarding the emission reduction target percentage, the base date, and the target date. The base date and target date are, for example, a year (fiscal year). Based on the emissions at the base date, the target emission level can be set to be achieved at the target date by the reduction target percentage. The input unit 220 can accept the first to third reduction target percentages for each of the first to third emissions. The input unit 220 can also accept a fourth reduction target percentage by category for the third emission.

[0028] The input unit 220 can receive a third reduction target percentage from other businesses. For example, the input unit 220 can receive a third reduction target percentage from a user terminal 100 operated by another business (or its employee). The input unit 220 can send a message to the user terminal 100 of the other business instructing it to input the third reduction target percentage, and can receive the third reduction target percentage input by the other business from the user terminal 100 in response to the message.

[0029] The unit reduction calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates the amount of emission reduction per unit time (unit period). The unit time is, for example, one year, but it may also be a quarter, a month, a week, etc. The unit reduction calculation unit obtains the emission amount at the base time from the emission storage unit, multiplies the obtained emission amount by the reduction target ratio, and calculates the amount of reduction to be made from the base time to the target time. The unit reduction calculation unit can divide the calculated reduction amount by the number of unit time (for example, years) from the base time to the target time to calculate the target value of the reduction amount to be made per unit time (for example, one year) (unit reduction amount). The unit reduction calculation unit can also calculate the first to third unit reduction amounts for each of the first to third emission types. The unit reduction calculation unit can also calculate a fourth unit reduction amount by category for the third emission type.

[0030] The target emission calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates the target value of emissions (referred to as the target emission) for each unit time (e.g., one year). The target emission calculation unit can calculate the target emission by subtracting the cumulative unit reduction from the emission at the base time for each unit time from the base time. The target emission calculation unit can calculate the target emission for each unit time (the first to third target emissions) for each of the first to third emissions. The target emission calculation unit can calculate a fourth target emission for each category for each unit time for the third emission.

[0031] The output unit 240 can output target emissions for each unit of time. The output unit 240 can output target emissions for each of the first to third emissions. The output unit 240 can output fourth target emissions for the third emissions by category.

[0032] The output unit 240 can output emissions and target emissions (total or the first to fourth emissions and target emissions) in association for periods in which emissions are registered. The output unit 240 can output emissions and target emission capacity in, for example, a graph format.

[0033] The output unit 240 can also visualize emissions (or reductions) after the solution has been implemented. For example, the output unit 240 can receive a solution selection from the user terminal 100, read reduction information corresponding to the selected solution from the solution storage unit, calculate the amount of emission reduction based on the read reduction information, calculate the value obtained by subtracting the reduction from the emissions (simulated emissions), and output the simulated emissions. The output unit 240 can also output the simulated emissions along with the emissions and target emissions.

[0034] <Operation> Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the process (operation 1) for outputting target emissions.

[0035] The management server 200 receives input of a baseline time, a target time, and a reduction rate from a user terminal 100 operated by its own users (S401). The management server 200 sends a request to user terminals 100 of other business entities upstream and / or downstream in the supply chain, requesting a reduction rate with the baseline time and target time set (S402). Users of other business entities input the reduction rate into their user terminals 100 in response to the request, and the management server 200 receives the reduction rate transmitted from the user terminals 100 in response to the request (S403). The other business entities may also have systems that manage emissions respond with the reduction rate. Furthermore, the management server 200 may also accept input of reduction rates from other business entities from its own users.

[0036] The management server 200 calculates the reduction amount for each unit of time (e.g., year) from the reference point to the target point (S404). The management server 200 can, for example, read the emissions at the reference point from the emissions storage unit and calculate the reduction amount by multiplying the read emissions by the reduction rate. The management server 200 may accept different reduction rates for each of Scope 1 and 2. Also, for Scope 3, the reduction rate obtained from the user terminal 100 of another business entity may differ from the reduction rate for the company's own Scope 1 and 2. The management server 200 can read the emissions corresponding to the company's corporate ID and reference point from the emissions storage unit and calculate the target reduction amount by multiplying it by the reduction rate received from the company's user terminal 100. It can also read the emissions corresponding to the corporate ID and reference point of other business entities from the emissions storage unit and calculate the target reduction amount by multiplying it by the reduction rate received from the user terminal 100 of other business entities, and sum up the target reduction amounts for each scope and / or category.

[0037] The management server 200 can calculate the reduction amount per unit time by dividing the target reduction amount by the number of unit time periods (e.g., years) from the reference time to the target time (S405), and can calculate the target emissions per unit time by subtracting the cumulative reduction amount from the emissions at the reference time (S405).

[0038] The management server 200 can output the emissions and target emissions in association for unit time (year) in which emissions are registered in the emissions storage unit (S406). For unit time (year) in which emissions are not registered, the management server 200 can output only the target emissions. Alternatively, the management server 200 may output the reduction amount and emissions (if registered) for each unit time instead of the target emissions.

[0039] Figure 5 illustrates the process (operation 2) that outputs the emissions reduced by the solution.

[0040] The management server 200 accepts the specification of a solution (S501), reads the accepted solution and reduction information corresponding to the company's industry from the solution storage unit, and calculates the expected reduction amount (expected reduction amount) that can be expected from the introduction of the solution based on the read reduction information and the emissions at the reference point (S502). The management server 200 calculates the expected reduction amount per unit time by dividing the expected reduction amount by the number of unit time (e.g., years) from the reference point to the target point (S503), and can calculate the expected emissions (expected emissions) that can be expected from the introduction of the solution per unit time by subtracting the cumulative expected reduction amount per unit time from the emissions at the reference point (S504). For unit time (years) in which emissions are registered in the emissions storage unit, the management server 200 can output the expected emissions together with the emissions and target emissions (S505). For unit time (years) in which emissions are not registered, the management server 200 can output the target emissions and expected emissions together. The management server 200 may also output the expected reduction amount and emissions (if registered) per unit time, rather than the expected emissions.

[0041] The calculation unit 210, input unit 220, and output unit 240 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that possesses artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0042] <Disclosure Items> The first function also includes the following configuration: [Item A1 (P025)] An information processing system comprising: an emissions storage unit for storing greenhouse gas emissions by a business entity; an input unit for receiving input of the target reduction rate, a reference time, and a target time for the emissions by the business entity; a unit reduction calculation unit for obtaining the emissions corresponding to the reference time from the emissions storage unit, calculating the reduction amount by multiplying the obtained emissions by the target reduction rate, and calculating a unit reduction amount by dividing the calculated reduction amount by the number of unit hours from the reference time to the target time; a target emissions calculation unit for each unit time by subtracting the cumulative unit reduction amount from the emissions corresponding to the reference time; and an output unit for outputting the target emissions for each unit time. Item A1 comprises a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity that emits greenhouse gases (hereinafter referred to as "base"), an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by the emitter at each base, an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from the user's mobile terminal, a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit, and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item A2] An information processing system as described in item A1, wherein the emissions storage unit stores a first direct emission by the business entity, a second indirect emission by the business entity, and a third emission by other businesses located upstream or downstream of the business entity's supply chain; the input unit receives the first to third reduction target percentages for each of the first to third emissions; the unit reduction amount calculation unit calculates the first to third unit reduction amounts for each of the first to third emissions; the target emission amount calculation unit calculates the target emission per unit time for each of the first to third emissions; and the output unit outputs the target emission for each of the first to third emissions. [Item A3] An information processing system as described in item A2, characterized in that: the emission storage unit stores category-specific fourth emission amounts with respect to the third emission amounts relating to the other business operator; the input unit receives category-specific fourth reduction target percentages for the third emission amounts; the unit reduction amount calculation unit calculates category-specific fourth unit reduction amounts for the third emission amounts; the target emission amount calculation unit calculates category-specific fourth target emission amounts per unit time for the third emission amounts; and the output unit outputs category-specific fourth target emission amounts for the third emission amounts. [Item A4] An information processing system as described in item A2, wherein the input unit receives the third reduction target percentage from the other business operator. [Item A5] An information processing system as described in item A4, wherein the input unit transmits a message to the other business operator instructing it to input the third reduction target percentage, and receives the third reduction target percentage input by the other business operator in response to the message. [Item A6] An information processing system as described in item A1, comprising a solution storage unit that stores information identifying a solution that achieves the reduction of said emissions and reduction information for calculating the amount of reduction of said emissions that can be reduced by said solution, wherein the output unit receives a specification of said solution, reads the reduction information corresponding to the specified solution from the solution storage unit, calculates the amount of reduction of said emissions based on the read reduction information, and outputs a value obtained by subtracting the reduction amount from said emissions. [Item A7] When the target is X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence), the following applies. The same may be applied to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: a storage unit that stores X information of business entities (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence); an input unit that accepts input of the reduction target rate, base time, and target time for the business entity's X information; a unit reduction amount calculation unit that obtains the value of X information corresponding to the base time from the storage unit, calculates the reduction amount by multiplying the obtained value of X information by the reduction target rate, and calculates a unit reduction amount by dividing the calculated reduction amount by the number of unit hours from the base time to the target time; a target value calculation unit that calculates a target value for each unit time by subtracting the cumulative unit reduction amount from the value of X information corresponding to the base time; and an output unit that outputs a target value for each unit time.

[0043] <<Goal setting suggestion function (second function)>> Next, although some aspects were described in the embodiment of the first function, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiment of the first function described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the second function. In the embodiment of the second function, support is provided for formulating emission reduction targets, particularly those related to Scope 3 of the GHG protocol. Scope 3 emissions are greenhouse gas emissions by business entities (hereinafter referred to as suppliers) that constitute the upstream and / or downstream of the supply chain of the business entity whose emissions are to be calculated. The information processing system equipped with the second function incorporates the reduction targets of suppliers and proposes them as candidate reduction targets for its own Scope 3 emissions.

[0044] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the second function will be explained. The management server 200 includes a storage unit 230 (emissions storage unit, target storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (target acquisition unit), an estimation unit 270, and a calculation unit 210 (reduction rate calculation unit).

[0045] The emissions storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information that identifies the greenhouse gas emissions for each supplier. In the embodiment of the second function, the emissions storage unit stores activity amount and emission intensity as information that identifies emissions, but it may also store the emissions themselves. The emissions storage unit can store a company ID indicating the supplier, time information, information for identifying the activities of the supplier (activity details), the activity amount and emission intensity related to said activities. The time information may be, for example, a year. The time information may also be a year and month, year, month, and day, etc.

[0046] The emissions memory unit can further store information that identifies the company's direct and indirect emissions (emissions related to Scope 1 and 2). The emissions memory unit may store the emissions themselves, or it may store activity levels and emission factors, as information that identifies the company's Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

[0047] The target storage unit, which constitutes the memory unit 230, stores the target reduction rate for each supplier. The target reduction rate is the target set by the supplier and is a percentage of the supplier's emissions in the base year. The target storage unit stores the base date, target date, and reduction rate in association with the company ID that identifies the supplier and the activity content that identifies the supplier's activities. The base date and target date may be specified, for example, by year, or by year and month, year, month, day, or date.

[0048] The target acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires the target reduction rate from the supplier. The target acquisition unit can, for example, send a request to the supplier's user and receive the target reduction rate from the supplier's user terminal 100. The target acquisition unit may acquire the target reduction rate from a server where the target reduction rate is managed, or it may acquire the target reduction rate disclosed by the supplier from, for example, the supplier's web page or a newspaper's web page. The target acquisition unit can acquire the activity details, base year, target year, and reduction rate. The target acquisition unit can register the acquired target reduction rate in the target storage unit.

[0049] The target acquisition unit can also acquire the reduction rate (company reduction rate) of the company's emissions targets. The target acquisition unit can receive the company reduction rate from the user terminal 100.

[0050] The estimation unit 270 estimates future emissions for each supplier. The estimation unit 270 can calculate the emissions at a target time by multiplying the supplier's emissions at a baseline time (value obtained by multiplying the activity level by the emission intensity) by the target reduction rate.

[0051] The estimation unit 270 can estimate future emissions for suppliers from whom target reduction rates could not be obtained, using the statistical value of the target reduction rate stored in the target storage unit as the target reduction rate for that supplier. For example, the estimation unit 270 can use the average of the target reduction rates of all suppliers as the target reduction rate for suppliers from whom target reduction rates could not be obtained.

[0052] One of the calculation units 210, the reduction rate calculation unit, calculates the target reduction rate for emissions related to Scope 3. The reduction rate calculation unit can calculate the reduction rate (the ratio of the value obtained by subtracting the second total value from the first total value to the first total value) by comparing a first total value of estimated future emissions for each supplier with a second total value of emissions for each supplier at the base time. The reduction rate calculation unit can similarly calculate the reduction rate for each category of Scope 3.

[0053] Furthermore, the reduction rate calculation unit can also calculate the reduction rate (carbon footprint: CFP reduction rate) related to the total of Scope 1 to 3. Based on the company's emissions and its own reduction rate, the reduction rate calculation unit calculates the company's future emissions (at the target time), calculates the first total value of emissions at the target time for the company and its suppliers, and the second total value of emissions at the base time for the company and its suppliers, and calculates the ratio of the difference between the first and second total values ​​to the second total value as the reduction rate related to Scope 1 to 3.

[0054] <Operation> Figure 6 illustrates the process (operation 3) for outputting reduction targets.

[0055] The management server 200 obtains reduction targets (reduction rates from the reference point to the target point) from suppliers (S601). The management server 200 can, for example, send a request to a supplier's user and receive the reduction targets from the supplier's user terminal 100. The management server 200 obtains the emissions at the reference point related to the supplier's activities from the emissions storage unit and calculates the target reduction amount up to the target point by multiplying the obtained emissions by the reduction rate (S602). The management server 200 calculates the target reduction amount related to Scope 3 by summing the target reduction amounts calculated for each supplier (S603). In addition, for suppliers from which reduction targets could not be obtained, the management server 200 can calculate the target reduction amount using statistical values ​​(such as the average reduction rate) of reduction targets of other Scope 3 suppliers or other suppliers in the same category of Scope 3.

[0056] The management server 200 can calculate the total emissions of suppliers at the reference point (i.e., Scope 3 emissions at the reference point) and calculate the ratio of the target reduction amount for Scope 3 to this total as the target reduction rate for Scope 3 (S604).

[0057] The management server 200 obtains the company's Scope 1 and 2 reduction targets (S605). The management server 200 can, for example, obtain the company's reduction targets and calculate the target reduction amount by multiplying the company's emissions at the baseline time by the reduction rate. The company's reduction targets can be obtained, for example, by sending a request to the company's users and receiving the reduction targets from the users' terminals 100.

[0058] The management server 200 retrieves the company's Scope 1 and 2 emissions from the emissions storage unit, and calculates the target reduction amount for Scope 1 and 2 up to the target time by multiplying the retrieved emissions (total) by the reduction rate (S606).

[0059] The management server 200 sums up the reduction targets for Scope 1-3 (S607), calculates the total emissions related to Scope 1-3 at the reference point from the emissions storage unit, and calculates the ratio of the total reduction targets for Scope 1-3 to the calculated Scope 1-3 emissions at the reference point as the company's target reduction rate (S608).

[0060] The management server 200 can output Scope 3 reduction targets (target reduction rates) and Scope 1-3 (carbon footprint: CFP) reduction targets (target reduction rates) (S609).

[0061] As described above, the second function of the information processing system can automatically calculate the company's Scope 3 reduction targets and its carbon footprint reduction targets based on reduction targets collected from suppliers.

[0062] The calculation unit 210, acquisition unit 250, and estimation unit 270 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that has artificial intelligence that learns on its own.

[0063] <Disclosure Items> The second function also includes the following configurations: [Item B1 (P032)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a target acquisition unit that acquires target reduction rates for greenhouse gases from multiple business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; an emission storage unit that stores information identifying the greenhouse gas emissions of each business entity at a reference point; an estimation unit that estimates future emissions for each business entity by multiplying the emissions by the target reduction rate; and a calculation unit that calculates the target reduction rate for emissions for the business entities as a whole by comparing the total estimated future emissions for each business entity with the total emissions for each business entity at the reference point. Item B1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as a base) that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by each emission entity at each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item B2] An information processing system as described in item B1, wherein the emissions storage unit further stores information identifying the first emissions by the business entity, along with information identifying the direct and indirect second emissions by the company itself; the target acquisition unit acquires the company's reduction rate for the second emissions; and the calculation unit estimates the future third emissions for the business entity, calculates the future fourth emissions for the company based on the second emissions and the company's reduction rate, and calculates the target reduction rate for the company based on a value corresponding to the sum of the third and fourth emissions and a value corresponding to the sum of the first and second emissions. [Item B3] An information processing system as described in item B1, comprising a target storage unit that stores the target reduction rate for each business entity, and characterized in that the estimation unit estimates the future emissions for business entities from which the target reduction rate could not be obtained, by using the statistical value of the target reduction rate stored in the target storage unit as the target reduction rate for that business entity. [Item B4] When the target is X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence), the following applies. The same may be applied to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: a target acquisition unit that acquires target reduction rates for X information from multiple business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; a storage unit that stores information that identifies the value of X information for each business entity at a reference point; an estimation unit that estimates the future value of X information for each business entity by multiplying the value of X information by the target reduction rate; and a calculation unit that calculates the target reduction rate for X information for the entire business entity by comparing the total value of future X information estimated for each business entity with the total value of X information for each business entity at a reference point.

[0064] <<Function for generating and presenting various types of information (Third function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first and second functions described above will be described in detail below as an embodiment of the third function. P030, P044, P045, P047, P052, P054, P063, P064.

[0065] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the third function. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (emission coefficient storage unit, scale information storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (activity amount acquisition unit, information acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (emission calculation unit), an output unit 240 (information presentation unit, emission coefficient presentation unit), a generation unit 260 (information generation unit, information conversion unit), and an input unit 220 (information input unit).

[0066] The emission factor storage unit, which constitutes the memory unit 230, stores emission factors for each business entity used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions by that business entity. The emission factor storage unit can store emission factors in association with information that identifies the business entity and its activities (activity details). The emission factor storage unit can also store its own emission factors.

[0067] The scale information storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores scale information indicating the scale of each business entity. In this embodiment, the scale of a business entity is at least one of sales scale and asset scale. Sales scale and asset scale may be numerical values. In this embodiment, the scale information includes the sales and asset amounts of the business entity, associated with the business entity ID that indicates the business entity. The scale information storage unit stores the first information and the second information, which will be described later. The first information and the second information may be combined and stored in the scale information storage unit as aggregated information. Alternatively, the first information and the second information may be stored in a separate storage unit from the scale information storage unit.

[0068] The activity level acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires the activity levels of the business entity. The activity level acquisition unit can accept input of the company's own activity levels. In addition, the activity level acquisition unit can acquire the company's own activity levels from the company's accounting system, business systems, etc.

[0069] The activity level acquisition unit can also acquire activity levels from a first business entity (supplier) that constitutes the upstream or downstream of the supply chain. For example, the activity level acquisition unit may accept activity level input or acquire activity levels from the supplier's information processing device.

[0070] The emissions calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions calculation unit may also calculate the company's own emissions. The emissions calculation unit can also calculate the emissions of suppliers. The emissions calculation unit can calculate the emissions of suppliers by reading the emission factors corresponding to the suppliers from the emission factor storage unit and multiplying the read emission factors by the activity amount of the suppliers obtained by the activity amount acquisition unit.

[0071] The emission factor presentation unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, presents emission factors of other business entities similar to the supplier if the supplier's emissions are not registered. The emission factor presentation unit transmits the presented emission factors to the user terminal 100 and can receive instructions from the user terminal 100 regarding which emission factors to adopt. The user terminal 100 may adopt the presented emission factors, input emission factors it knows, or adopt standard emission factors provided by the Ministry of the Environment or other organizations. The emission calculation unit can calculate emissions using the emission factors instructed by the user terminal 100.

[0072] The emission factor presentation unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, reads scale information corresponding to a supplier from the scale information storage unit, and further refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity (another supplier) corresponding to scale information that matches or is similar to the read scale information, and reads the emission factor corresponding to the identified other supplier from the emission factor storage unit. Similarity of scale information can be determined by whether or not the difference in sales and / or asset amount falls within a predetermined range. The emission factor presentation unit may also read the emission factor corresponding to the identified other supplier and its activities from the emission factor storage unit. The emission factor presentation unit can then present the read emission factor. The second business entity is one or more other suppliers.

