Information Processing System

Abstract

To provide an information processing system capable of supporting derivation of an emission amount in Scope 3 Standard prescribed by greenhouse gas protocols in an emission amount of a supply chain of an enterprise.SOLUTION: In an information processing system 10, an information processing device 18 is configured to: store a unit emission amount which is a GHG emission amount per sale proceeds of each affiliated store about a plurality of affiliated stores of credit cards; acquire, from a credit card company 16, settlement data relating to purchase of products or services for which company corporate cards are used, and including information and a purchase amount on affiliated stores which have sold products or services; derive a GHG emission amount relating to purchase on the basis of unit emission amounts and purchase amounts on affiliated stores indicated by the settlement data; and provide a company device 12 with GHG emission amount information relating to purchase.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to data processing technology, and more particularly to information processing systems. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, emphasis has been placed on ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) investment, which considers not only the size of a company's profits but also the process (in other words, the business) through which those profits were generated when making investment decisions in a company (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-109936 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the future, it is expected that the supply chain emissions of each company will become important as an evaluation criterion for companies to invest in. Supply chain emissions are not just the emissions of the company (business operator) itself, but the total amount of emissions related to business activities, in other words, the amount of greenhouse gases (Green House Gas, hereafter referred to as "GHG") emitted from the entire process, including raw material procurement, manufacturing, logistics, sales, and disposal.

[0005] Supply chain emissions are the sum of Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 is direct GHG emissions by the company (business) itself (for example, fuel combustion or industrial processes). Scope 2 is indirect emissions associated with the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies. Scope 3 is indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 2, in other words, emissions from other companies related to the activities of the company (business).

[0006] In the future, companies will be required to properly disclose their supply chain emissions, but Scope 3 emissions, which are part of the supply chain emissions, are more difficult to measure than Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and many companies are currently unable to disclose their Scope 3 emissions.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made based on the inventor's recognition of the above problem, and one objective is to provide a technology that supports the derivation of Scope 3 emissions in a company's supply chain emissions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, an information processing system of one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a memory unit that stores unit emissions, which are the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per unit sales amount, for each of a plurality of credit card affiliated stores; a first acquisition unit that acquires from a credit card company's device payment data related to the purchase of a good or service using a company's corporate card, the payment data including information about the affiliated store that sold the good or service and the purchase amount; a derivation unit that derives greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount for the affiliated store indicated by the payment data and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data, which are stored in the memory unit; and an information provision unit that provides information related to greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase to the company.

[0009] Another aspect of the present disclosure is also an information processing system, which includes a storage unit that stores unit emissions, which are greenhouse gas emissions per unit purchase amount, for each of a plurality of products or services that can be purchased using a corporate card of a company, a first acquisition unit that acquires identification information and purchase amounts of the products or services purchased using the corporate card from a device of an affiliated store that sold the products or services or a device of a credit card company, a derivation unit that derives greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase based on the unit emissions related to the purchased products or services and the purchase amounts of the purchased products or services stored in the storage unit, and an information provision unit that provides information related to greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase to the company.

[0010] Any combination of the above components, or any conversion of the present disclosure into an apparatus, method, computer program, or recording medium storing a computer program, is also valid as an aspect of the present disclosure. Effect of the Invention

[0011] This disclosure can assist companies in deriving Scope 3 emissions in their supply chain emissions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1(a)] This is a diagram showing multiple categories in the Scope 3 standard defined by the GHG Protocol. [Figure 1(b)] This is a diagram showing multiple categories in the Scope 3 standard defined by the GHG Protocol. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of payment data. [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing functional blocks included in an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment; [Diagram 5]FIG. 5(a) is a diagram showing the configuration of the affiliated store master data, and FIG. 5(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of the unit emission amount master data. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to a modified example. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing functional blocks included in an information processing device according to a modified example. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of sales data. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing functional blocks included in an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11(a) is a diagram showing the configuration of product / service master data, and FIG. 11(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of unit emission amount master data. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] The subject of the device or method in the present disclosure includes a computer. The computer executes a computer program to realize the function of the subject of the device or method in the present disclosure. The computer includes a processor that operates according to a computer program as a main hardware configuration. The type of processor is not important as long as the function can be realized by executing the computer program. The processor is composed of one or more electronic circuits including a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC, LSI, etc.). The computer program is recorded on a non-transitory recording medium such as a computer-readable ROM, an optical disk, or a hard disk drive. The computer program may be stored in the recording medium in advance, or may be supplied to the recording medium via a wide area communication network including the Internet.