[0073] The emission factor presentation unit may identify other suppliers with similar scale information related to the activity. In this case, the scale information stored in the scale information storage unit includes sales and / or asset amounts by activity (e.g., by product, by service, etc.). The emission factor presentation unit can read from the emission factor storage unit the emission factor of other suppliers with matching or similar scale information related to the activity, along with the emission factor corresponding to that activity.

[0074] The information acquisition unit constituting the acquisition unit 250 acquires first information and second information. The first information is information that includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain. Examples of the first information include reports containing emission-related information (hereinafter referred to as emission reports), and sets of information that show multiple external insights. The first information is also referred to as emission information. Examples of emission reports include TCFD reports, CDP reports (responses to CDP questionnaires), sustainability reports, and periodic reports based on the Energy Conservation Act, but other reports such as securities reports may also be used. Examples of information related to greenhouse gas emissions include information showing emissions, information on the contents to be described in emission reports, and information that shows internal or external insights.

[0075] The second type of information is information that indicates at least the attributes of the business entity (supplier). This second type of information includes various types of information, such as size information, attribute information of each supplier, industry information, greenhouse gas emission registration information, future target information, industry information as supplier attribute information, industry trend information, customer information, information mapping accounting items to emission intensity, information on guidelines related to the GHG protocol, and internal and external knowledge information such as information mapping accounting items to emission factors accumulated in the past. The second type of information may also be variables.

[0076] The methods by which the information acquisition unit acquires this information include acquiring information entered from one or more user terminals 100 and the method by which the management server 200 acquires the information. In the case of the method by which the management server 200 acquires the information, based on attribute information etc. corresponding to the first business entity, the management server 200 acquires the scale information and emission-related information of the second business entity. For example, if the attribute information corresponding to the first business entity is transportation, the management server acquires the scale information of the second business entity, which is transportation information, and emission-related information. Emission-related information (also referred to as information of emission types) includes, for example, greenhouse gas emission information, information indicating Scope 1 to 3, and information indicating Scope 3 categories 1 to 15. The information acquisition unit and the activity amount acquisition unit may be a single acquisition unit rather than separate units. Also, emission-related information may be information such as the content described in the emission report.

[0077] The information generation unit constituting the generation unit 260 reads second information corresponding to the first business entity (for example, transportation information, which is the company's attribute information) from the scale information storage unit, refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity (for example, another transportation supplier) that matches or is similar to the second information read from the scale information storage unit, reads emission-related information corresponding to the identified second business entity (for example, information to be included in the TCFD report) from the scale information storage unit, and generates third information (for example, a TCFD report reflecting the review results or a new TCFD report) that is different from the first and second information based on the read emission-related information. The third information is information that reflects the content to be included in the emission report of the second business entity. In other words, the third information is information created based on the emission reports of other suppliers, and the management server 200 stores emission reports of multiple other suppliers and generates the third information based on this information. In detail, the generation unit 260 analyzes the emission reports of multiple other suppliers and generates the third information based on the analysis results. Furthermore, an analysis unit 280 may be provided separately from the generation unit 260 as a function different from that of the generation unit 260. The analysis unit 280 may analyze emission reports from multiple other suppliers, and the generation unit 260 may generate the third information based on the analysis results from the analysis unit 280. The target of analysis is not limited to emission reports from other suppliers. Emissions and carbon taxes in the embodiment of the fourth function may be analyzed to suggest future emissions and carbon taxes. In addition, the generated third information may be the emission report itself, in which case the information generation unit will create a new emission report. Furthermore, the third information may also be information on the emissions of the second business entity, information indicating Scope 1 to 3, or information suggesting Scope 3 categories 1 to 15.

[0078] Furthermore, the information generation unit reads information corresponding to the first business entity (e.g., question information) from the scale information storage unit, refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity (e.g., another supplier) corresponding to second information that matches or is similar to the read information corresponding to the first business entity, reads emission-related information (e.g., external knowledge information) corresponding to the identified second business entity from the scale information storage unit, and generates third information (e.g., answer information to the question) that is different from the first and second information based on the read emission-related information. Alternatively, the unit may identify a second business entity (e.g., another supplier) corresponding to second information that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity, read aggregate information (e.g., information combining internal and external knowledge) from the scale information storage unit by combining emission-related information corresponding to the identified second business entity with emission-related information corresponding to the first business entity, and generate third information (e.g., answer information to the question) that is different from the first and second information based on the read emission-related information. The third type of information is information that answers the question, such as information indicating the scope, information indicating the category, and information indicating the reasoning. Furthermore, the third type of information may also be information that provides a suggestion for the question. Moreover, the third type of information may be both an answer to the question and a suggestion for the question.

[0079] Furthermore, the information corresponding to the first business entity may be, for example, information mapped by the user to the scope and / or category of accounting items and the emission factor. In this case, the information generation unit reads the information corresponding to the first business entity (for example, information mapped to the scope and / or category of accounting items and the emission factor) from the scale information storage unit, refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity (for example, another supplier) that corresponds to second information that matches or is similar to the read information corresponding to the first business entity, reads emission-related information (for example, external knowledge information) corresponding to the identified second business entity from the scale information storage unit, and generates third information (for example, knowledge about mapped information) that is different from the first and second information based on the read emission-related information. The third information may be information mapped to accounting items and emission intensity, information mapped to scope and / or category and emission factor, etc.

[0080] The information conversion unit constituting the generation unit 260 converts unit information (e.g., kilowatts) in one type of emission report (first information) to unit information (e.g., gigajoules) in another type of emission report (third information). If the information conversion unit determines that the type of emission report as the first information is different from the type of emission report as the third information, it executes a process to convert the unit information. However, if the user specifies the converted unit information, the information conversion unit may execute a process to set the specified unit information. When the user specifies the unit information in this way, the information presentation unit, described later, informs the user that the specified unit information is inconsistent with the third information. In this case, the information presentation unit presents unit information that is consistent with the third information. If the user instructs to convert to the presented unit information, the information conversion unit converts to the unit information corresponding to the third information. Although an example has been shown where the information conversion unit determines whether the types of emission reports are different, an information determination unit separate from the information conversion unit may be provided to make this determination. The information judgment unit constitutes the generation unit 260, but it may also constitute a judgment unit or the like that is different from the generation unit 260. The unit information may also be currency unit information, such as yen to dollars.

[0081] The information presentation unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, presents a third piece of information. The information presentation unit transmits the third piece of information to the user terminal 100, and the user terminal 100 displays the third piece of information. The third piece of information transmitted to the user terminal 100 can also be edited and processed by the user terminal 100. The information presentation unit is described as a separate function from the emission coefficient presentation unit, but they may be considered to have the same function, in which case they will be referred to as the presentation unit.

[0082] The information input unit constituting the input unit 220 inputs information corresponding to the first business entity entered from the user terminal 100 to the management server 200. The management server 200 acquires the entered information corresponding to the first business entity using the information acquisition unit. The information corresponding to the first business entity is, for example, inquiry information such as questions.

[0083] Furthermore, when a user inputs information from an internally created waste report into the management server 200 via the user terminal 100, the system may display review results (third information). In this case, the internally created waste report is the first information. It is also preferable that the internally created waste report includes the second information. Based on the waste reports of multiple other suppliers that the management server 200 has acquired, it generates review results, which include information on the items to be included in the user's waste report and information on content that should be added or corrected within the waste report, and presents the waste report that reflects the review results. The method for inputting the waste report information into the management server 200 may be to input character information via OCR using the input unit 220. In this way, multiple types of waste reports can be easily acquired.

[0084] When inputting information from the emission report into the management server 200, the information written on the vehicle registration certificate may be input as text information by the input unit 220 to be read by OCR. The information listed on the vehicle registration certificate includes the vehicle registration number, registration date / issuance date, initial registration date, vehicle type, use (specifying whether it is a passenger or cargo vehicle, second information), whether it is for private or commercial use (specifying whether it is for private or commercial use, second information), body shape (specifying whether it is a van, station wagon, etc., second information), vehicle name, passenger capacity, maximum load capacity, vehicle weight, gross vehicle weight, chassis number, length, width, height, front axle load, front and rear axle load, rear axle load, model, engine type, total displacement or rated output (combined with engine type as first information), fuel type (specifying whether it is gasoline, diesel, etc., first information), model designation number, classification number, vehicle ID, owner's name or company name, owner's address, user's name or company name, user's address, and expiration date of the validity period. This information can be imported into the vehicle master of the information processing system. The vehicle master data can be automatically imported by matching the items in the vehicle master with the items on the vehicle registration certificate. By inputting the data from the vehicle registration certificate in this way, it can be easily imported into the vehicle master data of the information processing system. The vehicle master data can be output to logistics companies, and these companies can use this vehicle master data as a vehicle management ledger within their own logistics operations.

[0085] When inputting vehicle registration information using OCR, an information processing system, an information processing method executed by a computer, and a program to be executed by the computer can be provided, having the following configuration (P060). The system includes an acquisition unit that acquires first information (e.g., emission information and fuel type information such as gasoline or diesel) that includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information (e.g., private or commercial information as vehicle registration information) that indicates at least the attributes of the business entity, an information setting unit (information generation unit that generates) that sets third information (e.g., emission intensity) based on emission-related information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity, and a presentation unit that presents the third information. In the case of a logistics business consisting of a prime contractor and subcontractors, the emission intensity as the third information is the emission intensity reported by the subcontractor to the prime contractor. The information setting unit constitutes the generation unit 260. Alternatively, the information generation unit may generate the third information instead of the information setting unit, or the information identification unit may identify the third information. Even when the information identification unit identifies the information, it is preferable that the information identified is presented by the presentation unit.

[0086] When the acquisition unit 250 acquires an emission report, or when the first information is an emission report, it is preferable for the information setting unit to set the emission intensity based on the type of emission report.

[0087] The information included in the vehicle registration certificate may also be added to the certificate by incorporating it into a barcode, QR code (registered trademark), or IC tag. In the case of barcodes, QR codes (registered trademark), or IC tags, it is preferable to read them using the user terminal 100 and input the information using the input unit 220.

[0088] Furthermore, when using IC tags, the driving record can be calculated by reading the tags at the start point (time) and end point (time) of the driving, and by inputting this information into the input unit 220, the driving record can be stored (registered) in the storage unit 230. The calculation unit 210 can then calculate greenhouse gas emissions using the driving record. Note that the driving record can also be used as transportation record by users such as logistics companies. When users such as logistics companies use the driving record as transportation record, the information identification unit can identify emissions based on specific information such as shipper information and cargo information (name of cargo for transport / delivery). For example, a prime contractor can search using specific information indicating shipper A or shipper B as shipper information, and the emissions per shipper for shipper A or shipper B can be identified and displayed as a search result. The information identification unit can identify shippers from shipper information such as the owner's name or company name, owner's address, user's name or company name, and user's address in the vehicle master.

[0089] Furthermore, when information such as receipts and quotations acquired by the user is input to the management server 200 via the user terminal 100, the emission coefficient (third information) may be displayed. The identification of the emission coefficient will be described later in the ninth function. In this case, the acquired information such as receipts and quotations is the first information. It is also preferable that the acquired information such as receipts and quotations includes the second information. Based on the acquired multiple receipts and quotations, the management server 200 classifies them into items such as material costs, transportation costs, and labor costs, identifies the emission coefficient corresponding to these classified items, and presents the emission coefficient. The method for inputting information such as receipts and quotations into the management server 200 may be to input character information via OCR using the input unit 220. In this way, information such as multiple types of receipts and quotations can be easily acquired.

[0090] When inputting information such as receipts and quotations using OCR, we can provide an information processing system, an information processing method executed by a computer, and a program to be executed by the computer, having the following configuration: an acquisition unit that acquires first information (e.g., information such as receipts and quotations) which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information (e.g., information on items such as material costs, transportation costs, and labor costs) which indicates at least the attributes of the business entity; an information setting unit (information generation unit that generates) which sets third information (e.g., emission coefficient) based on information related to emissions of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information.

[0091] <Operation> Figure 7 illustrates the process (operation 4) for presenting the emission coefficient of an information processing system.

[0092] The management server 200 obtains the activity amount of the corresponding supplier for each activity for which emissions are calculated (for example, each of the raw materials procured by the company) (S701). The management server 200 may, for example, send a request to the supplier and receive the activity amount from the supplier's user terminal 100, or it may receive the activity amount from the company's own user terminal 100, or it may obtain the activity amount from the supplier's business system, etc. The management server 200 obtains the emission coefficients corresponding to the supplier and the activity from the emission coefficient storage unit (S702).

[0093] If the emission factor cannot be obtained (S703: NO), the management server 200 reads the scale information corresponding to the supplier from the scale information storage unit (S704). The management server 200 may also obtain scale information (sales and / or asset amount) related to the activity corresponding to the supplier and activity. The management server 200 identifies other suppliers similar to the obtained scale information from the scale information storage unit (S705), and reads the emission factor corresponding to the other supplier and activity from the emission factor storage unit (S706). If the emission factor corresponding to the other supplier and activity is not registered, the management server 200 can repeat the process from S705. The management server 200 sends the read emission factor to the user terminal 100 (S707) and accepts the user terminal 100's specification of the emission factor to be used (S708).

[0094] The management server 200 can calculate emissions by multiplying the emission factor by the activity level (S709).

[0095] As described above, for suppliers whose emission factors are unknown, the emission factors of other suppliers of similar size can be presented to the user. Users can use emission factors of other suppliers similar to their own company, rather than secondary data.

[0096] In the embodiment of the third function, other suppliers with similar size information to the supplier are identified. However, other suppliers whose industry matches or is similar to the supplier's and whose size (sales revenue, asset value) matches or is similar may also be identified. In this case, the industry of the business entity may be included in the size information, or an industry storage unit for storing the industry of the business entity may be provided.

[0097] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating process 1 (operation 5), which generates and presents the third piece of information.

[0098] The management server 200 acquires first information, which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, for each activity used to calculate emissions (for example, each of the raw materials procured by the company) (S801). The management server 200 also acquires second information, which includes at least the attributes of the business entities (S802). Next, the management server 200 stores the acquired first and second information in the scale information storage unit (S803). Next, the management server 200 reads the second information corresponding to the first business entity from the scale information storage unit (S804). Next, the management server 200 refers to the scale information storage unit and identifies a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information read out (S805). Next, the management server 200 reads emission-related information corresponding to the identified second business entity from the scale information storage unit and generates third information based on the emission-related information read out (S806). Next, the management server 200 presents the third piece of information (S807).

[0099] In operation 5, the management server 200 may calculate information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain. This calculation is performed by the emissions calculation unit. Operation 4 and operation 5 may also be combined.

[0100] An increasing number of companies are disclosing information related to greenhouse gas emissions. Creating emission reports requires specialized knowledge and expertise, but businesses (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) that lack these often don't know what kind of information to collect or what to include when creating emission reports, forcing them to rely on consultants who are experts in this field. Furthermore, while it is possible to create emission reports by referring to emission reports disclosed by other companies in the same industry, a problem arises in that it takes a great deal of time and effort to gather and organize the necessary information from those referenced emission reports.

[0101] According to Operation 5 (P044), an information processing system can be provided comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information (e.g., a TCFD report) including information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (e.g., information included in the TCFD report); second information indicating the attributes of business entities (e.g., transportation information as supplier attribute information); an information generation unit that generates third information (e.g., a new TCFD report, a TCFD report reflecting review results) based on emission-related information of a second business entity (another supplier) that matches or is similar to the second information (transportation information) corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. Note that the first information and the third information are not limited to the same type of report, but may be different types of reports. For example, a securities report may be the first information and a CDP report may be the third information. In this way, it is possible to easily create a report different from one type of report from another type of report.

[0102] In this way, by simply inputting prerequisites such as the first and second pieces of information, a suitable emission report format is provided to the user, making it easy for businesses without specialized knowledge or expertise to create emission reports. Furthermore, the information processing system reviews the reports based on numerous publicly available emission reports, improving the accuracy of the emission reports created by the company.

[0103] Furthermore, according to operation 5 (P063), an information processing system can be provided that includes: first information (e.g., CDP report) including information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (e.g., information to be included in the CDP report); second information indicating the attributes of business entities (e.g., company information such as industry, sales, and number of employees as supplier attribute information); an information generation unit that generates third information (e.g., a new CDP report, a CDP report reflecting review results) based on information related to emissions of a second business entity (another supplier) that matches or is similar to the second information (company information) corresponding to the first business entity (e.g., information to be included in a highly-rated CDP report); and a presentation unit that presents the third information. The information processing system also includes an input unit that inputs instruction information (e.g., question information, instruction information for the information generation unit); and an information generation unit that generates new information (e.g., answers to questions, questionnaires, new email addresses, codes) based on the instruction information. Furthermore, an analysis unit 280 may be provided to evaluate the CDP reports acquired by the acquisition unit 250 and acquire only those reports with high ratings. Alternatively, the system may refer to and analyze the previous year's scores, sort them in descending order, and acquire the top 10 (or not limited to the top 10) reports. It may also refer to and analyze scores from multiple years, such as the previous and the year before, to acquire the top 10 reports with the highest average scores. When referring to and analyzing scores from multiple years, the system may prioritize the use of the most recent scores. The analysis unit 280 may also be programmed to use machine learning on the information acquired by the acquisition unit 250 to generate the best possible answers. Because the system analyzes and presents top-performing CDP reports for the industry indicated by the attributes, it is possible to create high-scoring emission reports (e.g., CDP reports) and utilize them for climate change strategies, etc. Furthermore, after the annual submission of CDP reports, the system may be programmed to automatically acquire the submitted CDP reports and use machine learning to process them. Additionally, the acquisition of CDP reports can be done by specifying the CDP reports that the user wants to refer to individually using the user terminal 100.

[0104] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating process 2 (operation 6), which generates and presents the third piece of information.

[0105] The management server 200 acquires first information (S901) that includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain for each activity (e.g., each of the raw materials procured by the company) for which emissions are calculated. The management server 200 also acquires second information (S902) that indicates at least the attributes of the business entities. Next, the management server 200 stores the acquired first and second information in the scale information storage unit (S903). Next, the management server 200 reads the second information corresponding to the first business entity from the scale information storage unit (S904). Next, the management server 200 acquires information corresponding to the first business entity (S905). Acquiring information corresponding to the first business entity means storing the information corresponding to the first business entity input from the user terminal 100 in a storage unit (e.g., the scale information storage unit) and reading this stored information to acquire it. Next, the management server 200 refers to the scale information storage unit and identifies a second business entity that matches or is similar to the first business entity that was read (S906). Next, the management server 200 reads the emission-related information corresponding to the identified second business entity from the scale information storage unit and generates third information based on the emission-related information that was read (S907). Next, the management server 200 presents the third information (S908).

[0106] In operation 6, the management server 200 may calculate information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain. This calculation is performed by the emissions calculation unit. Operation 6 may also be combined with operations 4 and 2.

[0107] Many companies are using FAQs and chatbots as a means to reduce the workload involved in responding to customer inquiries. However, traditional FAQs and chatbots can only provide pre-set responses, which can sometimes prevent them from eliciting the answers or solutions that the questioner is truly seeking.

[0108] According to Operation 6 (P045), an information processing system can be provided comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information (e.g., group information of internal knowledge) which includes at least information (e.g., internal knowledge) related to greenhouse gas emissions by multiple business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information (e.g., external knowledge information such as customer information) which indicates at least the attributes of the business entities; a storage unit (e.g., scale information storage unit) which stores the acquired first information and second information; an input unit which inputs information corresponding to the first business entity (e.g., question information); an information generation unit which generates third information (e.g., information answering the question) based on information related to emissions of a second business entity (other suppliers) which matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit which presents the third information. The input unit includes a voice input unit which enables voice input via a microphone or the like. The voice input unit starts voice input based on the detection of the pressing of a voice input start button. The voice input unit terminates voice input after detecting the press of the voice input start button again. Alternatively, voice input may be terminated based on the detection of the press of the voice input end button. It may also be terminated based on the interruption of voice, or based on the elapsed time since the start of voice input. The information input from the voice input unit is acquired by the acquisition unit and stored in the storage unit.