[0014] An outline of the embodiment will be described. In the future, it is expected that the supply chain emissions of each company will become important as an evaluation criterion for companies to be invested in. Supply chain emissions are the sum of Scope 1 emissions, Scope 2 emissions, and Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions are more difficult to measure than Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and currently many companies are unable to disclose their Scope 3 emissions. Therefore, in the embodiment, a technology is proposed that supports the derivation of scope 3 emissions in a company's supply chain emissions.

[0015] The Scope 3 Standard defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) classifies Scope 3 into 15 categories. Figures 1(a) and 1(b) show multiple categories in the Scope 3 Standard defined by the GHG Protocol. The information processing system of the embodiment mainly supports the derivation of GHG emissions of categories 1, 6, and 7 in the Scope 3 Standard. Categories 1, 6, and 7 can also be said to be GHG emissions due to employee activities and purchases.

[0016] The details of the embodiment will now be described. <First Example> 2 shows the configuration of an information processing system 10 according to the first embodiment. The information processing system 10 according to the first embodiment includes a company device 12, a payment terminal 14, a credit card company device 16, and an information processing device 18. These devices are connected via a communication network such as a LAN, a WAN, or the Internet.

[0017] The corporate device 12 is an information processing device installed in a company that uses corporate cards. Employees of this company use their company's corporate cards to purchase goods and services from credit card member stores. A corporate card is a credit card used to settle company expenses such as business trip expenses and entertainment expenses, and is a credit card that is designated as the withdrawal destination for payments to the company's bank account.

[0018] The payment terminal 14 is a credit card payment terminal installed in a credit card affiliated store that sells products or services to a company. The payment terminal 14 may be a CAT (Credit Authorization Terminal) or a CCT (Credit Center Terminal). An affiliated store is a retail store or the like that has signed an affiliated store contract with a credit card company. The credit card company device 16 is an information processing device installed in the credit card company.

[0019] When a product or service is purchased with a corporate card, the payment terminal 14 of the affiliated store transmits payment data relating to the purchase to the credit card company device 16. The credit card company device 16 stores the payment data transmitted from the payment terminal 14, and also executes payment processing based on the payment data. If the affiliated store is a mail-order business, the server of the affiliated store that provides mail-order services to the corporate device 12 may transmit the payment data relating to the purchase to the credit card company device 16. The information processing device 18 provides the company with a service that derives GHG emissions relating to the purchase of the product or service based on the payment data provided by the credit card company device 16.

[0020] Figure 3 shows the structure of payment data. Payment data includes multiple items such as payment ID, date and time, user, card number, affiliated store ID, and purchase amount. A unique ID is set for each payment in the "payment ID" item. The payment ID can also be thought of as a unique ID for each transaction of goods or services. The date and time when the goods or services were purchased is set in the "date and time" item.

[0021] The "User" field contains the identification information of the user (the company in Figure 1) who used the corporate card to purchase the product or service. The "Card Number" field contains the credit card number of the corporate card used for the purchase. The "Member Store ID" field contains a unique ID for each member store. The "Purchase Amount" field contains the purchase amount of the product or service.

[0022] Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing functional blocks of the information processing device 18 of the first embodiment. Each block shown in the block diagram in this specification can be realized in hardware by elements such as a computer processor, CPU, and memory, electronic circuits, and mechanical devices, and in software by a computer program, etc., but here, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are depicted. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by combining hardware and software. The functions of the multiple blocks shown in Fig. 4 may be implemented in one computer, or may be distributed and implemented in multiple computers.

[0023] The information processing device 18 includes a control unit 20, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 24. The control unit 20 executes various data processing operations. The storage unit 22 stores data referenced or updated by the control unit 20. The communication unit 24 communicates with external devices according to a predetermined communication protocol. The control unit 20 transmits and receives data to and from the corporate device 12 and the credit card company device 16 via the communication unit 24.

[0024] The storage unit 22 includes a master data storage unit 26. The master data storage unit 26 stores unit emissions, which are GHG emissions per unit sales amount for each of a plurality of member stores of a credit card. The unit emissions may be data such as GHG emissions of 10 g / yen, for example.

[0025] Specifically, the master data storage unit 26 stores franchise master data and unit emission amount master data. Fig. 5(a) shows the configuration of the franchise master data. The franchise master data is data that associates IDs of multiple franchisees with identification information of the sector (in other words, the business type) to which each franchisee belongs. The franchise sector may be, for example, an airline, a railway, a home appliance retailer, etc.

[0026] Figure 5(b) shows the configuration of the unit emission master data. The unit emission master data is data that associates multiple franchise sectors with the unit GHG emission amount in each franchise sector. The unit emission amount in each franchise sector may be derived by dividing the average value of the GHG emission amount published by multiple franchisees belonging to each franchise sector by the average value of the sales amount of the multiple franchisees.

[0027] Returning to Fig. 4, the control unit 20 includes a payment data acquisition unit 30, an emission amount derivation unit 32, and an information provision unit 34. A computer program in which the functions of these multiple functional blocks are implemented may be stored in a recording medium and installed in the storage of the information processing device 18 via the recording medium. Alternatively, the computer program may be downloaded via a communication network and installed in the storage of the information processing device 18. The CPU of the information processing device 18 may fulfill the functions of the multiple blocks by reading the computer program into a main memory and executing it.

[0028] The payment data acquisition unit 30, as a first acquisition unit, acquires payment data related to the purchase of a product or service using a corporate card of a company from the credit card company device 16. As described above in relation to Fig. 3, the payment data includes information about the affiliated store that sold the product or service and the purchase amount of the product or service.

[0029] The emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the company's purchase based on the unit emission amount related to the affiliated store indicated by the payment data and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data, both stored in the master data storage unit 26. The information providing unit 34 provides the corporate device 12 with information related to the GHG emission amount related to the company's purchase derived by the emission amount derivation unit 32 (hereinafter also referred to as "GHG emission information").

[0030] The operation of the information processing system 10 of the first embodiment configured as above will be described with reference to FIG. An employee of a company uses his / her company's corporate card to purchase a product or service sold by an affiliated store. The affiliated store's payment terminal 14 transmits payment data related to the purchase to the credit card company device 16. The credit card company device 16 accumulates the payment data transmitted from the payment terminal 14. The payment data acquisition unit 30 of the information processing device 18 accesses the credit card company device 16 at a predetermined GHG emission derivation timing and acquires the payment data related to the company's purchases. For example, the payment data acquisition unit 30 may periodically acquire one or more payment data related to purchases in a certain month from the credit card company device 16 once a month.

[0031] The emission amount derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 refers to the member store master data in the master data storage unit 26, and identifies the member store sector associated with the ID of the member store (herein also referred to as the "target member store") indicated by the payment data acquired by the payment data acquisition unit 30. The emission amount derivation unit 32 refers to the unit emission amount master data in the master data storage unit 26, and identifies the unit emission amount associated with the identified member store sector as the unit emission amount of the target member store. The emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the result of accumulating the unit emission amount of the target member store and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data, as the GHG emission amount related to the purchase indicated by the payment data.

[0032] When the payment data acquisition unit 30 acquires multiple payment data related to multiple purchases in a certain month, the emission derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount for each payment data. The emission derivation unit 32 sums up the GHG emission amount for each payment data, and derives the total value as the GHG emission amount generated in the entire purchasing activity in the certain month. The GHG emission amount may be a value of "XX t (tons)", for example.

[0033] The information providing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 transmits GHG emission information indicating the GHG emission amount derived by the emission derivation unit 32 as GHG emission amount based on the Scope 3 standard in the GHG Protocol to the corporate device 12. The information processing system 10 of the first embodiment can help derive the Scope 3 emission amount in the supply chain emission amount of a company based on the purchase record of goods or services using the company's corporate card. For example, it can help a company understand and publish its own Scope 3 emission amount.