[0109] Furthermore, according to operation 6 (P047), an information processing system can be provided comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires emission information (e.g., group information of scope-indicating information) that includes at least type-specific information (e.g., information indicating scope) regarding greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; a storage unit (e.g., scale information storage unit) that stores the acquired emission information; an input unit that inputs information corresponding to a first business entity (e.g., question information); an information generation unit that generates type-specific information corresponding to a first business entity (e.g., information indicating scope, information indicating category) based on type-specific information regarding emissions that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity (e.g., information indicating scope, information indicating category); and a presentation unit that presents type-specific information corresponding to a first business entity. Note that type-specific information corresponding to a first business entity is also third-party information.

[0110] By combining publicly available external expert knowledge with internal knowledge such as customer data accumulated within the company, it becomes possible to extract the answers and solutions that customers truly seek, enabling highly accurate inquiry handling automatically.

[0111] Furthermore, the following challenges have arisen. Companies and organizations designated as specific businesses are obligated to periodically report their energy usage, etc., under the Energy Conservation Act. In addition to this periodic reporting, CDP (an international environmental nonprofit organization) requests companies and organizations to disclose information on their environmental impact, and companies and organizations voluntarily respond to the "CDP Questionnaire on Environment" to publicly demonstrate that they are companies and organizations that are responding to the disclosure of climate change-related information. Companies and organizations report their energy usage, etc., to the public by submitting periodic reports under the Energy Conservation Act and responding to the CDP Questionnaire. However, because the emission intensity (kilowatts) used for periodic reports under the Energy Conservation Act and the emission intensity (gigajoules) used for responding to the CDP Questionnaire are different, companies and organizations that are the reporting entities have to convert the emission intensity of the calculated carbon dioxide emission data from the periodic report under the Energy Conservation Act to the CDP Questionnaire. The same applies to converting from the emission intensity for the CDP Questionnaire to the emission intensity for periodic reports under the Energy Conservation Act, and from the emission intensity of one emission report to the emission intensity of another emission report. As a result, companies and organizations that are responsible for reporting face significant workload in converting emission intensity data across different emission reports.

[0112] According to Operation 6 (P052), an information processing system can be provided that comprises: a first information (e.g., an emission report based on the Energy Conservation Act) which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; an acquisition unit which acquires second information which indicates at least the attributes of the business entities; an information generation unit which generates third information (e.g., a CDP report) based on emission-related information of a second business entity which matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; an information conversion unit which converts unit information (e.g., kilowatts) in the first information to unit information (e.g., gigajoules) in the third information; and a presentation unit which presents the third information. If the first information is a certain type of emission report (e.g., an emission report based on the Energy Conservation Act), the third information is preferably a different type of emission report (e.g., a CDP report), but the third information may also be a new type of emission report (e.g., a new emission report based on the Energy Conservation Act).

[0113] By doing so, the process of converting emission intensity from one emission report to another can be automated, thereby streamlining the conversion of emission intensity. In particular, the process of converting emission intensity (kilowatts) used for periodic reports based on the Energy Conservation Act to emission intensity (gigajoules) used for responding to CDP questionnaires can be automated, thus streamlining the response to CDP questionnaires.

[0114] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating process 3 (operation 7), which generates and presents a third piece of information (new information).

[0115] The management server 200 acquires emission information for each activity used to calculate emissions (for example, each raw material procured by the company), which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (S1001). The management server 200 also acquires second information that indicates at least the attributes of the business entity (S1002). Next, the management server 200 stores the acquired emission information and the second information in the storage unit 230 (S1003). Next, the management server 200 determines whether or not there is an input of instruction information (S1004). Input of instruction information means that a user inputs instruction information from the user terminal 100. Examples of input methods include text input and voice input. If there is no input of instruction information (S1004: NO), the management server 200 loops the process of S1004 until instruction information is input. On the other hand, if there is (or was) an input of instruction information (S1004: YES), the management server 200 acquires the instruction information (S1005). The instruction information entered in S1004 is stored in the memory unit 230, and in S1005, this stored information is read and retrieved. Next, the management server 200 generates third information (new information) based on the instruction information (S1006). Next, the management server 200 presents the third information (S1007).

[0116] Operation 7 (P064) is an information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires emission information (e.g., CDP report) which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (e.g., information to be included in the CDP report); a storage unit that stores the acquired emission information; an input unit that inputs instruction information (information corresponding to a first business entity; e.g., question information, instruction information to an information generation unit); and an information generation unit that generates new information (e.g., questionnaire, new email address, code) based on the instruction information (information corresponding to a first business entity) (or emission-related information that matches or is similar to a part of it).

[0117] For example, the generation unit (information generation unit) generates a new questionnaire (new information) to confirm the information that should be included in the CDP report, based on the instruction information (Please create a questionnaire for supplier A and supplier B regarding the information to be included in the CDP report. The questionnaire should be designed to obtain information regarding ●●●, ▲▲▲, and ×××. Please send the completed questionnaire to supplier A and supplier B on yyyy / mm / dd). The generation unit also generates new information based on emission-related information (information to be included in the CDP report) that matches or is similar to a part of the instruction information (Please create a questionnaire regarding the information to be included in the CDP report). "Matching or similar to a part" means that some of the information in the instruction information and some of the information in the CDP report are the same or related.

[0118] Furthermore, based on the instruction information (Please register a new user with username C), the generation unit refers to and uses the email address information (userA@zb.jp and userB@zb.jp) already stored in the storage unit 230 that represents user A, and generates a new email address (userC@zb.jp) from that information. The generation unit generates new information based on information stored in the storage unit 230 (userA@zb.jp and userB@zb.jp as information related to output) that matches or is similar to a part of the instruction information (Please register a new user with user C). "Matching or similar to a part" means that a part of the information in the instruction information and a part of the user information stored in the storage unit 230 are the same or related. Here, an example is shown where the user's email domain name matches.

[0119] Furthermore, the generation unit generates code (programs) to execute the instructions (delete the data entered on yyyy / mm / dd. Delete all data entered one month prior to today.) based on the instruction information (delete the data entered on yyyy / mm / dd. Delete all data entered one month prior to today.), and to modify (add, delete, correct, etc.) the information related to the discharge (information entered in January as information related to the discharge). The generation unit also generates code (programs) to delete the information entered in January based on information stored in the memory unit 230 (information entered in January as information related to the discharge) that matches or is similar to part of the instruction information (delete the data entered on yyyy / mm / dd. Delete all data entered one month prior to today.). In this way, when the instruction information input from the input unit is in natural language, the generation unit (information generation unit, generation unit 260) generates the instruction in computer language, that is, code or a program, as new information. Furthermore, based on the instruction information, the analysis unit 280 analyzes the discharge-related information stored in the storage unit 230, and the generation unit generates new information based on the analysis results from the analysis unit 280.

[0120] Furthermore, the management server 200 includes an execution unit 290 that executes code (program) as new information. The execution unit 290 performs predetermined processing based on the generated code as new information. For example, if the generation unit generates code to delete information entered on yyyy / mm / dd, the execution unit 290 executes the code and performs processing to search for, retrieve, and delete the information entered on yyyy / mm / dd. Also, if the instruction information is an instruction to calculate data such as "calculate the amount of data entered on yyyy / mm / dd," the generation unit generates code to calculate the information entered on yyyy / mm / dd, and the execution unit 290 executes the code to calculate the amount of data entered on yyyy / mm / dd and performs processing to present it. Note that the calculation unit 210 may perform the processing instead of the execution unit 290. The presentation processing may also be performed by the output unit 240. Furthermore, if the instruction is to visualize data, such as "Create a graph of the data entered on yyyy / mm / dd," the generation unit generates code to create a graph of the information entered on yyyy / mm / dd, and the execution unit 290 executes the code to create and display a graph of the information entered on yyyy / mm / dd. The display process may also be performed by the output unit 240. To perform the input data deletion process, the emissions calculation process based on the input data, and the input data graph creation process, the API integration function may be used to search for and retrieve the data entered on yyyy / mm / dd from linked external software.

[0121] Figure 11 illustrates process 4 (operation 8), which generates and presents the third piece of information (new information). Operation 8 (P064) is the operation that generates code as the new information shown in operation 7.

[0122] The management server 200 acquires emission information for each activity used to calculate emissions (for example, each raw material procured by the company), which includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (S1101). The management server 200 also acquires second information that indicates at least the attributes of the business entity (S1102). Next, the management server 200 stores the acquired emission information and the second information in the storage unit 230 (S1103). Next, the management server 200 determines whether or not there is an input of instruction information (S1104). Input of instruction information means that a user inputs instruction information from the user terminal 100. Examples of input methods include text input and voice input. If there is no input of instruction information (S1104: NO), the management server 200 loops the process in S1004 until instruction information is input. On the other hand, if there is (or was) an input of instruction information (S1104: YES), the management server 200 acquires the instruction information (S1105). The instruction information entered in S1104 is stored in the storage unit 230, and in S1105, this stored information is read and retrieved. Next, the management server 200 generates a code to execute the content of the instruction as a third piece of information (new information) based on the instruction information (S1106). Next, the management server 200 executes a predetermined process based on the generated code (S1107). Next, the management server 200 presents the result of the predetermined process executed based on the code (S1108).

[0123] Furthermore, the second type of information may include information indicating customer attributes. This information could include, for example, industry, sales revenue, sales revenue by business segment, market segment, number of employees, business region, business content, and products and services sold, manufactured, or provided. The second type of information may also include information on sustainability initiatives. This information could include, for example, climate change-related goals, internal strategies and systems, and numerical targets. In addition, the second type of information may include information on external factors such as competitor information and customer trends. This information could also be considered the first type of information. By having a wide variety of first and second types of information, it becomes easier to create the third type of information.

[0124] The input unit 220, output unit 240, acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, generation unit 260, estimation unit 270, analysis unit 280, and execution unit 290 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system with self-learning artificial intelligence (a mechanical system). Furthermore, this system may be tuned to learn acquired information such as scope information, category information, and reasoning information. In this way, the management server 200 can be loaded with documents published by the WBCSD and the Ministry of the Environment, as well as the company's internal customer database. When a customer inputs preconditions (industry, product, service, etc.), the system can automatically generate the most suitable answer from the learned information set and provide a response. It is also possible to load information in multiple languages. Furthermore, questions can be entered and answered in multiple languages. By making the system multilingual, anyone can easily obtain the information they want. Additionally, if the content of a question entered earlier by the input unit 220 is related to the content of a question entered later, the output unit 240 can consider the earlier question and answer when providing a response. For example, if the first input and the second input contain the same or similar words, the estimation unit 270 estimates that the questions are related, and the output unit 240 outputs the answer as the related question.

[0125] <Disclosure Items> The third function also includes the following configuration: [Item C1 (P030)] An information processing system comprising: an emission factor storage unit that stores emission factors for calculating greenhouse gas emissions for each business entity; a scale information storage unit that stores scale information indicating at least one of sales scale and asset scale for each business entity; an acquisition unit that acquires activity amounts by a first business entity that constitutes the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; an emission calculation unit that calculates the emissions by the first business entity by multiplying the activity amount by the emission factor corresponding to the first business entity; and, if the emission factor corresponding to the first business entity is not registered, an acquisition unit that reads the scale information corresponding to the first business entity from the scale information storage unit, refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity that matches or is similar to the read scale information, reads the emission factor corresponding to the identified second business entity from the emission factor storage unit, and presents the read emission factor. Item C1 comprises a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity that emits greenhouse gases (hereinafter referred to as "base"), an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by the emitter at each base, an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from the user's mobile terminal, a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit, and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C2] An information processing system as described in item C1, wherein the sales scale and asset scale are numerical values, and the presentation unit identifies the second business entity corresponding to the scale information stored in the scale information storage unit whose difference from the read scale information falls within a predetermined range. [Item C3] An information processing system as described in item C1, characterized in that the emission factor storage unit stores the emission factor in association with the business entity and the activities performed by the business entity, the scale information storage unit stores the scale information in association with the activities, the emission calculation unit obtains the emission factor corresponding to the first business entity and the activities related to the amount of activity, and the presentation unit refers to the scale information storage unit to identify a second business entity that matches or is similar to the scale information of the first business entity and the activities, and reads the emission factor corresponding to the identified second business entity and the activities from the emission factor storage unit. [Item C4 (P044)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: first information which includes at least information relating to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; second information which indicates at least the attributes of the business entities; third information which generates information which matches or is similar to the emission-related information of a second business entity that corresponds to the first business entity; and presentation unit which presents the third information. Item C4 comprises: a base information storage unit which stores information which identifies the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as a base) that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit which stores the activity amount of each emitter at each base; an activity amount input unit which receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit which identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit which registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C5 (P045)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information indicating at least the attributes of the business entities; a storage unit that stores the acquired first information and the second information; an input unit that inputs information corresponding to the first business entity; an information generation unit that generates third information based on emission-related information of the second business entity that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. Item C5 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C6 (P047)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires emission information including at least type information regarding greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; a storage unit that stores the acquired emission information; an input unit that inputs information corresponding to a first business entity; an information generation unit that generates type information corresponding to a first business entity based on emission type information that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents type information corresponding to a first business entity. Item C6 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as a base) that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by each emission entity at each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C7 (P054)] The information processing system is characterized in that the input unit for item C6 is an input unit that inputs information corresponding to the first business entity by voice. [Item C8 (P052)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: first information which includes at least information relating to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; second information which indicates at least the attributes of the business entities; third information which generates third information based on emission-related information of a second business entity which matches or is similar to the second information which corresponds to the first business entity; information conversion unit which converts unit information in the first information into unit information in the third information; and presentation unit which presents the third information. Item C8 comprises: a base information storage unit which stores information that identifies the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit which stores the activity amount of each emitter at each base; an activity amount input unit which receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit which identifies a base based on location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit which registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C9 (P063)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information indicating the attributes of the business entities; an information generation unit that generates third information based on emission-related information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. Item C9 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C10] An information processing system as described in item C9, comprising an input unit for inputting instruction information, wherein the information generation unit is capable of generating new information based on the instruction information. [Item C11 (P064)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires emission information including at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; a storage unit that stores the acquired emission information; an input unit that inputs instruction information; and an information generation unit that generates new information based on the instruction information. Item C11 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by each emission entity at each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item C12] An information processing system as described in item C11, comprising: an analysis unit that analyzes the discharge information stored in the storage unit based on the instruction information, and an information generation unit that generates new information based on the results of the analysis. [Item C13] An information processing system as described in item C12, characterized by comprising an execution unit that performs predetermined processing based on the new information. [Item C14 (P044)] When dealing with X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence), the following applies. The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: a first information unit that includes at least information related to the X information of business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain; a second information unit that acquires at least the attributes of business entities; an information generation unit that generates a third information based on information related to the X information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. [Item C15 (P045)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a first information unit that includes at least information related to X information of a business entity constituting the upstream or downstream of a supply chain; a second information unit that acquires at least the attributes of a business entity; a storage unit that stores the acquired first information and the second information; an input unit that inputs information corresponding to the first business entity; an information generation unit that generates third information based on information related to X information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. [Item C16 (P047)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires information on the type of X information of business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of a supply chain; a storage unit that stores information on the type of X information acquired; an input unit that inputs information corresponding to a first business entity; an information generation unit that generates information on the type of X information corresponding to a first business entity based on information on the type of X information that matches or is similar to the information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents information on the type of X information corresponding to a first business entity. [Item C17 (P052)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a first information that includes at least information related to X information of business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of a supply chain; an acquisition unit that acquires second information that indicates at least the attributes of business entities; an information generation unit that generates third information based on information related to X information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; an information conversion unit that converts unit information in the first information into unit information in the third information; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. [Item C18 (P063)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including information related to X information of business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of a supply chain; second information indicating the attributes of business entities; an information generation unit that generates third information based on information related to X information of a second business entity that matches or is similar to the second information corresponding to the first business entity; and a presentation unit that presents the third information. [Item C19 (P064)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires X information of business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of a supply chain; a storage unit that stores the acquired X information; an input unit that inputs instruction information; and an information generation unit that generates new information based on the instruction information.

[0126] <<Carbon tax target setting function (Fourth function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to third functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the fourth function.

[0127] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the fourth function. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 includes a storage unit 230 (emissions storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (information acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (derivation unit, reduction amount calculation unit), an output unit 240 (information presentation unit), and an input unit 220 (information input unit).

[0128] The emission storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 is the same as the storage unit described in the second functional embodiment. In this embodiment, the emission storage unit stores the results of calculating the company's carbon dioxide emissions as information that identifies emissions.

[0129] The information acquisition unit constituting the acquisition unit 250 acquires standard scenario data. The standard scenario data consists of multiple scenario data. These multiple scenario data include the first scenario data, the second scenario data, the third scenario data, etc. The first scenario data is, for example, the scenario data for when greenhouse gas emissions continue as they are now, and the temperature rises by approximately 4 degrees Celsius by 2100 (or 2050, etc.). The second scenario data is, for example, the scenario data for when greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to almost zero. The third scenario data is, for example, the scenario data for when greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by a predetermined amount, and the temperature rise by 2100 (or 2050, etc.) is 2 degrees Celsius or less. Each scenario data shows the carbon price (coefficient) for each year from the present to 2100. Alternatively, the climate change scenarios set by WEO2022 may be acquired as the standard scenario data. When climate change scenarios are obtained, the first scenario data will be based on STEPS (The Stated Policies Scenario), the second scenario data will be based on NZE (Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario), and the third scenario data will be based on APS (The Announced Pledges Scenario).

[0130] The derivation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, derives (calculates) a first carbon tax based on the emissions stored in the emissions storage unit and the carbon price (coefficient). The first carbon tax is derived based on the amount of carbon contained in the emissions. The derivation method differs from country to country. For example, in Japan, it is derived by multiplying the emissions by the carbon price per ton, such as N yen / ton, and in the United States, by M dollars / ton. The derivation unit can also derive a second carbon tax for a predetermined period. The predetermined period can be short-term (around 2-3 years), medium-term (around 5-10 years), or long-term (around 30 years). The second carbon tax is derived (calculated) based on the emissions stored in the emissions storage unit and scenario data. For example, when deriving a long-term second carbon tax using the first scenario data, the second carbon tax at the start of the scenario (present) is the first carbon tax. The second carbon tax at the end of the scenario (30 years later) is derived based on emissions and the 30-year data from the first scenario. Similarly, the second carbon tax for each year from the start to the end of the scenario is derived based on emissions and the data from the first scenario for each year. In this example, a long-term simulation of the second carbon tax can be performed and presented to the user. The derivation unit can also derive the second carbon tax based on the reduction amount. In this example, a carbon tax simulation can also be performed by multiplying the reduction amount by the carbon price from the scenario data.

[0131] The reduction amount calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates the reduction amount based on the emissions and the emission reduction target ratio set by the business entity. The reduction target ratio is the same as in the embodiment of the first function.

[0132] The information display unit presents information on the first carbon tax, the second carbon tax (results of simulation), and reduction amounts. The second carbon tax may present the results of a simulation based on one scenario data set, or it may present the results of multiple simulations based on multiple scenario data sets. The information display unit transmits the information to the user terminal 100, and the user terminal 100 displays the information. The information transmitted to the user terminal 100 can also be edited and processed by the user terminal 100. The information display unit may also present potential risks. There are two types of risks: acute risks and chronic risks. Acute risks are risks caused by sudden events. Sudden events include, for example, avalanches, cold waves, frost, cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, heat waves, floods (coastal, river, heavy rain, groundwater), glacial lake outbursts, heavy rainfall (rain, sleet, hail, snow, ice), landslides, storms (including blizzards, dust, and sandstorms), land subsidence, tornadoes, and wildfires. Chronic risks are risks resulting from long-term changes in climate patterns. Chronic risks include, for example, changing patterns of heavy rainfall (rain, sleet, hail, snow, ice), changing temperatures (atmosphere, freshwater, seawater), changing wind patterns, coastal erosion, thermal stress, ocean acidification, permafrost thawing, heavy rainfall and / or hydrological variability, saltwater intrusion, sea level rise, soil degradation, soil erosion, solifraction, temperature fluctuations, and water scarcity. These factors create risks such as increased response costs, decreased asset value, asset impairment, and reduced sales due to decreased production capacity. By presenting these risks, users can recognize the types of risks involved. The tax levied based on greenhouse gas emissions in the pricing function could be a carbon tax, for example.