[0034] The present disclosure has been described above based on the first embodiment. The contents described in the first embodiment are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the components and processing steps of the first embodiment, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0035] Modifications 1-1, 1-2, and 1-3 of the first embodiment will be described. Variation 1-1: In the first embodiment, the unit GHG emission amount is determined for each franchisee sector (in other words, business type), but as a modified example, the unit GHG emission amount may be determined for at least some of the franchisees. In this case, the master data storage unit 26 of the information processing device 18 may store the unit emission amount for each franchisee sector, and may further store the unit emission amount of the franchisee itself for at least some of the franchisees. For example, the franchisee master data in the master data storage unit 26 may record the franchisee sector in association with the franchisee ID, and optionally the unit emission amount of the franchisee itself. The unit emission amount of the franchisee itself may be derived by dividing the GHG emission amount published by the franchisee by the sales amount of the franchisee.

[0036] The emission derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 may derive the GHG emission related to the purchase indicated by the payment data for the member store indicated by the payment data, using the unit emission of the member store itself, if the unit emission of the member store indicated by the payment data is recorded in the member store master data. On the other hand, for the member store indicated by the payment data, if the unit emission of the member store itself is not recorded in the member store master data, the emission derivation unit 32 may derive the GHG emission related to the purchase indicated by the payment data, using the unit emission of the member store sector to which the member store belongs, as described in the first embodiment. According to this embodiment, the Scope 3 emission in the supply chain emission of the company can be derived with more accuracy. Also, an incentive can be given to the member store to reduce GHG emission so that the member store is selected by the company.

[0037] Variation 1-2: 6 shows the configuration of a modified information processing system 10. In the modified information processing system 10, greenhouse gas emissions related to purchases are classified into one of multiple categories in the Scope 3 standard defined by the GHG Protocol, based on accounting data held by a company using a corporate card.

[0038] Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing functional blocks included in the information processing device 18 of the modified example. In addition to the functional blocks shown in Fig. 4, the information processing device 18 of the modified example further includes an accounting data acquisition unit 38. The accounting data acquisition unit 38, as a second acquisition unit, acquires corporate accounting data (e.g., management accounting data) related to the purchase of goods or services using a corporate card from the corporate device 12 (e.g., a corporate accounting system).

[0039] For example, the accounting data acquisition unit 38 extracts data that can uniquely identify a purchase of a product or service using a corporate card (e.g., a combination of a payment ID, date and time, card number, affiliated store ID, and purchase amount, etc.) from the payment data. The accounting data acquisition unit 38 may use the extracted data as a key to request and acquire accounting data related to the purchase identified by the extracted data from the corporate device 12. The accounting data includes account headings related to the purchase of a product or service using a corporate card (e.g., travel expenses, commuting allowance, tools, equipment, and fixtures, etc.).

[0040] The emission amount derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 classifies the GHG emissions related to purchases into one of a plurality of categories (15 categories shown in Fig. 1(a) and Fig. 1(b)) in the Scope 3 Standard defined by the GHG Protocol, based on the accounting data acquired by the accounting data acquisition unit 38. Specifically, the emission amount derivation unit 32 classifies the GHG emissions related to purchases indicated by certain payment data into one of the categories in the Scope 3 Standard, based on the account title indicated by the accounting data related to the purchase.

[0041] For example, if the account name is "Travel expenses", GHG emissions related to purchasing may be classified as category 6 (business trips). If the account name is "Commuting allowance", GHG emissions related to purchasing may be classified as category 7 (employee commuting). If the account name is neither "Travel expenses" nor "Commuting allowance", GHG emissions related to purchasing may be classified as category 1 (purchased products and services).

[0042] The information providing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 transmits to the corporate device 12 GHG emission information that associates the GHG emissions related to purchasing derived by the emission derivation unit 32 with the specific category of the Scope 3 Standard classified by the emission derivation unit 32. According to the information processing system 10 of this modified example, the category of the Scope 3 Standard to which the GHG emissions related to purchasing belong can be presented to the company, thereby more effectively supporting the management of GHG emissions in the company.

[0043] In addition, when the emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount based on each of the multiple payment data, the emission amount derivation unit 32 may sum up the GHG emission amount based on each of the multiple payment data by category. For example, the emission amount derivation unit 32 may derive the GHG emission amount (total value) for each of category 1, category 6, and category 7 of the Scope 3 standard. The information provision unit 34 may transmit GHG emission information indicating the GHG emission amount (total value) for each of category 1, category 6, and category 7 of the Scope 3 standard to the corporate device 12.

[0044] Variation 1-3: The master data storage unit 26 of the information processing device 18 may store the category of the Scope 3 Standard for each franchisee and / or the category of the Scope 3 Standard for each franchisee sector. When deriving GHG emissions related to a purchase at a franchisee, if a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard for each franchisee is associated with the franchisee, the emission amount derivation unit 32 may classify the derived GHG emissions into a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard associated with the franchisee. On the other hand, when deriving GHG emissions related to a purchase at a franchisee, if a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard for each franchisee is not associated with the franchisee, the emission amount derivation unit 32 may classify the derived GHG emissions into a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard associated with the franchisee sector to which the franchisee belongs. The information processing system 10 of this modification also has the same effect as the above modification 1-2.

[0045] <Second Example> The second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with a focus on the differences from the first embodiment, and a description of the commonalities will be omitted. The features of the second embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the features of the first embodiment and the features of the modified examples. The components of the second embodiment that are the same as or correspond to the components of the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals as appropriate.

[0046] 8 shows the configuration of an information processing system 10 according to the second embodiment. In addition to the configuration of the information processing system 10 according to the first embodiment, the information processing system 10 according to the second embodiment further includes an affiliated store device 15. The affiliated store device 15 stores data (hereinafter also referred to as "sales data") relating to products or services sold by an affiliated store to a company and paid for using the company's corporate card.

[0047] Figure 9 shows the configuration of sales data. The sales data includes a payment ID that is also included in the payment data, and information about the sold product or service (hereinafter also referred to as "product information" or "service information"). The product information includes identification information of the product purchased with the corporate card, and the service information includes identification information of the service purchased with the corporate card.

[0048] 10 shows functional blocks included in the information processing device 18 of the second embodiment. The information processing device 18 of the second embodiment further includes a sales data acquisition unit 36 ​​in addition to the functional blocks included in the information processing device 18 of the first embodiment.

[0049] The master data storage unit 26 stores unit emissions, which are GHG emissions per unit purchase amount for each of a plurality of products or services that can be purchased using a company's corporate card, for each product or service.

[0050] Specifically, the master data storage unit 26 stores product / service master data and unit emission master data. Fig. 11(a) shows the configuration of the product / service master data. The product / service master data is data in which identification information of a plurality of products is associated with a product category (writing implements, PCs, books, etc.) to which each product belongs. The product / service master data is data in which identification information of a plurality of services is associated with a service category (rail transport service, air transport service, delivery service, etc.) to which each service belongs.

[0051] Figure 11(b) shows the configuration of the unit emission amount master data. The unit emission amount master data is data that associates multiple product categories and service categories with the unit emission amount of GHG in each category. The unit emission amount of GHG in each category may be set to a value published by a specific organization or institution (e.g., a government agency). For example, the value shown in the "Emissions Unit Database for Calculating Organizational Greenhouse Gas Emissions Throughout the Supply Chain" published by the Ministry of the Environment may be set.

[0052] Returning to Figure 10, the payment data acquisition unit 30 and the sales data acquisition unit 36, as the first acquisition unit, acquire the identification information and purchase amount of the product or service purchased with the corporate card from the device of the affiliated store that sold the product or service or the device of the credit card company.

[0053] The emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount related to the purchased product or service and the purchase price of the purchased product or service stored in the master data storage unit 26. The information provision unit 34 provides the enterprise device 12 with information related to the GHG emission amount related to the purchase.

[0054] The operation of the information processing system 10 of the second embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. As in the first embodiment, the payment data acquisition unit 30 of the information processing device 18 acquires payment data including a payment ID and a purchase amount from the credit card company device 16. The sales data acquisition unit 36 ​​of the information processing device 18 acquires sales data including product information or service information associated with the payment ID from the affiliated store device 15, using the payment ID indicated by the payment data as a key.