[0133] The information input unit inputs the information on the percentage of emission reduction targets set by the business entity, which is entered from the user terminal 100, into the management server 200.

[0134] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating the process (operation 9) for calculating and presenting the carbon tax.

[0135] The management server 200 stores the greenhouse gas emissions of the business entity (S1201). Next, the management server 200 calculates the first carbon tax based on the emissions (S1202). Next, the management server 200 selects scenario data (S1203). The selected scenario data may be one or more. Next, the management server 200 calculates the second carbon tax for a predetermined period using the selected scenario data (S1204). Next, the management server 200 accepts input for the target reduction rate of emissions by the business entity (S1205). Next, the management server 200 calculates the reduction amount based on the emissions and the target reduction rate (S1206). Next, the management server 200 calculates the second carbon tax based on the reduction amount. The management server 200 outputs the first carbon tax and the second carbon tax showing each calculation result to the user. The second carbon tax may be presented as a graph with the year on the X axis.

[0136] Recent global warming has led to the observation of extreme weather events worldwide. Weather-related disasters are also becoming more frequent. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if global warming continues at its current pace, further increases in the frequency and severity of weather-related disasters are possible. To mitigate such extreme weather and disasters, Western countries are leading the way in promoting a transition to a decarbonized society, and in Japan, efforts are underway to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One example of this effort is the introduction of a carbon pricing system, which aims to assign a price to carbon and change the behavior of carbon dioxide emitters (primarily corporations). If a carbon pricing system is introduced, a "carbon tax" could be created, levied according to carbon dioxide emissions. If a carbon tax is established, it would have a significant financial impact on corporations, which are major emitters of carbon dioxide. Therefore, corporations would need to estimate the carbon tax levied on their carbon dioxide emissions and consider business activities that take this tax into account. However, currently, there are no information processing systems that can simulate the carbon tax that may be levied on corporations in the future.

[0137] According to Operation 9, an information processing system can be provided that calculates a company's carbon dioxide emissions using an information processing system for calculating and visualizing carbon dioxide emissions, and then simulates a carbon tax based on these calculation results and carbon prices corresponding to standard scenario data. More specifically, an information processing system can be provided that simulates a carbon tax by multiplying the company's carbon dioxide emissions by the carbon prices (carbon pricing) calculated on each of the first, second, and third scenario data.

[0138] This structure allows companies to recognize risk factors such as future carbon tax burdens and to easily formulate business plans linked to climate change targets. Furthermore, by having companies consider risk factors such as future carbon tax burdens in their capital investment plans, they will prioritize decarbonization investments and promote decarbonization investments within companies.

[0139] The acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, output unit 240, and input unit 220 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) with artificial intelligence that learns on its own. Through such machine learning, it is possible to predict the factors that increase or decrease the carbon tax.

[0140] <Disclosure Items> The fourth function also includes the following configurations: [Item D1 (P051)] An information processing system comprising: a storage unit (emissions storage unit) that stores greenhouse gas emissions by business entities and predetermined scenario data; and a derivation unit that derives a carbon tax (second carbon tax) based on the emissions and the predetermined scenario data, wherein the derivation unit is capable of deriving a carbon tax for a predetermined period. Item D1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by each emitter at each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item D2] An information processing system as described in item D1, comprising: an input unit (information input unit) that receives input of the target reduction rate of emissions from the business entity; a reduction amount calculation unit that calculates the reduction amount based on the emissions and the target reduction rate; and an information processing system characterized in that the derivation unit is capable of deriving the carbon tax based on the reduction amount. [Item D3] An information processing system as described in item D2, wherein the input unit is capable of receiving input for a reference time and a target time, and the reduction amount calculation unit is capable of obtaining the emissions at the reference time from the emissions storage unit and calculating the reduction amount at the target time based on the obtained emissions and the reduction target ratio. [Item D4 (P051)] When dealing with X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence), the following applies. The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system comprising a storage unit that stores first X information and predetermined scenario data provided by the business entity, and a derivation unit that derives second X information based on the first X information and predetermined scenario data, wherein the derivation unit is capable of deriving second X information for a predetermined period.

[0141] <<Blockchain Function (5th Function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to fourth functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the fifth function.

[0142] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the fifth function. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 includes a storage unit 230 (emissions storage unit, blockchain), an acquisition unit 250 (information acquisition unit), an analysis unit 280, and an output unit 240 (information presentation unit). In this embodiment, the blockchain is shown as being located within the management server 200, but the blockchain may be located outside the management server 200. Even if it is located outside, the management server 200 can acquire the information from the blockchain.

[0143] The emission storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 is the same as the storage unit described in the second functional embodiment. In this embodiment, the emission storage unit stores the results of calculating the carbon dioxide emissions of the company and other companies as information indicating emissions (first information). Blockchain manages data in units of blocks and stores data by linking them together like a chain. Each block of the blockchain stores the first information. In addition, each block stores a hash value (second information) that represents the contents of the previous block. For example, if the first block stores information indicating the first emission (first information A) and the first hash value (second information A), and the second block stores information indicating the second emission (first information B) and the second hash value (second information B), the first hash value used in the first block is used as a certificate necessary for generating the next block, the second block. In other words, the first hash value is information related to the second hash value. If the data showing the second emission amount in the second block is tampered with, the resulting second hash value will be a different value (an anomaly), requiring the hash values ​​of all blocks to be changed. Therefore, tampering with information managed by the blockchain is difficult, thus providing a highly reliable information processing system.

[0144] The information acquisition unit constituting the acquisition unit 250 acquires first information. The first information is information indicating the emissions in the embodiment of the third function, etc. The information acquisition unit also acquires second information. The second information is exemplified by a hash value representing the contents of the previous block, but any information indicating information in the blockchain is acceptable. The second information is information associated with the first information. In other words, the first information and the second information are related information. If the second information shown in the embodiment of the third function is stored in the blockchain, the second information in the embodiment of the third function can be used as the second information. In this case, it is preferable to use information that associates a hash value with the second information in the embodiment of the third function as the second information. Alternatively, the second information may be information that allows confirmation of when, where, and from which business entity the information was acquired, rather than a hash value.

[0145] The analysis unit 280 analyzes based on the hash value obtained from information indicating emissions from downstream business entities. "Downstream" refers to business entities further downstream than the first business entity (supplier), such as the second business entity, which is another supplier. The first business entity obtains information indicating emissions from the second business entity, which is a downstream business entity, and the analysis unit 280 can analyze whether or not this information indicating emissions has been tampered with. The information indicating emissions is information managed on the blockchain. The hash value is also information managed on the blockchain and is related to the information indicating emissions. Therefore, by analyzing the hash value corresponding to the information indicating emissions, the analysis unit 280 can analyze and confirm that the information indicating emissions obtained from the downstream business entities is genuine and has not been tampered with. Furthermore, the analysis unit 280 can analyze which business entity the information indicating emissions belongs to.

[0146] The information display unit displays the results of the analysis. For example, if the analysis reveals that the acquired emission data is abnormal, it outputs information such as "The acquired emission data is not normal" to the user terminal 100. On the other hand, if the acquired emission data is normal, it does not indicate that it is normal. However, if the acquired emission data is normal, it may be configured to output information such as "The acquired emission data is normal" to the user terminal 100. Furthermore, if the analysis of which business entity the emission data belongs to reveals that it is not a normal second business entity, it outputs information such as "The acquired emission data is not normal" to the user terminal 100. However, if the data is normal, it does not indicate that it is normal, but it may be configured to output information such as "The acquired emission data is normal" to the user terminal 100.

[0147] If the analysis results are abnormal, but the acquired emission data has not been tampered with, for example, if the analysis reveals that the second entity provided the first entity with incorrect emission data, this fact should be presented. In this case, the second entity may also be notified that the emission data provided to the first entity was incorrect.

[0148] Furthermore, a generation unit 260 may be provided to generate a blockchain. Each block constituting the blockchain stores the first information of a second business entity and the hash value corresponding to the first information. A blockchain can be constructed by obtaining the first information of multiple second business entities and using the first information for which the analysis results are normal. In addition, the second information B may be information related to the second information A, while the first information B may be information that is not related to the first information A. Here, "related information" is exemplified by the fact that one piece of information has a relationship with the other piece of information through a function, etc., but is not limited to this. By making the information related only among the second pieces of information, the degree of freedom in the first information to be stored can be increased.

[0149] Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating the process (operation 10) of analyzing and outputting the first piece of information.

[0150] The management server 200 acquires first information that includes at least information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain for each activity used to calculate emissions (for example, each of the raw materials procured by the company) (S1301). The management server 200 also acquires second information that shows the information in the blockchain (S1302). Next, the management server 200 stores the acquired first information and second information in the storage unit 230 (S1303). Next, the management server 200 analyzes the first information of the business entities that constitute the downstream based on the second information (S1304). Next, the management server 200 determines whether the result of the analysis is abnormal or not (S1305). If the result of the analysis is abnormal (S1305: YES), the management server 200 indicates that it is abnormal and terminates the processing of operation 10 (S1306). On the other hand, if the result of the analysis is not abnormal (S1305: NO), the management server 200 terminates the processing of operation 10.

[0151] Concerns have arisen regarding the reliability of the first information from business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream. For example, in the case of a first business entity that manufactures smartphone products, it obtains first information (emissions and emission intensity) about components that make up the smartphone, such as cameras and chips, from a second business entity. However, even if the obtained first information is tampered with, there is no way to verify the tampering, and the problem arises that accurate greenhouse gas emissions cannot be calculated because the tampered and fraudulent information is registered as the first business entity's information. The embodiment of the fifth function was proposed to resolve this problem.

[0152] According to operation 10, an information processing system can be provided that includes: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information indicating information in the blockchain; an analysis unit that analyzes the first information of business entities constituting the downstream based on the second information; and a presentation unit that presents the results of the analysis.

[0153] By configuring the system in this way, it becomes possible to track the calculation process of greenhouse gas emissions by business entities that constitute the upstream or downstream of the supply chain (which business entity calculated it, when, and how) and the editing history of greenhouse gas emission data by those business entities. This allows for verification (guaranteeing reliability) of the acquired emission information and enables the provision of emission information consisting only of legitimate data.

[0154] The output unit 240, acquisition unit 250, generation unit 260, and analysis unit 280 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that has artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0155] <Disclosure Items> The fifth function also includes the following configuration: [Item E1 (P065)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including information related to greenhouse gas emissions by business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, and second information indicating information in the blockchain; an analysis unit that analyzes the first information of business entities constituting the downstream based on the second information; and a presentation unit that presents the results of the analysis. Item E1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by each emitter at each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item E2] An information processing system as described in item E1, wherein the first information comprises at least first information A and first information B which is the next information after the first information A, and the second information comprises at least second information A and second information B which is the next information after the second information A, and the second information A and the second information B are related information, while the first information A and the first information B are not related information. [Item E3 (P065)] If the target is X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence), then the following applies. The same may be applied to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires first information including information related to X information of business entities constituting the upstream or downstream of the supply chain, second information indicating information in the blockchain, an analysis unit that analyzes the first information of business entities constituting the downstream based on the second information, and a presentation unit that presents the results of the analysis.

[0156] <<Proof-of-Consequence Function (6th Function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to fifth functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the sixth function.

[0157] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the sixth function. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (proof data storage unit, corresponding database), an acquisition unit 250 (proof acquisition unit, basic data acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (emission calculation unit), and an output unit 240 (proof output unit).

[0158] The document acquisition unit constituting the acquisition unit 250 acquires document data that displays basic data for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. The basic data can be, for example, at least one of activity levels and emission factors.

[0159] Activity-related supporting data includes, for example, data representing supporting documents such as invoices, receipts, and contracts. Supporting documents related to Scope 1 (direct emissions) of the GHG (GreenHouse Gas) protocol may include, for example, receipts for refueling at gas stations, and invoices for gas or coal. Supporting documents related to Scope 2 (indirect emissions) may include, for example, receipts and contracts for electricity. Supporting documents related to Scope 3 (emissions by related parties) for Category 1 (purchased goods and services) may include, for example, purchase orders, invoices, contracts and receipts related to the procurement of raw materials and parts, or data and bills of materials from procurement systems.

[0160] Furthermore, supporting data related to emissions may include, for example, primary data on emission intensity of raw materials obtained from suppliers (which may be calculated independently by the supplier or verified by a third party).

[0161] The supporting data may be, for example, image data. The image data may be, for example, data captured by a camera (not shown) on the user terminal 100. The supporting data may be, for example, a document such as a PDF file, or a structured file such as XML.

[0162] The document acquisition unit may, for example, accept uploads of document data from the user terminal 100, or acquire document data attached to messages such as emails or chat messages sent from the user terminal 100. Furthermore, if the user can directly operate the management server 200, the management server 200 may be equipped with a camera and scanner, and the document may be photographed using the camera and scanner on the management server 200. The document acquisition unit can register the acquired document data in the document data storage unit.

[0163] The document data storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores document data. The document data storage unit can store document data in association with, for example, a document ID that identifies the document and a user ID that indicates the user who registered the document. The document data storage unit can be implemented as a relational database or an object database, or as a file system (in this case, the document ID can be a path and file name).

[0164] The basic data acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, reads basic data from the document data. The basic data acquisition unit can, for example, read basic data from image data by OCR processing. The basic data acquisition unit can also, for example, extract basic data from text contained in a document.

[0165] The emissions calculation unit constituting the calculation unit 210 calculates emissions based on basic data. For example, if the basic data is information indicating the amount of activity of a company, the management server 200 is equipped with an emissions coefficient storage unit that stores the emissions coefficient related to the company's activities, and the emissions can be calculated by multiplying the read activity amount by the emissions coefficient. Also, if the basic data is the company's emissions coefficient, the amount of activity by the company (for example, in the case of emissions related to Scope 1, this could be the amount of fuel burned by the user; in the case of emissions related to Scope 2, it could be the amount of electricity used by the user; and in the case of emissions related to Scope 3, it could be the amount of goods purchased by the user from the company, the amount of goods sold by the user, or the ton-kilometers of goods delivered by the user) can be obtained, for example, by accessing an accounting system or by receiving input from the user, and the emissions can be calculated by multiplying the obtained activity amount by the read emissions coefficient. Also, if the basic data includes both emissions coefficients and activity amounts, the emissions can be calculated by multiplying the read emissions coefficients and activity amounts. Also, if the basic data is emissions, the emissions read from the supporting data can be used as is.

[0166] The corresponding database constituting the memory unit 230 stores information identifying emissions and information identifying supporting data in association. The corresponding database can also store information identifying basic data in association. The corresponding database stores emission identification information, basic data IDs that identify basic data, and supporting IDs that indicate supporting documents in association. Emission identification information can include time information such as year, month, and day. It can also include information (such as a user ID) that identifies the entity (company, etc.) that emits greenhouse gases related to emissions. Furthermore, emission identification information can also include the goods and services that are subject to calculation.

[0167] The document output unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, outputs document data. The document output unit can accept the specification of emission identification information. For example, the document output unit can accept the specification of time information such as year, month, and day. In addition to or instead of time information, the document output unit can accept the specification of the entity responsible for emissions. In addition to or instead of time information and / or the entity responsible for emissions, the document output unit can accept information that identifies the goods or services to be calculated. The document output unit can identify the document ID corresponding to the received emission identification information from the corresponding database, and read the document data corresponding to the identified document ID from the document data storage unit and output it.

[0168] The document output unit can output document data in response to requests from, for example, third-party certification bodies (auditing bodies). It can also, in response to requests from users calculating emissions related to the GHG protocol, identify document data related to the underlying data used to calculate those emissions from a corresponding database, and transmit the identified document data along with the emissions to the third-party certification body (or its information processing device).

[0169] Furthermore, the document output unit can also accept the specification of basic data in addition to emission identification information. In this case, the document output unit can identify the document ID corresponding to the basic data ID indicating the emission identification information and the specified basic data from the corresponding database, and read the document data corresponding to the identified document ID from the document data storage unit and output it.

[0170] <Operation> Next, we will explain the flow of the emission calculation process in the information processing system, which is the sixth function.

[0171] The management server 200 receives evidence data from the user terminal 100, reads basic data from the evidence data using OCR processing, and calculates greenhouse gas emissions using the basic data.

[0172] The management server 200 stores the evidence data in the evidence data storage unit and registers the emission identification information that identifies the emission amount, the basic data ID that indicates the basic data, and the evidence ID that indicates the evidence data in the corresponding database.

[0173] Furthermore, when receiving multiple types of basic data for calculating emissions, it is permissible to receive only the basic data and not the supporting data.

[0174] Next, we will explain the output processing flow of evidence data in the information processing system for the sixth function.

[0175] The management server 200 receives emission identification information and basic data ID from the user terminal 100. The basic data ID may be omitted. The management server 200 identifies the certificate ID corresponding to the received emission identification information and basic data ID from the corresponding database, reads the certificate data corresponding to the identified certificate ID from the certificate data storage unit, and outputs the read certificate data (sends it to the user terminal 100).

[0176] As described above, the information processing system of the sixth function allows for the management of supporting data related to the basic data used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, in association with the emissions and the basic data. Therefore, in cases such as audits and third-party certifications, supporting data corresponding to emissions and the basic data used to calculate them can be easily presented.

[0177] In the embodiment of the sixth function, the system is configured as a client-server system, but for example, the user terminal 100 can also be configured to have the functionality of the management server 200.

[0178] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the sixth function, basic data is read from the document data by processing such as OCR. However, for example, if the basic data is modified by the user terminal 100, the system may accept input of the basic data from the user terminal 100 and learn from it. For example, the system may receive the range in the document data in which the basic data is written and the content of the basic data from the user terminal 100, and update the learning model for OCR using machine learning with the document data, the range, and the content as training data. This can improve the reading accuracy of so-called AIOCR.

[0179] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the sixth function, basic data is read from the evidence data. However, for example, basic data may be received from the user terminal 100, the amount of emissions may be calculated using the basic data received from the user terminal 100, the evidence data related to this basic data may be received from the user terminal 100, and the management server 200 may perform the association between the basic data and the evidence data. In this case, the management server 200 may be equipped with a learning model storage unit that stores a learning model that has been trained using the basic data and the evidence data as training data. Using this learning model, the management server 200 can infer the type of basic data (basic data ID) from the evidence data received from the user terminal 100 and perform the association between the evidence data and the basic data. The management server 200 can link the basic data ID indicating the inferred basic data and the evidence ID indicating the evidence data in a corresponding database.

[0180] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the sixth function, the corresponding database associates emissions with basic data and supporting documents, but it is also possible to associate emissions (emission identification information) with supporting documents (supporting document ID), or to associate basic data (basic data ID) with supporting documents (supporting document ID).

[0181] The acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, and output unit 240 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that possesses artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0182] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the sixth function also includes the following configuration: [Item F1 (P015)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a document acquisition unit that acquires document data displaying basic data for calculating greenhouse gas emissions; a basic data acquisition unit that reads the basic data from the document data; a document data storage unit that stores the document data; an emission calculation unit that calculates the emissions based on the basic data; a corresponding database that stores information identifying the emissions and information identifying the document data in association; and a document output unit that receives a specification of information identifying the emissions, identifies the document data corresponding to the specified emissions from the corresponding database, and reads the identified document data from the document data storage unit and outputs it. Item F1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives input of location information and activity amount from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. Item F1 comprises a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity that emits greenhouse gases (hereinafter referred to as "base"), an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by the emitter at each base, an activity amount input unit that reads evidence data from the user's mobile terminal and accepts location information and activity amount input from the mobile terminal, a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit, and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item F2] An information processing system as described in item F1, wherein the evidence data is image data, and the basic data acquisition unit reads the basic data from the image data by OCR processing. [Item F3] An information processing system as described in item F1, wherein the corresponding database stores information identifying the emissions, information identifying the evidence data, and information identifying the basic data in association with each other, and the evidence output unit receives the specification of the emissions and the basic data, identifies the evidence data corresponding to the emissions and the basic data from the corresponding database, and reads the identified evidence data from the evidence data storage unit and outputs it. [Item F4 (P015D1)] An information processing system comprising: a document acquisition unit that acquires document data displaying basic data for calculating greenhouse gas emissions; a basic data acquisition unit that accepts input of the basic data; a document data storage unit that stores the document data; an emissions calculation unit that calculates the emissions based on the basic data; a corresponding database that stores information identifying the basic data or information identifying the emissions and information identifying the document data in association; and a document output unit that accepts the designation of information identifying the basic data or information identifying the emissions, identifies the document data corresponding to the designated basic data or emissions from the corresponding database, and reads the identified document data from the document data storage unit and outputs it. [Item F5 (P015)] When dealing with X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights DD), the following applies. The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: a document acquisition unit that acquires document data displaying the basic data for calculating X information; a basic data acquisition unit that reads basic data from the document data; a document data storage unit that stores the document data; a calculation unit that calculates X information based on the basic data; a corresponding database that stores information identifying X information and information identifying document data in association; and a document output unit that accepts the specification of information identifying X information, identifies document data corresponding to the specified X information from the corresponding database, and reads and outputs the identified document data from the document data storage unit.

[0183] <<Accounting data verification function (7th function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to sixth functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the seventh function.

[0184] <System Overview> In the embodiment of the seventh function, the system manages the supporting data, particularly that which is included in the accounting data. The information processing system for the seventh function, although not shown in the figures, comprises a management server 200, a user terminal 100, and an accounting system. The management server 200 is connected to the user terminal 100 and the accounting system via a communication network.

[0185] The management server 200 is a computer that calculates greenhouse gas emissions. The management server 200 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or personal computer, or it may be logically implemented through cloud computing.

[0186] The user terminal 100 is a computer used by the user, such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or personal computer. The user operates the user terminal 100 to access the management server 200 and have it calculate greenhouse gas emissions.

[0187] An accounting system is a computer system that manages accounting data. An accounting system may consist of one or more computers. Accounting data may include so-called financial statement data and accounting record data that forms the basis of financial statements (such as voucher data, invoice data, contract data, general ledger data, and journal entry data). Accounting data may also include audit evidence data used in accounting audits. An accounting system stores at least financial statement data and can output financial statement data upon request.

[0188] Figure 3 illustrates an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the seventh function. Note that the illustrated configuration is just one example, and other configurations are also possible. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (accounting data storage unit, audit data storage unit, corresponding database, emission factor storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (accounting data acquisition unit, basic data acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (emissions calculation unit), and an output unit 240 (emissions output unit, accounting data output unit).

[0189] The accounting data acquisition unit acquires accounting data, including basic data for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. The basic data may include, for example, at least one of activity levels and emission factors.

[0190] Accounting data related to activity levels include accounting records such as invoices, receipts, and contracts. Examples of accounting records supporting Scope 1 (direct emissions) of the GHG protocol include gas station receipts and gas or coal invoices. Examples of accounting records supporting Scope 2 (indirect emissions) include electricity receipts and contracts. Examples of accounting records supporting Scope 3 (emissions by related companies) for Category 1 (purchased goods and services) include purchase orders, invoices, contracts, and receipts related to the procurement of raw materials and parts, as well as data from procurement systems and bills of materials. It is also possible to use items included in financial statements such as balance sheets and income statements as the basis data instead of accounting records; in this case, the financial statement data can become the accounting data corresponding to that basis data.

[0191] Furthermore, accounting data used as evidence for emission factors may include, for example, primary data on emission intensity of raw materials obtained from suppliers (which may be calculated independently by the supplier or verified by a third party). For example, audit evidence data that is not included in accounting records but was used in the carbon accounting audit can be used as accounting data.

[0192] Accounting data can be in the form of documents such as PDF files, or structured files such as XML. It is also possible to use image data for accounting data.

[0193] The accounting data acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, can receive input of information identifying accounting data (for example, the fiscal year and the name of the accounting data) from the user terminal 100, access the accounting system, transmit the information identifying accounting data to the accounting system, and receive the accounting data in response from the accounting system. In addition, the accounting data acquisition unit may, for example, accept the upload of accounting data from the user terminal 100, or acquire accounting data attached to messages such as emails and chat messages sent from the user terminal 100.

[0194] The accounting data acquisition unit can register the acquired accounting data in the accounting data storage unit. However, the accounting data acquisition unit may not register accounting data already recorded in the accounting system in the accounting data storage unit, but instead access the accounting system to acquire it as needed. The accounting data acquisition unit can register accounting data specified by the user terminal 100 in the accounting data storage unit when the accounting data is not already registered in the accounting system.

[0195] The accounting data storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores accounting data. The accounting data storage unit can store accounting data in association with, for example, accounting data identification information that identifies the accounting data and a user ID that indicates the user who registered the accounting data. The accounting data identification information can be, for example, the fiscal year and the name of the accounting data. The accounting data storage unit can be implemented as a relational database or an object database, or as a file system. When the accounting data received from the user terminal 100 is stored when the specified accounting data is not registered in the accounting system, the accounting data storage unit will store accounting data that is not managed by the accounting system (external system data).

[0196] The audit data storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores audit data indicating that an accounting audit has been conducted on financial statements related to accounting data. The audit data can be, for example, data from an audit report prepared by an audit firm (such as an audit report in electronic data format or scanned data of a paper audit report). The audit data storage unit can store audit data in association with audit data identification information that identifies the audit data and a user ID that indicates the user. The audit data identification information can be, for example, the fiscal year. The audit data storage unit can be implemented as a relational database or an object database, or as a file system.

[0197] The corresponding database constituting the memory unit 230 stores information identifying emissions and information identifying accounting data in association. The corresponding database can also store information identifying audit data in association. The corresponding database stores emission identification information in association with basic data IDs that identify basic data (e.g., activity level details), accounting data identification information that indicates accounting data, and audit data identification information that identifies audit data. Emission identification information can include time information such as year, month, and day. Emission identification information can also include information that identifies the greenhouse gas output entity (company, etc.) related to emissions (e.g., user ID). Emission identification information can also include the goods and services that are subject to calculation.

[0198] The emission factor storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores emission factors. The emission factor storage unit can store emission factors in association with information that identifies an activity (basic data ID). The basic data ID can be, for example, the type of activity.

[0199] The basic data acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires the data (basic data) necessary to calculate emissions. The basic data can be, for example, activity levels and emission coefficients. Here, accounting data is acquired as the activity level (the accounting data acquired by the accounting data acquisition unit is read from the accounting data storage unit). The emission coefficient can be read from, for example, the emission coefficient storage unit. Alternatively, the emission coefficient may be received from the user terminal 100.

[0200] The emissions calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates emissions based on basic data. Here, the emissions calculation unit can read the activity amount included in the accounting data, perform unit conversion, and calculate emissions by multiplying the activity amount by the corresponding emission factor. For emissions related to Scope 1, for example, the emissions calculation unit can extract the purchase price of fuel from the accounting data related to purchased fuel and calculate emissions by multiplying the purchase price by the emission factor corresponding to the fuel. For emissions related to Scope 2, for example, the emissions calculation unit can extract the electricity charge from the accounting data related to electricity in the utility costs and calculate emissions by multiplying the electricity charge by the emission factor for electricity. For emissions related to Scope 3, for example, the emissions calculation unit can extract the purchase price of a specific product from the accounting data related to the purchase of that product and calculate emissions related to that product by multiplying the extracted purchase price by the emission factor corresponding to the product. If the unit of the emission factor differs from the unit of the accounting data, the emissions calculation unit can perform unit conversion on the activity amount in the accounting data before multiplying by the emission factor.

[0201] The emissions output unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, outputs the calculated emissions. The emissions output unit may, for example, output the total value of all emissions, output the total value of emissions for each scope related to the GHG protocol, or output the total value of emissions for each category of Scope 3.

[0202] The accounting data output unit that constitutes the output unit 240 can output accounting data (or information specifying the accounting data). The accounting data output unit can receive a designation of emission amount specifying information. For example, the accounting data output unit can receive a designation of time information such as year, month, and day. Further, in addition to or instead of the time information, the accounting data output unit can receive a designation of the subject of the emission amount. Further, in addition to or instead of the time information and / or the subject of the emission amount, the accounting data output unit can receive information specifying a product or service to be calculated. The accounting data output unit can specify accounting data specifying information corresponding to the received emission amount specifying information from the corresponding database, and can acquire and output the accounting data specified by the specified accounting data specifying information from the accounting data storage unit or the accounting system.

[0203] In addition to or instead of the accounting data, the accounting data output unit can also output audit data. The accounting data output unit can specify audit data specifying information corresponding to the received emission amount specifying information from the corresponding database, and can read and output the audit data corresponding to the specified audit data specifying information from the audit data storage unit.

[0204] The accounting data output unit can output, for example, accounting data and / or audit data in response to a request from a third-party certification body (audit institution). Further, in response to a request from a user who calculates the emission amount according to the GHG protocol, the accounting data related to the basic data that is the basis for calculating the emission amount can be specified from the corresponding database, and the specified accounting data can be transmitted together with the emission amount to the information processing device of the third-party certification body. <​​In addition, the accounting data output unit can also accept the specification of basic data in addition to the emission amount specific information. In this case, the accounting data output unit specifies the accounting data specific information and / or the audit data specific information corresponding to the basic data ID indicating the emission amount specific information and the specified basic data from the corresponding database, and can acquire and output the accounting data and / or the audit data corresponding to the specified accounting data specific information and / or the audit data specific information.

[0206] <Operation> Next, the flow of the emission amount calculation process in the information processing system of the seventh function will be described.

[0207] The management server 200 acquires the accounting data specified from the user terminal 100. The management server 200 may, for example, accept the specification of the accounting data from the user terminal 100, access the accounting system, and acquire the specified accounting data, or may receive the accounting data from the user terminal 100. The management server 200 acquires the emission factor of the activity related to the accounting data. The management server 200 can, for example, read out the emission factor corresponding to the basic data ID indicating the activity related to the accounting data from the emission factor storage unit.

[0208] The management server 200 calculates the emission amount by multiplying the activity amount extracted from the accounting data by the emission factor. The management server 200 accepts the input of the audit data of the financial statements related to the accounting data and registers it in the audit data storage unit. The management server 200 registers the information associating the emission amount, the basic data, the accounting data, and the audit data in the corresponding database.

[0209] Next, the flow of the accounting data output process in the information processing system of the seventh function will be described.

[0210] The management server 200 receives emission identification information from the user terminal 100, reads accounting data identification information and audit data identification information corresponding to the received emission identification information from the corresponding database, and retrieves and outputs the accounting data and / or audit data identified by the retrieved accounting data identification information and / or audit data identification information. Accounting data can be obtained, for example, by accessing the accounting system, and accounting data that cannot be obtained from the accounting system can be obtained from the accounting data storage unit. Audit data can be obtained from the audit data storage unit.

[0211] As described above, the information processing system of function 7 allows for the management of accounting data and / or audit data related to the basic data used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, in correspondence with the emissions. Therefore, in cases such as audits and third-party certifications, the accounting data and / or audit data corresponding to the emissions and the basic data used to calculate them can be easily presented.

[0212] In the embodiment of the seventh function, the system is configured as a client-server system, but for example, the user terminal 100 can also be configured to have the functionality of the management server 200.

[0213] The acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, and output unit 240 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that possesses artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0214] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the seventh function also includes the following configuration: [Item G1 (P016)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a data acquisition unit that acquires basic data for calculating greenhouse gas emissions; an emissions calculation unit that calculates the emissions based on the basic data; a correspondence database that stores in association information that identifies the basic data or information that identifies the emissions and information that identifies accounting data which is at least one of accounting record data, financial statement data or audit evidence data that shows the basic data; and an accounting data output unit that receives a designation of information that identifies the basic data or information that identifies the emissions, and reads from the correspondence database the information that identifies the accounting data corresponding to the designated basic data or emissions and outputs it. Item G1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information that identifies the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the amount of activity by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives input of location information and activity amount from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item G2] An information processing system as described in item G1, comprising a storage unit for storing external data which is accounting data that is not recorded in an external accounting system, and an accounting data output unit which accesses the accounting system to obtain accounting data that is recorded in the accounting system from the designated basic data or the accounting data corresponding to the emissions, obtains accounting data that is not recorded in the accounting system from the storage unit, and outputs the obtained accounting data. [Item G3] An information processing system as described in item G1, comprising an audit data storage unit that stores audit data indicating that an accounting audit has been conducted on financial statements related to the accounting data, wherein the corresponding database stores information identifying the basic data or information identifying the emissions, information identifying the accounting data, and information identifying the audit data in association with each other, and the accounting data output unit reads from the corresponding database the information identifying the accounting data and the information identifying the audit data corresponding to the specified basic data or emissions and outputs them. [Item G4 (P016)] The following applies when the target is X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights due diligence). The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: a data acquisition unit that acquires basic data for calculating X information; a calculation unit that calculates X information based on the basic data; a correspondence database that stores in association information that identifies basic data or information that identifies X information and information that identifies accounting data which is at least one of accounting record data, financial statement data or audit evidence data that shows the basic data; and an accounting data output unit that accepts the designation of information that identifies basic data or information that identifies X information, and reads and outputs information that identifies accounting data corresponding to the designated basic data or X information from the correspondence database.

[0215] <<Unit cost exchange function (8th function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to seventh functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the eighth function.

[0216] <System Overview> Management server 200 is connected to other management servers 200 via a communication network 300 so that they can communicate with each other. In the example in Figure 1, one management server 200 is referred to as one management server 200, and although not shown, the other management server 200 connected to one management server 200 is referred to as the other management server 200, and the two management servers 200 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other.

[0217] The management server 200 is a computer (information processing device) that outputs greenhouse gas emission status (emission factor (emission intensity), activity level, and emissions). By multiplying a company's activity level (for example, the number of products produced) by the emission intensity related to that company, the greenhouse gas emissions of that company can be calculated. The management server 200 can also transmit its own emission intensity (which may include activity level and emissions) to other management servers 200 (information processing devices) and obtain the emission intensity of others from other management servers 200. This makes it possible to calculate the total emissions for the entire supply chain, including the company itself.

[0218] In this embodiment, each company exchanges emission intensity (primary data) calculated for itself, enabling the calculation of more accurate emission figures.

[0219] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the eighth function will be explained. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (emission intensity storage unit, product information storage unit, product usage information storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (emission intensity acquisition unit, activity amount acquisition unit, company information acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (emission calculation unit, emission intensity calculation unit, product-specific emission calculation unit), and an output unit 240 (emission output unit, emission intensity transmission unit, data ratio output unit).

[0220] The emission intensity storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores a coefficient (called emission intensity) for calculating greenhouse gas emissions associated with a company. The emission intensity storage unit can store emission intensity and primary data ratios associated with a company ID that identifies a company and a product ID that identifies the goods (including services; the same applies hereinafter) that the company provides. Primary data refers to data obtained from direct measurements collected by the company itself, or from calculations based on direct measurements at the initial source of information. Data other than primary data is secondary data. For example, secondary data is data that has been standardized (statistically processed) from the emissions of multiple companies that provide similar goods. The primary data ratio is the proportion of emissions calculated using primary data to the total amount of calculated emissions.

[0221] The product information storage unit, which constitutes the memory unit 230, stores information about products (product information). The product information can include various types of product information, such as product names, associated with a product ID that identifies the product. The product information storage unit is assumed to contain product information for all products that the company provides to other companies.

[0222] The product information storage unit constituting the memory unit 230 stores information (product information) about other products used in providing the product (hereinafter referred to as "products used"). Products used are, for example, raw materials used to produce the product. Product information can include a product ID indicating the product, a product ID indicating the product used, a company ID indicating the company that provides the product used, and the amount of product used for one product (amount used).

[0223] The emission unit acquisition unit that constitutes the acquisition unit 250 acquires emission units calculated by enterprises (associated enterprises) corresponding to at least either the upstream or downstream of the supply chain. The associated enterprises are enterprises that provide products in categories defined in Scope 3 of the GHG Protocol. The emission unit acquisition unit may be configured to accept input of emission units from a user, but in this embodiment, it is assumed that emission units are acquired from another management server 200. The management server 200 can provide a primary data ratio together with the emission units. The emission unit acquisition unit can update the emission unit storage unit based on the acquired emission units and the primary data ratio. The emission unit acquisition unit can update the acquired emission units and the primary data ratio corresponding to the enterprise ID indicating the associated enterprise related to another management server 200 that is the acquisition source of the emission units and the product ID indicating the product purchased from the associated enterprise. When the emission unit acquisition unit registers the emission units of the secondary data in the emission unit storage unit, it can set the primary data ratio to "0".

[0224] The activity amount acquisition unit that constitutes the acquisition unit 250 acquires the activity amount related to the products used by the associated enterprises. The activity amount can be, for example, the quantity of products received from the associated enterprises, such as the number of products, the amount of energy, the distance transported in logistics, etc. The activity amount acquisition unit can acquire the activity amount related to the associated enterprises from the management server 200 of the associated enterprises. The activity amount acquisition unit may be configured to accept input of the activity amount of the associated enterprises from a user. Further, the activity amount acquisition unit may access, for example, an accounting system, a sales management system, an inventory management system, etc., and acquire the number (quantity) of products purchased from the associated enterprises as the activity amount.

[0225] The emissions calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, reads the emissions intensity corresponding to the related company and product from the emissions intensity storage unit, and calculates the emissions from the related company for the product used by the related company by multiplying the read emissions intensity by the activity level of the related company (for example, the amount of product used). The usage level used for calculating emissions may be the activity level of the related company (such as the number of products purchased) obtained by the activity level acquisition unit by accessing, for example, an accounting system, a sales management system, or an inventory management system, or it may be received by the activity level acquisition unit from the related company's management server 200.

[0226] The emissions output unit constituting the output unit 240 can output emissions for each related company. The emissions output unit can output emissions for each related company and for each product used. The emissions output unit can also output emission intensity for each related company. The emissions output unit can output comparable emission intensity for multiple related companies that provide the same product. The emissions output unit can output comparable emission intensity for a related company that provides a certain product and a related company that provides a substitute for that product. The emissions output unit may also output emission intensity for related companies with which there are no transactions. That is, it can also output comparable emission intensity for related companies that are other suppliers of the product used, or related companies that provide substitutes.

[0227] The company information acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires the company's emissions and / or activity levels. The company information acquisition unit can, for example, accept input of emissions and / or activity levels. The company information acquisition unit may calculate emissions using well-known methods. The company information acquisition unit may acquire activity levels (such as the number of company products sold) from, for example, an accounting system, a sales management system, or an inventory management system. The company information acquisition unit can acquire emissions and / or activity levels by product. The company information acquisition unit also acquires the amount of the company's emissions calculated based on primary data (referred to as company primary data emissions). The company information acquisition unit can calculate the company primary data emissions by subtracting the emissions related to Scope 2 electricity use from the total emissions of Scope 1 and Scope 2 if, for example, Scope 2 emissions are calculated based on secondary data related to electricity charges.

[0228] If a product is used in multiple products, the company information acquisition unit acquires the amount of the product used in each product (for example, from an accounting system, sales management system, inventory management system, etc.), the activity amount acquisition unit calculates the activity amount of the product used in each product by apportioning it according to the amount used in each product, and the emissions calculation unit can calculate the emissions related to the product used by the related companies by multiplying the apportioned activity amount of the product used in each product by the emission intensity of the product used.

[0229] Furthermore, if the activity acquisition unit acquires activity data for multiple products used by an affiliated company, the company information acquisition unit acquires the usage amount of the products used for those products among the multiple products procured from the affiliated company (for example, this can be acquired from accounting systems, sales management systems, inventory management systems, etc.), and calculates the activity data for the products and the products used corresponding to the acquired usage amount. The emissions calculation unit can then calculate the emissions from those products by the affiliated company by multiplying the activity data for the products and products used by the emission intensity of the products used.

[0230] The emission intensity calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates the company's own emission intensity based on the company's acquired emissions and activity levels.

[0231] The emission intensity transmission unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, can transmit the company's emission intensity to other management servers 200 (systems of related companies). The emission intensity transmission unit may transmit the company's emission intensity in response to requests from other management servers 200, or it may transmit the company's emission intensity periodically or each time it calculates it.