[0055] In the second embodiment, the purchase amount of the product or service is extracted from the payment data acquired from the credit card company device 16, while the identification information of the purchased product or service is extracted from the sales information acquired from the affiliated store device 15. As a variation, when both the identification information of the purchased product or service and the purchase amount are included in the payment data, both the identification information of the purchased product or service and the purchase amount may be extracted from the payment data. Alternatively, when both the identification information of the purchased product or service and the purchase amount are included in the sales data, both the identification information of the purchased product or service and the purchase amount may be extracted from the sales data.

[0056] The emission derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 refers to the product / service master data in the master data storage unit 26, and identifies a product category or service category associated with the product information or service information indicated by the sales information. The emission derivation unit 32 refers to the unit emission master data in the master data storage unit 26, and identifies a unit emission amount associated with the identified product category or service category. The emission derivation unit 32 multiplies the identified unit emission amount by the purchase amount indicated by the payment data, and derives the result as the GHG emission amount related to the purchase indicated by the payment data.

[0057] As in the first embodiment, the information providing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 transmits GHG emission information indicating the GHG emission derived by the emission derivation unit 32 as GHG emission based on the Scope 3 standard in the GHG Protocol to the corporate device 12. As in the information processing system 10 of the first embodiment, the information processing system 10 of the second embodiment can assist in deriving the Scope 3 emissions in a company's supply chain emissions based on the company's purchase record of a product or service. Furthermore, the information processing system 10 of the second embodiment uses a unit emission amount of GHG according to the purchased product or service, so that the estimation accuracy of the GHG emission amount can be further improved.

[0058] The present disclosure has been described above based on the second embodiment. The contents described in the second embodiment are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the components and processing steps of the second embodiment, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0059] Modifications 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 of the second embodiment will now be described. Variation 2-1: In the second embodiment, the unit GHG emission amount is determined for each product category or service category, but as a modified example, for at least some of the multiple products or services, the unit GHG emission amount may be determined for each product or service. In this case, the master data storage unit 26 of the information processing device 18 may store the unit emission amount for each product category or service category, and may further store the unit emission amount of the product or service itself for at least some of the products or services.

[0060] For example, the product / service master data in the master data storage unit 26 may record a product category in association with product information and, optionally, the unit emission amount of the product itself. Also, the product / service master data in the master data storage unit 26 may record a service category in association with service information and, optionally, the unit emission amount of the service itself. The master data storage unit 26 may record, as the unit emission amount of the product or service itself, the unit emission amount (or the value obtained by dividing the GHG emission amount of the product or service by the price of the product or service) published by the affiliated store, the product manufacturer, or the service provider.

[0061] When the unit emission amount of the purchased product or service itself is stored in the master data storage unit 26, the emission derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 may derive the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the unit emission amount of the product or service itself. On the other hand, when the unit emission amount of the purchased product or service itself is not stored in the master data storage unit 26, the emission derivation unit 32 may derive the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the unit emission amount of the category of the product or service, as described in the second embodiment. According to this embodiment, the Scope 3 emission amount in the supply chain emission amount of a company can be derived with higher accuracy. Also, an incentive can be given to product manufacturers and service providers to reduce GHG emission amount so that they are selected by companies.

[0062] Variation 2-2: As in the above variant example 1-2, the information processing system 10 of this variant example classifies greenhouse gas emissions related to purchases into one of several categories in the Scope 3 standard defined by the GHG Protocol based on accounting data held by the corporate card user company.

[0063] The information processing device 18 of this modified example further includes the accounting data acquisition unit 38 shown in Fig. 7 in addition to the functional blocks shown in Fig. 10. The accounting data acquisition unit 38, as a second acquisition unit, acquires corporate accounting data (e.g., management accounting data) related to the purchase of goods or services using a corporate card from the corporate device 12 (e.g., a corporate accounting system).

[0064] The emission amount derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 classifies the GHG emissions related to purchases into one of a plurality of categories (15 categories shown in Fig. 1(a) and Fig. 1(b)) in the Scope 3 Standard defined by the GHG Protocol, based on the accounting data acquired by the accounting data acquisition unit 38. Specifically, the emission amount derivation unit 32 classifies the GHG emissions related to purchases indicated by certain payment data into one of the categories in the Scope 3 Standard, based on the account title indicated by the accounting data related to the purchase.