[0232] The data ratio output unit constituting the output unit 240 can output the primary data ratio related to emissions from the company's products. The data ratio output unit can calculate the primary data ratio. For example, for each product used in a certain product, the data ratio output unit can calculate the primary data emissions by multiplying the emissions related to that product by the primary data ratio of that product (referred to as primary data emissions), add the emissions emitted by the company for that product (Scope 1 and 2) to the total primary data emissions for all calculated products used, calculate the total emissions based on primary data, and divide the calculated total by the emissions related to that product (total of Scope 1 to 3) to calculate the primary data ratio for that product. For example, the data ratio output unit can obtain the product ID, usage amount, and company ID corresponding to the product ID representing the company's products from the product information storage unit, obtain the primary data ratio corresponding to the company ID and product ID from the emission intensity storage unit, and calculate the primary data emissions by multiplying the emissions of the products used (which may be the value obtained by multiplying the usage amount by the emission intensity, or the system may accept input of emissions) by the primary data ratio. Furthermore, if the data ratio output unit calculates the emissions generated by the company using secondary data, it can add only the company's primary data emissions to the total primary data emissions of the products used.

[0233] The emission intensity acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, can also acquire the emissions emitted by the related company that provides the materials used in one or more products from the related company's management server 200. In this case, the emission intensity acquisition unit can calculate the emissions per product by apportioning the emissions according to a predetermined standard. The emission intensity acquisition unit can apportion the emissions of the materials used for multiple products that use the same materials, based on the production volume of the products, etc. The emission intensity acquisition unit can calculate the emission intensity for the materials used by the related company by dividing the emissions per product by the amount of materials used.

[0234] The product-specific emissions calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates emissions related to products (called PCF (Product Carbon Footprint)). If the emission intensity acquisition unit has been able to acquire emission intensity, the product-specific emissions calculation unit can calculate the first product-specific emissions related to the products used by multiplying the emission intensity by the amount of products used. If the emission intensity acquisition unit has not been able to acquire emission intensity, but the product-specific emissions calculation unit has been able to acquire emissions related to all products used that have been supplied to the company, the product-specific emissions calculation unit can calculate the second product-specific emissions by apportioning the emissions according to a predetermined standard. The product-specific emissions calculation unit calculates a total value by summing the first product-specific emissions (emissions accumulated using emission intensity), the second product-specific emissions (emissions obtained by apportioning the emissions of organizational units), and the company's direct or indirect emissions (emissions related to products acquired by the company information acquisition unit), and then calculates the PCF by dividing the calculated total value by the activity level (for example, the amount of products produced).

[0235] <Operation> Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating the process for displaying emission intensity for each related company.

[0236] The management server 200 obtains emission intensity from the management servers 200 of related companies (S1401). If the management server 200 is unable to obtain emission intensity (S1402: NO), it obtains emission emissions related to the total amount of goods used supplied to the company by the related company (S1403). If emission emissions are obtained (S1404: YES), the management server 200 allocates the emissions according to a predetermined standard (for example, the production volume of each of the company's products) to calculate the product-specific emission emissions for the goods used (S1405), and then calculates the emission intensity by dividing the product-specific emission emissions by the amount of goods used (S1406). On the other hand, if the management server 200 is unable to obtain emission emissions (S1404: NO), it obtains secondary data related to the goods used (S1407). The management server 200 displays the emission intensity for each related company in a comparable manner (S1408). This will allow companies to understand the emission intensity of each related company upstream or downstream in their supply chain, and to identify related companies that are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[0237] Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating the process flow for calculating the PCF.

[0238] The management server 200 calculates the product-specific emissions for each product used in its own products by prorating the emissions of all products used in its own products from related companies if it has obtained the total emissions for all products used in its own products from related companies (S1501:YES) (S1502). If it has not obtained the emissions (S1501:NO), it calculates the product-specific emissions by multiplying the emission intensity (primary or secondary data) by the amount used (S1503). The management server 200 then sums up the product-specific emissions (S1504) and calculates the PCF by dividing the total emissions by the amount of activity related to the product (production volume, sales volume, etc.) (S1505). This allows the PCF to be calculated using available data, whether the emissions are calculated using emission intensity determined by LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), etc. (emissions calculated using the cumulative method) or by dividing the total company emissions by the number of products, sales, etc. (emissions calculated using the proration method).

[0239] The acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, and output unit 240 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that possesses artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0240] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the eighth function also includes the following configuration: [Item H1 (P009)] An information processing system comprising: an emission intensity acquisition unit that acquires a first emission intensity and a primary data ratio related to the first emission intensity for calculating a first greenhouse gas emission calculated by an affiliated company which is a company located in at least one of the upstream or downstream parts of the supply chain; an emission intensity storage unit that stores the first emission intensity and the primary data ratio for each affiliated company; an internal information acquisition unit that acquires the company's second emission amount; an activity amount acquisition unit that acquires the amount of use of products provided by the affiliated company that are used in the company's products; and a data ratio output unit that outputs a primary data ratio related to the product calculated based on the first and second emission amounts and the primary data ratio. Item H1 comprises a site information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each site (hereinafter referred to as "site") related to a greenhouse gas emitter, an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter at each site, an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal, a site identification unit that identifies a site based on the location information by referring to the site information storage unit, and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified site. [Item H2] An information processing system as described in item H1, wherein the data ratio output unit calculates the primary data ratio for the product by multiplying the amount of use by the first emission unit, adding the first emission amount obtained by multiplying the amount of use by the first emission unit, and then dividing the result by the first and second emission amounts. [Item H3] An information processing system as described in item H1, characterized in that the company information acquisition unit acquires the company's primary data emissions calculated by the company based on primary data, along with the second emissions, and the data ratio output unit calculates the primary data ratio for the product based on the first and second emissions, the primary data ratio, and the company's primary data emissions. [Item H4] An information processing system as described in item H1, comprising: an emission intensity calculation unit that calculates the company's emission intensity, which is the company's emission intensity, based on the company's acquired emissions and activity levels; and a transmission unit that transmits the company's emission intensity to the system of the related company. [Item H5] An information processing system as described in item 1, wherein the activity level acquisition unit acquires the activity level of the related company from the related company's system. [Item H6] An information processing system comprising: an emission intensity acquisition unit that acquires emission intensity for calculating a first greenhouse gas emission calculated by an affiliated company which is a company located in at least one of the upstream or downstream parts of the supply chain; an emission intensity storage unit that stores the emission intensity for each affiliated company; an activity amount acquisition unit that acquires a first activity amount of the affiliated company related to the products used in the company's products; a company information acquisition unit that acquires the company's second emissions and second activity amount related to the company's products; and an emissions calculation unit that acquires the emission intensity corresponding to the affiliated company from the emission intensity storage unit, calculates the first emissions by multiplying the acquired emission intensity by the first activity amount of the affiliated company, and calculates the emissions related to the product by apportioning the sum of the first and second emissions by the second activity amount. [Item H7] An information processing system as described in item H6, wherein the emissions calculation unit, when the product used is also used in other products, calculates a third emissions, which is the emissions of the product used in the product, by apportioning the first emissions according to the proportion of the product used in the product, and calculates the emissions related to the product by apportioning the sum of the second and third emissions by the second activity level. [Item H8] An information processing system as described in item H7, wherein the emissions calculation unit calculates the third emissions if the product used is also used in other products, calculates the first emissions if the product used is not used in other products, and calculates the emissions related to the product by apportioning the total of the first to third emissions by the second activity level. [Item H9] An information processing system comprising: an emission intensity acquisition unit that acquires emission intensity units for calculating greenhouse gas emissions calculated by an affiliated company which is a company located in at least one of the upstream or downstream parts of the supply chain from the affiliated company's system; an emission intensity storage unit that stores the emission intensity units for each affiliated company; and an output unit that outputs the emission intensity units for each affiliated company, wherein the emission intensity acquisition unit, when it acquires the greenhouse gas emissions related to the products used for one or more of its own products from the system of the affiliated company that provides the products, calculates product-specific emissions by apportioning the emissions according to a predetermined standard, and calculates the emission intensity units corresponding to the affiliated company and the products used by dividing the product-specific emissions by the amount of the products used. [Item H10] An information processing system as described in item H9, comprising: an internal information acquisition unit that acquires the company's emissions and activity levels; an emission intensity calculation unit that calculates the company's emission intensity, which is the company's emission intensity, based on the acquired emissions and activity levels; and a transmission unit that transmits the company's emission intensity to the systems of related companies. [Item H11] An information processing system as described in item H9, characterized by comprising an activity acquisition unit that acquires the activity level of the related company from the related company's system.

[0241] <<Activity Estimation Function (9th Function)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to eighth functions described above will be described in detail below as the embodiment of the ninth function.

[0242] <System Overview> The following describes the information processing system related to the ninth function. The information processing system for the ninth function aims to manage greenhouse gas emissions by emitters such as companies. This information processing system accepts input of activity levels of emitters or other emitters located upstream or downstream in the emitter's supply chain, and calculates emissions by multiplying these levels by emission coefficients. This information processing system manages which emission coefficient should be used for which activity level, so that emissions can be calculated simply by inputting the activity level. Furthermore, the information processing system for the ninth function aims to calculate greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry and visualize the calculation results. Construction transactions in the construction industry generally proceed in the following order: (1) proposal / bidding → (2) order / contract → (3) design → (4) construction (work) → (5) completion / handover → (6) completion. (1) At the proposal / bidding stage, a quotation for construction costs (hereinafter simply referred to as "quotation") is always presented by the contractor to the client or the general contractor of the construction work. This estimate can also be used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions generated during construction work. When using an estimate to calculate greenhouse gas emissions, it is necessary to classify the items listed in the estimate and assign emission intensity to each classified item. Various formats exist for estimates, and different formats are used by each construction company (or even by different departments within the same company). In addition, estimates contain numerous items. Therefore, there is a challenge in that classifying the items listed in the estimate and assigning emission intensity (CO2 emission factor) to each classified item requires a great deal of manpower. The information processing system of function 9 is designed to solve these problems.

[0243] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the ninth function will be explained. The management server 200 includes a storage unit 230 (emission coefficient storage unit, vector information storage unit, activity amount storage unit, emission amount storage unit), an input unit 220 (activity amount input unit, emission coefficient input unit), an estimation unit 270 (activity estimation unit), an acquisition unit 250 (emission coefficient acquisition unit), a calculation unit 210 (emission amount calculation unit), an analysis unit 280 (aggregation unit), and an output unit 240 (activity specific information presentation unit, emission coefficient presentation unit).

[0244] The emission factor storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information including emission factors for calculating greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter referred to as emission factor information). The emission factors may be primary data (data obtained from direct measurements collected by the emitter itself, or data obtained from calculations based on direct measurements at the first source of information) or secondary data (data other than primary data, for example, data standardized (statistically processed) from emissions of multiple companies that provide similar products).

[0245] The emission factor storage unit can store emissions associated with activities. The emission factor storage unit can store activity-specific information (activity identification information), the scope of the activity, and the emission factor in association. The emission factor storage unit can store activity-specific information, the scope of the activity, the category of the activity, and the emission factor in association. The scope and category of the activity are assumed to be those of the GHG protocol. The category may be omitted.

[0246] Activity identification information can be in any format as long as it is information that identifies an activity. For example, if the data entered into the management server 200 (hereinafter referred to as import data) has an ID that uniquely identifies the activity (activity ID), then the activity ID can be used as the activity identification information.

[0247] The vector information storage unit constituting the memory unit 230 stores information for identifying an activity. In this embodiment, the information for identifying an activity is vector information obtained by vectorizing words. The vector information storage unit stores the vector information and the activity identification information in association.

[0248] The activity amount storage unit, which constitutes the memory unit 230, stores the activity amount. The activity amount storage unit can store the company ID, information that identifies the time when the activity took place (time information), activity identification information, attribute information, and activity amount in association with each other. The time information can be set to any period, such as fiscal year, year, month, year, month, day, or date range. The attribute information can be various items related to the activity (for example, suppliers of goods, relevant departments, persons in charge, etc., or any other items).

[0249] The emissions storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores the calculated greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions storage unit can store the company ID, time information, scope, category, and emissions in association with each other. The scope and category can be those registered in the classification storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230.

[0250] The activity input unit, which constitutes the input unit 220, accepts input of activity amounts. Activity amounts include, for example, the number of products produced (units), the number of products purchased (units), the weight × distance transported by logistics (ton-kilometers), the amount (liters) and cost (yen) of fuel consumed. The cost includes material costs, transportation costs, labor costs, etc. The activity input unit accepts input of time information and activity amounts from the user, along with various attribute information related to the activity. The activity input unit may also receive import data from the user terminal 100. Import data can be, for example, data exported from an ERP system (export data), data converted from export data, or data such as receipts and quotations obtained by OCR. Import data can be, for example, CSV data, JSON data, or XML data. For example, with CSV data, if it is known which item corresponds to which type of data, the type of activity can be identified in the activity identification information by determining what value is in which item of the CSV data. Additionally, for JSON or XML data, you can tag or set attributes to indicate what kind of data each item represents.

[0251] After inputting the estimate received from the construction contractor into the input unit 220 (for example, after reading it using OCR), the analysis unit 280 can analyze and classify the items (estimate items) (for example, classifying them into items that are always necessary for construction work, such as material costs, transportation costs, and labor costs). Alternatively, the analysis unit 280 can be configured as a machine learning analysis unit, and the classification of items (estimate items) can be performed using machine learning. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 250 can acquire drawing data such as BIM / CIM from the construction contractor at the design stage, as well as the estimate, and this drawing data and estimate data can be input into the input unit 220. Items may also be defined as scopes and / or categories.

[0252] The activity estimation unit, which constitutes the estimation unit 270, identifies activities based on items related to the amount of activity. The activity estimation unit estimates activity identification information using machine learning based on the items. In this embodiment, the activity estimation unit vectorizes the received items to create vector information, and by referring to the vector information storage unit, selects vector information (first vector information) stored in the vector information storage unit according to the distance from the created vector information (second vector information), and can read activity identification information corresponding to the selected first vector information from the vector information storage unit. For example, the activity estimation unit can identify a predetermined number (which may be just one) in ascending order of the distance between the first and second vector information. When the estimation unit 270 (activity estimation unit) has estimated activity identification information, it can also estimate the emission coefficient corresponding to the activity identification information.

[0253] The emission factor acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires emission factors related to the activity. The emission factor acquisition unit can read emission factors corresponding to the company ID and activity identification information from the emission factor storage unit. If the emission factors are managed by an external system, the emission factor acquisition unit may access the external system to acquire the emission factors.

[0254] The emission factor input unit, which constitutes the input unit 220, accepts input of emission factors. The emission factor input unit identifies the company ID that indicates the emission entity to which the user belongs (for example, it can accept input of the company ID. The management server 200 is also equipped with a user information storage unit that stores user information about the user, and the company ID is set in the user information, and the company ID can be obtained from the user information storage unit.) It accepts input of activity identification information and emission factors from the user and can register the company ID, activity identification information, and emission factors in the emission factor storage unit. If the emission factor corresponding to the type of activity amount related to the imported data is not stored in the emission factor storage unit, the emission factor input unit can, for example, notify the user terminal 100 of this fact and receive the emission factor from the user terminal 100.

[0255] The emissions calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, calculates emissions based on emission factors and activity levels. The emissions calculation unit can calculate emissions for each piece of information received from the user (for example, each record included in the imported data). The emissions calculation unit can calculate emissions by multiplying the activity level by the emission factor corresponding to the activity-specific information identified based on the activity level item.

[0256] The emissions calculation unit can calculate emissions by multiplying the activity amount by the emission factor (tCO2 / unit) if the unit representing the activity amount matches the unit assumed by the emission factor. If the units do not match, the emissions calculation unit can perform a unit conversion before calculating emissions.

[0257] The emissions calculation unit can register the calculated emissions in the emissions storage unit. The emissions calculation unit can register the calculated emissions in the emissions storage unit by associating the company ID, time information such as the current date and time, the scope and category of the calculated emissions, and the calculated emissions themselves.

[0258] The aggregation unit, which constitutes the analysis unit 280, aggregates emissions. The aggregation unit can aggregate the emissions calculated by the emissions calculation unit by scope. The aggregation unit can aggregate the emissions calculated by the emissions calculation unit by category. Scopes and categories corresponding to the company ID and activity identification information can be read from the distribution memory. Note that aggregation may be performed by other functional units such as the calculation unit 210 instead of the analysis unit 280.

[0259] The activity identification information presentation unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, presents the estimated activity identification information to the user. Specifically, the management server 200 outputs the estimated activity identification information to the user terminal 100. In addition, the emission coefficient presentation unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, presents the estimated emission coefficient to the user. Specifically, the management server 200 outputs the estimated emission coefficient information to the user terminal 100. The information presented may be one or more. If there is one piece of estimated information, one piece of information is presented. If there are multiple pieces of estimated information, all of the information may be presented, or the information of the top 5 (not limited to 5) analysis scores may be presented depending on the analysis results, or the information of the single piece with the highest analysis score may be presented depending on the analysis results.

[0260] Figure 16 is a diagram illustrating the process of identifying an activity.

[0261] The management server 200 receives activity levels and activity level-related items from an external source (S1601). For example, it can accept CSV data uploads from user terminals 100, accept inputs into forms, or read and accept data such as receipts and quotations obtained using OCR. The management server 200 vectorizes the received items to create vector information (S1602), and identifies activity identification information corresponding to the vector information (one or more) closest to the vectorized vector information stored in the vector information storage unit (S1603). If the management server 200 identifies multiple activity identification information items, it proposes (presents) the activity identification information to the user using the output unit 240 (S1604). The system may also allow the user to select one of the multiple activity identification information items (or accept input of other activity identification information). Furthermore, if the management server 200 identifies multiple activity-specific information items, it may propose (present) emission factors corresponding to the activity-specific information items to the user via the output unit 240 and allow the user to select one (or accept input of other emission factors). The management server 200 reads the emission factor corresponding to the selected activity-specific information item from the emission factor storage unit (S1605), and calculates the emission amount by multiplying the activity amount by the emission factor (S1606). The management server 200 registers the calculated emission amount in the emission amount storage unit (S1607). The management server 200 can also aggregate and output the emission amounts registered in the emission amount storage unit (S1608).

[0262] Figure 17 is a diagram illustrating the process of classifying activities.

[0263] The management server 200 receives activity levels and activity-related items from external sources (S1701). For example, it can accept CSV data uploads from user terminals 100, inputs into forms, and data such as receipts and quotations read and accepted using OCR. The management server 200 vectorizes the received items to create vector information (S1702), and identifies activity identification information corresponding to the items (one or more) that are close in distance from the vectorized vector information among the vector information stored in the vector information storage unit (S1703). The management server 200 also classifies the items that are close in distance from the vectorized vector information (S1704). For example, from the contents described in a quotation, items can be classified into material costs, transportation costs, labor costs, etc.

[0264] If the management server 200 identifies multiple activity-specific information items, it proposes (presents) the activity-specific information corresponding to the classified items to the user via the output unit 240 (S1705). The management server 200 may also allow the user to select one of the multiple activity-specific information items (or accept input of other activity-specific information). Alternatively, if the management server 200 identifies multiple activity-specific information items, it may also propose (present) the emission coefficients corresponding to the activity-specific information to the user via the output unit 240 and allow the user to select one (or accept input of other emission coefficients). The management server 200 reads the emission coefficient corresponding to the selected activity-specific information from the emission coefficient storage unit (S1706) and calculates the emission amount by multiplying the activity amount by the emission coefficient (S1707). The management server 200 registers the calculated emission amount in the emission amount storage unit (S1708). The management server 200 can also aggregate and output the emission amounts registered in the emission amount storage unit (S1709). Furthermore, the management server 200 analyzes and identifies recommended reduction items based on activity levels and presents solutions (S1710). The functions for providing solutions are explained in functions 10 to 15.

[0265] Furthermore, after classifying the items listed in the estimate, the management server 200 presents candidate emission factors (CO2 emission coefficients) to be assigned. For example, when presenting candidates for material costs, it presents candidate emission factors (CO2 emission coefficients) corresponding to typical building materials used in construction work, such as steel frames, reinforcing bars, concrete, glass, and aluminum. Note that the types of emission factors (CO2 emission coefficients) corresponding to building materials may be changed and presented depending on the type of building, or the priority of the presented emission factors (CO2 emission coefficients) may be changed.

[0266] As described above, activity can be estimated from activity level data, and data entry can be made easier. Furthermore, when calculating greenhouse gas emissions using estimates, the man-hours required for classifying the items listed in the estimate and assigning emission intensity to each classified item can be reduced. Therefore, the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry can be made easier.