[0065] The information providing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 transmits to the corporate device 12 GHG emission information that associates the GHG emissions related to purchasing derived by the emission derivation unit 32 with the specific category of the Scope 3 Standard classified by the emission derivation unit 32. According to the information processing system 10 of this modification, as in the above modification 1-2, the category of the Scope 3 Standard to which the GHG emissions related to purchasing belong can be presented to the company, thereby more effectively supporting the management of GHG emissions in the company.

[0066] Variation 2-3: The master data storage unit 26 of the information processing device 18 may store the category of the Scope 3 Standard for each product / service and / or the category of the Scope 3 Standard for each product / service category. When deriving the GHG emissions related to the purchase of a certain product / service, if a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard for each product / service is associated with the product / service, the emission derivation unit 32 may classify the derived GHG emissions into a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard associated with the product / service. On the other hand, when deriving the GHG emissions related to the purchase of a certain product / service, if a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard for each product / service is not associated with the product / service, the emission derivation unit 32 may classify the derived GHG emissions into a specific category of the Scope 3 Standard for each product / service category to which the product / service belongs. The information processing system 10 of this modification also has the same effect as the above modification 2-2.

[0067] Variation 3-1: This modification relates to a combination of the information processing system 10 of the first embodiment and the information processing system 10 of the second embodiment. The information processing device 18 of this modification includes a master data storage unit 26, a payment data acquisition unit 30, an emission amount derivation unit 32, an information provision unit 34, a sales data acquisition unit 36, and an accounting data acquisition unit 38.

[0068] When the category of the purchased product or service can be identified, for example, when the product information indicated by the sales data is associated with a specific product category in the product / service master data, the emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the unit emission amount corresponding to the identified product or service category. On the other hand, when the category of the purchased product or service cannot be identified, for example, when the product information indicated by the sales data is not recorded in the product / service master data, the emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the unit emission amount corresponding to the affiliated store indicated by the payment data.

[0069] According to this modification, even if the unit emission amount cannot be identified based on the purchased product or service, the unit emission amount can be identified based on the affiliated store that sold the product or service, and the GHG emission amount related to the purchase can be derived without omission. Note that, even in the modification 3-1, the emission amount derivation unit 32 may classify the GHG emission amount related to the purchase into any of the categories of the Scope 3 standard by using the accounting data of the company acquired from the corporate device 12.

[0070] Variation 3-2: This modification relates to a combination of modification 1-1 related to the first embodiment and modification 2-1 related to the second embodiment. The information processing device 18 of this modification includes a master data storage unit 26, a payment data acquisition unit 30, an emission amount derivation unit 32, an information provision unit 34, a sales data acquisition unit 36, and an accounting data acquisition unit 38.

[0071] The emission amount deriving unit 32 executes one of the following processes 1 to 4 in the order of priority of processes 1 to 4. When a higher-level process is executed, the lower-level process is skipped. (Process 1) When a unit emission amount is set for the purchased product or service itself, the emission amount deriving unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount relating to the purchase, using the unit emission amount of the product or service itself. (Process 2) If the unit emission amount is not defined for the purchased product or service itself but the category of the purchased product or service can be identified, the emission amount derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the unit emission amount corresponding to the identified product or service category.

[0072] (Process 3) If the category of the purchased product or service cannot be identified and the unit emission amount of the affiliated store itself indicated in the payment data has been set, the emission derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emission amount related to the purchase using the affiliated store's own unit emission amount. (Process 4) If the category of the purchased product or service cannot be identified and the unit emissions of the affiliated store itself indicated by the payment data have not been defined, the emissions derivation unit 32 derives the GHG emissions related to the purchase using the unit emissions of the affiliated store sector to which the affiliated store belongs.

[0073] According to this modification, the accuracy of deriving the GHG emissions related to the purchase can be improved as much as possible depending on the publication status of the GHG emissions related to the purchased goods or services or the affiliated stores. Note that, even in the modification 3-2, the emission derivation unit 32 may classify the GHG emissions related to the purchase into any of the categories of the Scope 3 standard by using the accounting data of the enterprise acquired from the enterprise device 12.