[0267] In this embodiment, activities are identified based on the distance of vector information, but it is also possible to set vector information as a prompt and provide it to a large-scale language model (LLM) to estimate activities. Alternatively, a learning model can be created using machine learning with items as input data and activity identification information as training data. In this case, the activity estimation unit can provide the received items to the learning model to estimate activity identification information. The output unit 240 can also visualize emissions. Furthermore, the analysis unit 280 can analyze and identify items that should be reduced based on the activity amount and propose reduction solutions. In this embodiment, the activity estimation unit of the management server 200 estimates activity identification information for items related to the activity amount that has been received as input. However, by linking with an API provided by an external server, the activity estimation unit of the management server 200 is configured to estimate activity identification information and emission coefficients (for example, estimating and identifying activities and emission coefficients for each account) based on information related to items related to the activity amount managed by the external server (for example, accounting data account titles are registered in CSV data, etc.). In this way, even for data related to activities before inputting it into the information processing system (for example, information on account titles), it is possible to easily organize the information by estimating activities and emission factors.

[0268] The input unit 220, estimation unit 270, acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, analysis unit 280, and output unit 240 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that has artificial intelligence that learns on its own.

[0269] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the ninth function also includes the following configuration: [Item I1 (P059)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an emission coefficient storage unit that stores emission coefficients for calculating greenhouse gas emissions in association with activity identification information that identifies activities that emit greenhouse gases; an activity amount input unit that accepts input of activity amounts related to the activities and items related to the activity amounts; an activity estimation unit that estimates the activity identification information by machine learning based on the items; and an emission calculation unit that calculates the emissions by multiplying the activity amount by the emission coefficients corresponding to the estimated activity identification information. Item I1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information that identifies the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amounts of the emitters for each base; an activity amount input unit that accepts input of location information and activity amounts from the user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amounts in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified bases. [Item I2] An information processing system as described in item I1, comprising a vector information storage unit that stores a first vector information obtained by vectorizing the item and the activity identification information in association with each other, wherein the activity estimation unit vectorizes the received item to create a second vector information, selects the first vector information according to the distance from the created second vector information, and reads the activity identification information corresponding to the selected first vector information from the vector information storage unit. [Item I3] An information processing system as described in item I2, wherein the activity estimation unit provides a large-scale language model with prompts including the first and second vector information to estimate the activity identification information. [Item I4] An information processing system as described in item I1, comprising a learning model storage unit that stores a learning model created by machine learning using the items and the activity-specific information as training data, and an activity estimation unit that provides the received items to the learning model to estimate the activity-specific information. [Item I5 (P066)] An information processing system comprising: an emission factor storage unit that stores emission factors for calculating greenhouse gas emissions; an activity input unit that accepts input of activity amounts related to activities that emit greenhouse gases (for example, amounts in a quotation) and items related to said activity amounts (for example, items such as material costs and transportation costs in a quotation); an estimation unit that estimates said emission factors by machine learning based on said items; and an emission factor presentation unit that presents the estimated said emission factors. [Item I6] An information processing system as described in item I5, comprising a vector information storage unit that stores in association a first vector information obtained by vectorizing the item and an activity identification information that identifies the activity, wherein the estimation unit vectorizes the received item to create a second vector information, selects the first vector information according to the distance from the created second vector information, and estimates the emission coefficient corresponding to the selected first vector information.

[0270] <<Solution Matching Function (Function 10)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to ninth functions described above will be described in detail below as an embodiment of the tenth function. As background technology, there is a movement to introduce solutions that reduce carbon dioxide. However, there is a challenge in that it is difficult to understand what kinds of solutions are available. The tenth function aims to provide a technology that can support the reduction of greenhouse gases.

[0271] <System Overview> The following describes an example of an information processing system related to the tenth function, which provides solutions using greenhouse gas emissions as an example. This example of an information processing system provides users who are emitters of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, etc.) with information on means of reducing emissions (also called solutions) (hereinafter referred to as solution information). Providers of solutions register the solution information, and users can view this solution information. Users can also contact providers regarding solutions.

[0272] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the 10th function will be explained. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (solution storage unit, user information storage unit, emission information storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (emission information acquisition unit, actual acquisition unit), an analysis unit 280 (extraction unit), an output unit 240 (provision unit), and an execution unit (solution unit) 290 (billing processing unit).

[0273] The solution storage unit constituting the memory unit 230 stores solution information. The solution storage unit can store solution information in association with provider identification information (provider ID) that identifies the provider of the reduction means. The solution information may include cost information for determining the cost of the reduction means and reduction information for determining the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected when the reduction means is adopted. In this example, the solution information may include information for identifying the solution (solution ID), provider ID, solution name, solution description, price, reduction amount, and implementation conditions. The solution name is the name of the reduction means (solution). The solution description is a description of the solution and may include, for example, text data, image data, or audio data. The price may be information for determining the amount involved when the user adopts the solution. The price may be set as a unit price for the unit of solution provided, or as an estimated value of the standard implementation cost. The price may also be specified by a range such as a price range. The reduction amount may be information indicating the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected by introducing the solution. The reduction amount may be set as a standard amount of greenhouse gas reduction per company when the solution is implemented, or as a standard value of the reduction amount per unit when the device is implemented, or as a function that calculates the reduction amount according to various activity levels. The implementation conditions can be set as conditions for the emitter that implements the solution. For example, the implementation conditions can specify the content and amount of the business or activity to which the solution applies. The implementation conditions can also specify the scope and / or category of the reduction to be targeted. The solution storage unit stores not only solution information for environmental information, but also solution information for social information and solution information for governance information.

[0274] The user information storage unit, which constitutes the memory unit 230, stores information about the user (emission entity) (hereinafter referred to as user information). User information may include information that identifies the user (or emission entity) (user ID), the name of the user (or emission entity) (user name), information about the business conducted by the emission entity (business information), and information about the equipment used in connection with the business (equipment information). In addition to user information related to environmental information, the user information storage unit also stores user information related to social information and user information related to governance.

[0275] The emission information storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information regarding greenhouse gas emissions by emitters (hereinafter referred to as emission information). The emission information may include aggregate values ​​of emissions by emitters. The emission information may include attributes of emitters. Attributes of emitters may include the emitter's business, number of employees, region, etc. Furthermore, attributes of emitters may include accounting information such as sales, purchases, and personnel costs. The emission information may include additional information related to emission-related activities. Additional information may include, for example, activity levels (actual values, aggregate values ​​of actual values, predicted values, etc.). Furthermore, additional information may include information for estimating activity levels. Information for estimating activity levels may include, for example, floor area, roof area, and the number of products that can be produced. In this embodiment, the emission information includes information identifying the emitter (e.g., company ID), activity levels, additional information, and emissions. Emissions and activity levels can be aggregate values ​​of emissions and activity levels for a predetermined aggregation period (e.g., year and month) and for each scope and category related to the GHG protocol. The additional information may vary depending on the emitter. The emission information storage unit is the same as the emission storage unit for other functions.

[0276] The emission information acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires emission information. The emission information acquisition unit can receive emission information from the user terminal 100. The emission information acquisition unit may also access other systems to acquire emission information. Furthermore, the management server 200 may include, for example, an emission calculation unit that acquires the activity amount and emission coefficient related to the emitter, and calculates the emission by multiplying the acquired activity amount and emission coefficient. The emission calculation unit can also acquire the emission amount and activity amount, as well as various other information used in calculating the emission, as emission information. In addition to emission information, the acquisition unit 250 also acquires information related to society and information related to governance.

[0277] The extraction unit, which constitutes the analysis unit 280, acquires solution information that matches emission information. The extraction unit can match emission and additional information with solution information. The extraction unit can extract solutions that satisfy the implementation conditions included in the user information and / or emission information of the emission entity. The extraction unit can preferentially extract a predetermined number of scopes and categories from the emission information by scope and category, in descending order of emission levels. For example, it can search for solution information where the emission and / or corresponding additional information related to the said scope and category satisfies the implementation conditions. The extraction unit calculates the unit cost per unit reduction, which is determined based on the reduction amount determined based on the reduction information and the cost determined by the cost information, and can extract a predetermined number of solution information from the solution information that matches the emission information, in order of unit cost. The extraction unit also extracts solution information that matches social information and solution information that matches governance information.

[0278] The supply unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, can provide the extracted solution information to the user.

[0279] The performance acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires information indicating the solution adopted by the emitter and information including the amount of reduction achieved by said solution (hereinafter referred to as performance information). The management server 200 may also be equipped with a performance information storage unit that stores the performance information.

[0280] The billing processing unit, which constitutes the execution unit (solution unit) 290, performs the process of charging providers a fee for using the system (billing). The billing processing unit can charge providers who have provided solutions according to the amount of reduction included in the performance information. The billing processing unit may also charge emitters who have adopted solutions according to the amount of reduction included in the performance information. For example, the billing processing unit may determine the amount of charge so that it is higher when the amount of reduction is large. For example, the billing processing unit may determine the amount of charge so that it is lower when the amount of reduction is large. In addition, the execution unit 290 also performs the processing of solution information related to society and solution information related to governance.

[0281] Figure 18 illustrates the process of providing solution information. The management server 200 obtains solution information from the provider and registers it in the solution storage unit (S1801), and obtains emission information from the emission entity and registers it in the emission information storage unit (S1802). For each piece of emission information, the management server 200 extracts solution information that matches the emission (S1803), and provides the extracted solution information to the emission entity, which is the provider of the emission information (S1804). The management server 200 obtains actual performance information (S1805), and can charge based on the reduction amount included in the actual performance information (S1806).

[0282] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment makes it possible to match solution information with emission entities (emission information).

[0283] By setting conditions for solution information in the emissions information, the management server 200 can narrow down and provide solution information that matches the emissions information and satisfies the conditions of the emissions information.

[0284] The management server 200 can display a list of solution information on the user terminal 100. The management server 200 can also display the list of solution information in the order in which it was registered.

[0285] The management server 200 can manage the solution information viewed by the user terminal 100 and provide the solution information with priority according to the number of views. For example, the management server 200 can display the solution information sorted by the number of views. Furthermore, the management server 200 can send only a predetermined number of solution information items to the user terminal 100 in order of the number of views.

[0286] The management server 200 can display only a portion of the solution information on the user terminal 100, accept the user terminal 100's selection of solution information (by tapping or clicking), and manage whether solution information has been selected. The management server 200 can provide solution information with priority according to the number of selections. For example, the management server 200 can display the solution information sorted by the number of selections. The management server 200 can also send only a predetermined number of solution information items to the user terminal 100 in order of the number of selections.

[0287] The management server 200 can obtain and manage user evaluations of solutions. For example, it can set a list of evaluation values ​​obtained from users and / or aggregated values ​​(e.g., average or total) in the solution information. The management server 200 can provide solution information with priority according to the aggregated evaluation values. For example, the management server 200 can display solution information sorted by evaluation value. The management server 200 can also send only a predetermined number of solution information items to the user terminal 100 in order of evaluation value.

[0288] Furthermore, the management server 200 can prioritize providing solution information if it receives payment of an additional fee from the provider.

[0289] Furthermore, the management server 200 may include an application processing unit that accepts applications for solutions. The management server 200 may also provide users with compensation for applying for solutions.

[0290] Furthermore, the management server 200 can charge the provider a predetermined percentage of the contract fee when the solution is contracted. The management server 200 may also be equipped with a notification unit that notifies the user and / or provider when a contract is concluded.

[0291] The acquisition unit 250, analysis unit 280, output unit 240, and execution unit (solution unit) 290 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that has artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0292] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the 10th function also includes the following configuration: [Item J1 (P039)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires environmental information, social information, and governance information from a user that is an emitter of greenhouse gases, including emission information regarding the greenhouse gas emissions of the emitter; a solution storage unit that stores at least solution information relating to means of reducing greenhouse gases; an extraction unit that extracts the solution information that matches the emission information; and a provision unit that provides the extracted solution information to the user. Item J1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that refers to the base information storage unit and identifies a base based on the location information; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item J2] An information processing system as described in item J1, wherein the solution information has conditions set for the emitter, and the extraction unit extracts emitters that satisfy the conditions included in the solution information. [Item J3] An information processing system as described in item J2, wherein the emission information is accompanied by additional information relating to the emission activities, and the extraction unit matches the emission and the additional information with the solution information. [Item J4] An information processing system as described in item J1, wherein the emission information includes greenhouse gas emissions aggregated for each scope and category related to the GHG protocol, and the extraction unit prioritizes extracting solution information corresponding to the scope and category with high emissions. [Item J5] An information processing system as described in item J1, wherein the solution information includes cost information for determining the cost of the reduction means and reduction information for determining the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected when the reduction means is adopted, and the extraction unit calculates a unit cost per unit reduction amount determined based on the reduction amount determined based on the reduction information and the cost determined by the cost information, and extracts a predetermined number of the solution information that matches the emission information in order of the unit cost. [Item J6] An information processing system as described in item J1, characterized in that the solution information includes an expected reduction amount, and a predetermined number of the solution information is extracted according to the reduction amount. [Item J7] An information processing system as described in item J1, comprising: a performance acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the solution adopted by the emission entity and the amount of reduction achieved by the solution; and a billing processing unit that charges the provider according to the amount of reduction. [Item J8] An information processing system comprising: an emission information acquisition unit that acquires emission information relating to greenhouse gas emissions from an emitting entity that emits greenhouse gases; a solution storage unit that stores solution information including cost information for determining the cost of greenhouse gas reduction means and reduction information for determining the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected when the reduction means are adopted; an extraction unit that extracts a predetermined number of the solution information that matches the emission information in order of unit cost per unit reduction amount determined based on the reduction amount and the cost; and a provision unit that provides the extracted solution information to the emitting entity. [Item J9 (P039)] When dealing with X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights DD), the following applies. The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires X information from a user; a solution storage unit that stores at least solution information relating to means of reducing X information; an extraction unit that extracts solution information that matches the X information; and a provision unit that provides the extracted solution information to the user.

[0293] <<Solution Matching Function (Function 11)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to tenth functions described above will be described in detail below as an embodiment of the eleventh function. As background technology, solutions to reduce carbon dioxide are being introduced. There is a challenge in that it is difficult to understand what kinds of carbon dioxide reduction solutions are available. The purpose of the eleventh function is to provide a technology that can easily understand greenhouse gas reduction solutions, including carbon dioxide, and support the reduction of greenhouse gases.

[0294] <System Overview> The information processing system related to the 11th function will be described below. The information processing system of this embodiment provides users who are emitters of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorocarbons, etc.) with information (hereinafter referred to as solution information) regarding means of reducing emissions (also called solutions). Providers register solution information, and users can view this solution information. Users can also contact providers regarding solutions.

[0295] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the 11th function will be explained. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (solution storage unit, user information storage unit), an output unit 240 (providing unit, user information transmission unit), an input unit 220, an analysis unit 280 (search unit), and an execution unit (solution unit) 290 (billing processing unit).

[0296] The solution storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores solution information. The solution storage unit can store solution information in association with provider identification information (provider ID) that identifies the provider that provides the reduction means. In this embodiment, the solution information may include information for identifying the solution (solution ID), provider ID, solution name, solution description, price, reduction amount, and implementation conditions. The solution name is the name of the reduction means (solution). The solution description is a description of the solution and may include, for example, text data, image data, or audio data. The price may be information for determining the amount involved when a user adopts the solution. The price may be set as a unit price for the unit of solution provided, or as an estimated value of the standard implementation cost. The price may also be specified by a range such as a price range. The reduction amount may be information indicating the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected from the introduction of the solution. The reduction amount may be set as a standard amount of greenhouse gas reduction per company when the solution is introduced, or as a standard value of the reduction amount per unit when the device is introduced, or as a function that calculates the reduction amount according to various activity levels. The implementation conditions can include requirements for the emitters that will implement the solution. These conditions can specify, for example, the type and volume of the business or activities targeted by the solution.

[0297] The user information storage unit, which constitutes the storage unit 230, stores information about the user (the entity that emits waste) (hereinafter referred to as user information). User information may include information that identifies the user (or entity that emits waste) (user ID), the name of the user (or entity that emits waste) (user name), information about the business conducted by the entity that emits waste (business information), and information about the equipment used in connection with that business (equipment information).

[0298] <Functional Section> The providing unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, provides solution information to the user. The providing unit can provide solution information in response to a request from the user terminal 100. For example, the providing unit can read all or part of the solution information stored in the solution storage unit and send it to the user terminal 100. For example, the providing unit can create screen information (which can be written in HTML, for example) to display the solution name, solution description, price, reduction amount, etc. of the solution information, and send the screen information to the user terminal 100. For example, if the management server 200 is calculating and managing the emissions of an emitter, the providing unit may display the solution information along with the output of the emissions.

[0299] The input unit 220 can receive input from the user of solution identification information (e.g., a solution ID) that identifies the solution information. The provision unit can read the solution information indicated by the received solution ID from the solution storage unit and send it to the user terminal 100. For example, the provision unit can display a list of solution names, the input unit 220 can receive a selection of a solution from the list, and the provision unit can provide solution information related to the selected solution. The input unit 220 can also receive input from the user of keywords related to the solution.

[0300] The search unit, which constitutes the analysis unit 280, searches for solution information. The search unit can retrieve solution information from the solution storage unit that matches the keywords received by the input unit 220. For example, the search unit can search for solution information in which the keywords are included in the solution name, solution description, implementation conditions, etc. The search unit can provide the search results to the user (for example, by sending them to the user terminal 100).

[0301] The user information transmission unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, provides user information to the provider. The user information transmission unit can provide the user information of the user to the provider of the solution specified by the user. For example, when the user information transmission unit receives a solution ID from the user terminal 100, it can obtain solution information corresponding to the received solution ID from the solution storage unit and transmit the user information corresponding to the user to the provider indicated by the provider ID included in the obtained solution information. The destination of the user information can be, for example, the management server 200, which is equipped with a provider information storage unit and can manage the contact information of the provider (such as email address and message destination address) associated with the provider ID.

[0302] The billing processing unit, which constitutes the execution unit 290, can process a claim for a referral fee against the provider that provided the user information. The billing processing unit can also process a claim for a listing fee against the provider identified by the provider identification information corresponding to the solution information stored in the solution storage unit.

[0303] <Operation> Figure 19 illustrates the process of providing solution information. The management server 200 reads all or part of the solution information from the solution storage unit and sends a list of solutions based on the read solution information to the user terminal 100 (S1901). The management server 200 can, for example, read only the solution information whose implementation conditions included in the solution information are satisfied by the user information corresponding to the accessing user. The list of solutions may include, for example, a list of solution IDs and solution names. The list of solutions may also include a part of the solution description corresponding to the solution name. The list of solutions may also include the price corresponding to the solution name. The list of solutions may also include the amount of savings corresponding to the solution name. The list of solutions may be provided sorted, for example, by price (e.g., cheapest first). The list of solutions may be provided sorted, for example, by amount of savings (e.g., largest first).

[0304] The management server 200 determines whether or not it has received a keyword from the user terminal 100 (S1902). If it has received a keyword (S1902:YES), it can search the solution storage unit for solution information that matches the keyword and send a list of solutions based on the searched solution information to the user terminal 100 (S1903). On the other hand, if the management server 200 has not received a keyword from the user terminal 100 in S1902 (NO), it proceeds to S1904.

[0305] The management server 200 determines whether it has received a solution specification (e.g., a solution ID) from the user terminal 100 (S1904). If it has received the specification (S1904: YES), it reads the solution information corresponding to the specified solution ID from the solution storage unit (S1905), reads the user information corresponding to the user of the user terminal 100 from the user information storage unit, and can provide the read user information to the provider indicated by the provider ID included in the solution information (S1906). On the other hand, if the management server 200 has not received a solution specification from the user terminal 100 in S1904 (NO), it terminates this process.

[0306] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment makes it possible to inform users about the solutions provided by the provider.

[0307] Furthermore, the management server 200 can visualize emissions by the emitter. For example, the management server 200 can obtain activity levels and emission coefficients, calculate emissions by multiplying the activity levels by the emission coefficients, aggregate the calculated emissions for each scope and category defined in the GHG protocol, create screen information to display the aggregated results, and send it to the user terminal 100. The management server 200 can also create screen information to display a list of solutions along with the aggregated results.

[0308] Furthermore, the operator can analyze the aggregated emissions results described above, input the selection of appropriate solutions (multiple solutions are possible) to reduce these emissions into the management server 200, and transmit the solution information selected by the operator to the user terminal 100.

[0309] The solution information may include the publication date. The management server 200 can sort the list of solutions by publication date. The solution information may also include the last updated date and time. The management server 200 can prioritize including solutions in the list whose last updated date and time fall within a specified period.

[0310] The management server 200 can include the number of times a user has viewed a solution in the solution information. For example, when the management server 200 sends a list of solutions to the user terminal 100, it can increment the number of views included in the solution information for the solutions included in the list. For example, when a user specifies a solution, the management server 200 can increment the number of views for the solution information corresponding to the specified solution. The management server 200 can read a predetermined number of solution information entries in descending order of the number of views and create a solution list. For example, it may display a message such as "Currently viewed by XX users." The management server 200 may also include the number of views of the solution information in the solution list.

[0311] The management server 200 may manage the number of applications for a solution. The management server 200 may send user information to the provider when it receives an application for a solution. The management server 200 may also include an application history storage unit that stores the application history of a solution (information associating the solution ID, user ID, and application date and time). The management server 200 may calculate the number of applications by counting the number of application histories corresponding to the solution for a predetermined period (for example, the past month) and include the number of applications in the list of solutions.

[0312] The management server 200 may manage user reviews and ratings for solutions. The management server 200 receives user reviews (scores, likes, etc.) for solution information viewed from user terminals 100 and stores the received reviews. The management server 200 can prioritize presenting solutions with good reviews to users. For example, it can create a list of solutions sorted by the aggregated value of the user reviews. The management server 200 may also allow users to specify multiple (even just two) solution options and display the specified solution options for comparison.

[0313] The management server 200 may manage the user's browsing history and output solutions stored as browsing history or application history in a batch.

[0314] The implementation criteria for solution information can include specifying industry and location. In this case, solutions tailored to the user's industry and location can be presented to the user.

[0315] The management server 200 can manage multiple companies with which it has capital relationships. The management server 200 can identify providers with which the user has a capital relationship, extract solution information related to the identified providers, and provide it to the user. Alternatively, the solution information of providers with which the user has a capital relationship may be displayed in a lower priority.

[0316] The solution information may include a specification of how the solution information is displayed. The management server 200 may prioritize displaying solution information related to providers who pay an additional fee. The management server 200 may reward users who apply for a solution through the management server 200. When a solution agreement is reached between a user and a provider, the management server 200 may charge the provider a predetermined percentage of the agreement amount. When a solution agreement is reached between a user and a provider, the management server 200 may send a message to the operator of the information processing system indicating that the agreement has been reached.

[0317] The output unit 240, input unit 220, analysis unit 280, output unit 240, and execution unit 290 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that has artificial intelligence that learns on its own.

[0318] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the 11th function also includes the following configuration: [Item K1 (P037)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: a storage unit for storing solution information relating to means of reducing greenhouse gases; and a provision unit for providing the solution information to emitters that emit greenhouse gases. Item K1 comprises: a base information storage unit for storing information that identifies the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") of a greenhouse gas emitter; an activity amount storage unit for storing the amount of activity by the emitter at each base; an activity amount input unit for receiving location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit for identifying a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit for registering the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item K2] An information processing system as described in item K1, comprising: an input unit that receives keyword input from the output entity; and a search unit that searches the storage unit for solution information that matches the keyword and provides the search results to the output entity. [Item K3] An information processing system as described in item K1, wherein the storage unit stores the solution information in association with provider identification information that identifies the provider that provides the reduction means, and includes an input unit that receives input of solution identification information that identifies the solution information from the emitter, and an information transmission unit that acquires provider identification information from the storage unit that corresponds to the solution information identified by the solution identification information, and transmits information relating to the emitter to the provider identified by the acquired provider identification information. [Item K4] An information processing system as described in item K3, characterized in that it includes a billing processing unit that processes a billing fee for the provider that transmitted the information relating to the emitter. [Item K5] An information processing system as described in item K1, wherein the storage unit stores the solution information in association with provider identification information that identifies the provider that provides the reduction means, and the storage unit includes a billing processing unit that performs billing for listing fees to the provider identified by the provider identification information corresponding to the solution information stored in the storage unit. [Item K6 (P037)] When dealing with X information other than greenhouse gas emissions (for example, emissions of hazardous substances in E2 or working hours in human rights DD), the following applies. The same may apply to items subordinate to this item. An information processing system characterized by comprising a storage unit that stores solution information related to means of reducing X information, and a provision unit that provides solution information to the business entity of the X information.

[0319] <<Solution Matching Function (Function 12)>> Next, although some of these have been explained in the embodiments described above, an example of a configuration that can be further applied to the embodiments of the first to eleventh functions described above will be described in detail below as an embodiment of the twelfth function. As background technology, there is a need to introduce solutions to reduce carbon dioxide. However, there is a challenge in that it is difficult to understand what kinds of solutions are available. The purpose of the twelfth function is to provide a technology that can support the reduction of greenhouse gases.

[0320] <System Overview> The following describes the information processing system related to the 12th function. The information processing system of this embodiment provides users who are emitters of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, fluorocarbons, etc.) with information on means of reducing emissions (also called solutions) (hereinafter referred to as solution information). Users register information on the emissions of the emitter and receive proposals for solution information suitable for the emitter from solution providers, which are then provided to the user.

[0321] Using Figure 3, an example of the software configuration of the management server 200 in the 12th function will be explained. The management server 200 comprises a storage unit 230 (emissions information storage unit, recipient storage unit, performance information storage unit), an acquisition unit 250 (emissions information acquisition unit, solution information acquisition unit, execution information acquisition unit, advice acquisition unit), an output unit 240 (emissions information provision unit, solution information provision unit, execution information provision unit, advice provision unit), a calculation unit 210 (reduction amount calculation unit), and an execution unit (solution unit) 290 (billing processing unit).

[0322] The emission information storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information regarding greenhouse gas emissions by emitters (hereinafter referred to as emission information). The emission information may include aggregate values ​​of emissions by emitters. The emission information may include attributes of emitters. Attributes of emitters may include the emitter's business, number of employees, region, etc. Furthermore, attributes of emitters may include accounting information such as sales, purchases, and personnel costs. The emission information may include additional information related to emission-related activities. Additional information may include, for example, activity levels (actual values, aggregate values ​​of actual values, predicted values, etc.). Furthermore, additional information may include information for estimating activity levels. Information for estimating activity levels may include, for example, floor area, roof area, and the number of products that can be produced. In this embodiment, the emission information includes information identifying the emitter (e.g., company ID), activity levels, additional information, and emissions. Emissions and activity levels can be aggregate values ​​of emissions and activity levels for a predetermined aggregation period (e.g., year and month) and for each scope and category related to the GHG protocol. The additional information may vary depending on the emitter.

[0323] The recipient storage unit constituting the storage unit 230 stores information (hereinafter referred to as "recipient information") that includes information identifying providers capable of providing emission information for each emission entity. The recipient information may include information identifying the emission entity (e.g., company ID) and information identifying the provider (e.g., provider ID). In addition, different disclosure scopes can be specified for each recipient of the recipient information. For example, the recipient information may include a provider ID that identifies the recipient provider and the scope of disclosure of emission information for that provider ID, in association with each other.

[0324] The performance information storage unit constituting the memory unit 230 stores information including greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter referred to as performance information) for each emitter. The performance information may include information identifying the emitter (for example, a company ID) and actual values ​​of greenhouse gas emissions. The actual values ​​may be aggregate values ​​of emissions for a predetermined aggregation period (for example, year and month) and for each scope related to the GHG protocol (for Scope 3, the scope and category).

[0325] <Functional Section> The emission information acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires emission information. The emission information acquisition unit can receive emission information from the user terminal 100. The emission information acquisition unit may also access other systems to acquire emission information. Furthermore, the management server 200 may include, for example, an emission calculation unit that acquires the activity amount and emission coefficient related to the emitter, and calculates the emission amount by multiplying the acquired activity amount and emission coefficient. The emission calculation unit can also acquire the calculated emission amount and various information used in calculating the emission, such as the activity amount, as emission information.

[0326] The emissions information acquisition unit can acquire emissions information relating to emissions before the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures (hereinafter referred to as "pre-implementation emissions") and register it in the emissions storage unit, and can acquire emissions information relating to emissions after the implementation of reduction measures (hereinafter referred to as "post-implementation emissions") and register the actual information including the acquired emissions in the actual information storage unit.

[0327] The emissions information provision unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, provides emissions information to providers. The emissions information provision unit may provide emissions information to all providers, or it may provide emissions information depending on the provider that sent the request. It is also possible for the emitter to control the recipients of the emissions information. If recipient information corresponding to the company ID included in the emissions information is registered in the recipient storage unit, the emissions information provision unit may provide the emissions only to the providers specified in that recipient information. Furthermore, if the emissions information has a specified disclosure scope, the emissions information provision unit may provide only the disclosure scope of the emissions information.

[0328] The solution information acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires information on reduction measures (hereinafter referred to as solution information) from the provider. The solution information may include cost information for determining the cost of the reduction measures and reduction information for determining the amount of greenhouse gas reduction expected if the reduction measures are adopted. The solution information may also include, for example, information identifying the name, description, implementation method, and types of greenhouse gases that can be reduced of the reduction measures.

[0329] The solution information provision unit constituting the output unit 240 can provide solution information to the user (by transmitting it to the user terminal 100). The solution information provision unit may transmit the acquired solution information to the user terminal 100 each time it acquires solution information, or the management server 200 may be provided with a solution information storage unit that stores the acquired solution information for each distributing entity (e.g., company ID) over a predetermined period, and the solution information provided may be one or more solution information stored in the solution information storage unit.

[0330] Furthermore, when the Solution Information Provision Unit provides multiple solution information for a single emitter, it can provide the solution information with priority according to the reduction information included in the solution information. For example, the Solution Information Provision Unit can provide a list of solution information sorted in order of the amount of reduction determined based on the reduction information (e.g., from largest to smallest). Alternatively, the Solution Information Provision Unit may provide only a predetermined number of solution information in order of the determined amount of reduction. Alternatively, the Solution Information Provision Unit can provide a list of solution information sorted in order of cost determined by cost information (e.g., from smallest to largest). Furthermore, the Solution Information Provision Unit can calculate the unit cost per unit reduction from the amount of reduction based on the reduction information and the cost based on the cost information, and provide solution information with this unit cost attached, providing solution information sorted in order of unit cost (e.g., from smallest to largest), or providing only a predetermined number of solution information in order of unit cost.

[0331] The execution information acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, acquires execution information indicating the status of the emission reduction measures implemented by the emission entity. The execution information may include information for identifying the emission entity (e.g., company ID) and information for identifying the reduction amount (actual value and / or predicted value). In this embodiment, the execution information is assumed to be actual information, and the reduction amount is calculated based on the actual information at multiple points in time.

[0332] The execution information providing unit constituting the output unit 240 can provide execution information to the provider of the reduction means. The execution information providing unit can, for example, transmit the execution information to the provider's user terminal 100. In this embodiment, the execution information provided is performance information before and after the execution of the reduction means. If destination information is registered in the destination storage unit, the execution information providing unit can transmit the execution information (performance information) only to the providers specified in the destination information.

[0333] The advice acquisition unit, which constitutes the acquisition unit 250, can acquire advice from the provider in accordance with the execution information. For example, the advice acquisition unit can receive advice information regarding the execution information from the provider's user terminal 100. The advice information may include, for example, text data or image data.

[0334] The advice provision unit, which constitutes the output unit 240, can transmit advice information to the user who is the source of the information.

[0335] The reduction calculation unit, which constitutes the calculation unit 210, estimates the amount of greenhouse gas reduction resulting from the adoption of the solution based on the pre-implementation emissions and post-implementation emissions stored in the actual information storage unit. The reduction calculation unit can calculate an estimated reduction by subtracting the pre-implementation emissions from the post-implementation emissions. The reduction calculation unit can also provide the estimated reduction to the provider and / or the user. The advice acquisition unit can obtain advice information about this reduction from the provider's user terminal 100 and transmit it to the user terminal 100 of the user who is the emitter.

[0336] The billing processing unit constituting the execution unit 290 can perform the process of imposing system usage fees on providers (billing). The billing processing unit can charge providers according to the amount of reduction. For example, the billing processing unit may periodically charge a registration fee to providers that can receive emission information.

[0337] <Operation> Figure 20 illustrates the process of providing solution information. The management server 200 receives destination information from the user terminal 100 and registers it in the destination storage unit (S2001). The management server 200 receives emission information from the user terminal 100 (S2002). The management server 200 can store the emission information in memory 202 or storage device 203 for a predetermined period.

[0338] The management server 200 determines whether the recipient information corresponding to the company ID indicating the user's emitter is registered in the recipient storage unit (S2003). If it is registered (S2003: YES), it transmits the emission information only to the providers specified in the recipient information (S2004). If a disclosure scope is set in the recipient information, the management server 200 can only provide the emissions that fall within the disclosure scope. On the other hand, if the recipient information is not registered in the recipient storage unit in S2003 (NO), the management server 200 transmits the emission information to all or some of the providers (S2005). Next, the management server 200 receives solution information input from the providers that provided the emission information (S2006) and transmits the received solution information to the user terminal 100 (S2007).

[0339] In this way, the emitter's greenhouse gas emission status can be provided to the provider, and solution information regarding reduction measures can be provided from the provider to the emitter's users.

[0340] Figure 21 illustrates the process for managing the execution status of the reduction measures. The management server 200 obtains performance information before and after the execution of the reduction measures from the user terminal 100 and registers it in the performance information storage unit (S2101). Performance information can also be obtained from the user terminal 100 during the execution of the reduction measures. The management server 200 provides the performance information before and after execution to the provider specified in the recipient information (S2102). The management server 200 receives advice information from the user terminal 100 of the provider that provided the execution information (S2103) and transmits the received advice information to the user terminal 100 of the user who is the primary emitter (S2104). The management server 200 can also estimate the reduction target of the solution based on the performance information before and after the execution of the reduction measures, for example, by subtracting the post-execution emission amount from the pre-execution emission amount (S2105). The management server 200 can transmit the estimated reduction amount to the user and / or the provider specified in the recipient information (S2106).

[0341] As described above, the information processing system of this embodiment can provide emission information regarding the emissions of an emission entity to a provider, and can also obtain information from the provider regarding reduction methods (solutions) for reducing those emissions, and transmit this information to the user terminal 100.

[0342] In the above embodiment, the destination storage unit manages providers who can provide emission information, but it may also manage providers who are prohibited from providing emission information. In this case, the emission information provision unit and the performance information provision unit may refrain from providing emission information and performance information to providers identified by the destination information.

[0343] <How to display user visualization data> Furthermore, the management server 200 can prioritize the display of new solution information on the user terminal 100. The management server 200 may also prioritize the display of updated solution information. The management server 200 can also change the priority of emission information and / or solution information according to the industry, location, capital structure, and listing status of the emitter and / or provider. The management server 200 can also prioritize the display of solution information from providers with capital relationships with the emitter. The management server 200 can also receive solution information from providers, match the solution information with emission information, and prioritize providing providers with emission information that matches the solution most closely. The management server 200 can also display the emitter's reduction targets and actual results. Furthermore, the management server 200 can accept the emitter's specification of the scope and / or category they wish to reduce from the emission information, and highlight items related to the emitter's desired scope and / or category for providers. Furthermore, the management server 200 can highlight categories that the user wishes to reduce on the provider's user terminal 100. The management server 200 can also be equipped with a provision history storage unit that stores the provision history of emission information, and allow the user to view the provision history. The management server 200 may also manage when a provider "likes" an emission entity, and provide emission information only to providers that have been "liked". In addition, the management server 200 can include the user's preferred provider industry and solution type in the recipient information, and provide the user only with solution information related to providers and solutions that match the user's preferences.

[0344] <Screening of visualized data by the provider> Furthermore, the management server 200 can narrow down emission information to match conditions such as the industry, location, capital structure, listing status, and financial information of the emitter, according to the provider's specifications. The management server 200 can also include a type in the emission information, accept type specifications from the provider, and provide emission information corresponding to the accepted type. The management server 200 may also narrow down emission information according to the user's registration date or the registration or update date of the emission information, according to the provider's specifications. The management server 200 may also accept keyword specifications from the provider and search for emission information that matches the accepted keywords.

[0345] <Solution proposals from the provider> Furthermore, when the management server 200 receives a request from the user terminal 100 indicating a desire for solution suggestions, it can set a tag in the emissions information indicating a desire for solution suggestions. The management server 200 can then display the emissions information corresponding to the tag to the provider. The management server 200 may also be equipped with a function for sending and receiving messages between users, and may enable direct messaging between the provider and the user. In this case, the management server 200 can set an upper limit on the number of direct messages that can be sent, and may increase the upper limit when billing is initiated. The management server 200 may also prevent the provider from viewing all of the emissions information, and the operator of the management server 200 may mediate communication between the provider and / or the user. The management server 200 may also be equipped with a function to add suggestions such as discounts or additional services to the solution information and send them to the user terminal 100. In this case, the above suggestions can be specified by the provider's user terminal 100. Furthermore, the management server 200 may be equipped with an evaluation value storage unit that accepts evaluation values ​​from users for solutions and / or providers and stores the evaluation values ​​for each solution and / or provider. The management server 200 may also aggregate the evaluation values ​​and attach the aggregated evaluation values ​​to the solution information. Furthermore, the management server 200 may be equipped with an evaluation value storage unit that accepts evaluation values ​​from providers for users and stores the evaluation values ​​for each user. The management server 200 may also aggregate the evaluation values ​​from solutions and / or providers and attach the aggregated evaluation values ​​to the solution information.

[0346] <Display the number of viewers of the visualized data to the user.> Furthermore, the management server 200 can provide users with information on the number of emissions data points provided to providers, as well as information on the viewing status, such as, "Provider X viewed your data."

[0347] The output unit 240, acquisition unit 250, calculation unit 210, and execution unit 290 of the management server 200 may be executed by a system (mechanical system) that possesses artificial intelligence capable of learning on its own.

[0348] <Disclosure Items> Furthermore, the 12th function also includes the following configuration: [Item L1 (P038)] An information processing system characterized by comprising: an emission information acquisition unit that acquires emission information relating to greenhouse gas emissions by an emitter from a user that emits greenhouse gases; an emission information provision unit that provides the emission information to a provider that provides greenhouse gas reduction means; a solution information acquisition unit that acquires solution information relating to the reduction means from the provider; and a solution information provision unit that provides the solution information to the user. Item L1 comprises: a base information storage unit that stores information identifying the location of each business entity (hereinafter referred to as "base") that emits greenhouse gases; an activity amount storage unit that stores the activity amount by the emitter for each base; an activity amount input unit that receives location information and activity amount input from a user's mobile terminal; a base identification unit that identifies a base based on the location information by referring to the base information storage unit; and a registration unit that registers the input activity amount in the activity amount storage unit in association with the identified base. [Item L2] An information processing system as described in item L1, comprising a destination storage unit that manages information identifying the provider that provides the emission information in association with the emission entity,...

Claims

1. A storage unit that stores the type of activity and the emission factor for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions related to the said activity in association with each other, An acquisition unit that acquires the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity from the storage unit, An emission calculation unit that calculates the emission amount based on the emission factor and activity level, When the activity amount consists of multiple activities, an input unit is provided that allows input of values ​​related to each of the activities. An information processing system characterized by comprising the following features.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1, If the activity amount consists of at least a first activity and a second activity, the input unit allows input of a fixed value for the first activity and a variable value for the second activity. An information processing system characterized by the following.

3. The steps include storing in a memory unit the type of activity and the emission factor for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions related to the said activity in association with each other, A step of obtaining the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity from the storage unit, A step of calculating the emissions based on the emission factor and activity level, When the activity amount consists of multiple activities, the step of inputting a value for each of the activities, An information processing method characterized by a computer executing the following.

4. The steps include storing in a memory unit the type of activity and the emission factor for calculating the greenhouse gas emissions related to the said activity in association with each other, A step of obtaining the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity from the storage unit, A step of calculating the emissions based on the emission factor and activity level, When the activity amount consists of multiple activities, the step of inputting a value for each of the activities, A program that causes a computer to execute something.

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