[0074] Variation 3-3: A modified example applicable to both the information processing system 10 of the first embodiment and the information processing system 10 of the second embodiment will be described. The information processing system 10 may be connected to a device of a carbon credit company via a communication network. The control unit 20 of the information processing device 18 may further include an offset unit. The offset unit may execute offset processing of the GHG emissions related to purchases derived by the emission derivation unit 32 in cooperation with the device of the carbon credit company. The offset processing may be processing of executing a transaction in which carbon credits equivalent to the GHG emissions related to purchases are obtained from the carbon credit company by paying an offset fee to the carbon credit company. The offset fee may be paid from the company to the organization that holds the information processing device 18 at a later date. According to this embodiment, the company can reduce the GHG emissions related to purchases to zero by using the service of the information processing device 18.

[0075] Variation 4: In the above examples, a method for deriving a company's GHG emissions from payment data has been explained. However, in reality, not only climate change caused by GHG emissions, but also environmental problems caused by the overconsumption of all natural resources (e.g., plants, animals, air, water, soil, minerals, etc.) have arisen. Therefore, it has become necessary to grasp, manage, and disclose the consumption of natural resources as "natural capital". Since some of these are consumed in all economic activities, it is possible to grasp them from payments, as with GHG. For example, only about 0.01% of the water on Earth is freshwater resources available for human use, and there are concerns about the depletion of freshwater resources due to the increase in its use. On the other hand, the amount of water used in the production process of various foods, industrial products, and daily necessities can be grasped as a "water footprint". It is also possible to quantify the amount of water resources required when the same items as the country's imported goods are settled domestically as "virtual water".

[0076] For example, in the case of grasping, managing, and disclosing the amount of water resources used in economic activities in a specific region against the background described above, the master data storage unit 26 of the information processing device 18 may store the unit water resource usage per product / service and / or per product / service category. Then, the emission amount derivation unit 32 of the information processing device 18 may multiply the unit water resource usage by the purchase amount indicated by the payment data, and derive the result as the amount of water resources used related to the purchase indicated by the payment data.

[0077] Any combination of the above-mentioned examples and modifications is also useful as an embodiment of the present disclosure. A new embodiment resulting from the combination has the effects of each of the combined examples and modifications. In addition, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the functions to be performed by each component described in the claims can be realized by each component shown in the examples and modifications alone or in cooperation with each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0078] 10 information processing system, 12 corporate device, 14 payment terminal, 15 affiliated store device, 16 credit card company device, 18 information processing device, 26 master data storage unit, 30 payment data acquisition unit, 32 emission amount derivation unit, 34 information provision unit, 36 sales data acquisition unit, 38 accounting data acquisition unit.

Claims

1. a storage unit which stores, for a plurality of credit card member stores, unit emissions which are greenhouse gas emissions per unit sales amount for each industry to which each member store belongs, and further stores, for at least some of the member stores, unit emissions of the member stores themselves, and further stores, for a plurality of goods or services which can be purchased with a company's corporate card, unit emissions for each product or service category, and further stores, for at least some of the goods or services, unit emissions of the goods or services themselves; a first acquisition unit that acquires, from a device of a credit card company, payment data relating to a purchase of a product or service using the corporate card, the payment data including information on the affiliated store that sold the product or service and a purchase amount; a derivation unit that derives an amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount stored in the storage unit and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data; an information providing unit that provides information regarding the greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase to the company's device; Equipped with The derivation unit executes any one of the following processes 1 to 4 in the order of priority of the processes 1 to 4, In process 1, when a unit emission amount is set for the purchased product or service itself, the derivation unit derives an amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount of the purchased product or service itself and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data; In process 2, when a unit emission amount is not set for the purchased product or service itself but the category of the purchased product or service can be identified, the derivation unit derives the greenhouse gas emission amount related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount corresponding to the identified product or service category and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data; As a third process, when the category of the purchased product or service cannot be identified and the unit emission amount of the affiliated store itself indicated by the payment data is defined, the derivation unit derives the greenhouse gas emission amount related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount of the affiliated store itself indicated by the payment data and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data; As a fourth process, when the category of the purchased product or service cannot be identified and the unit emission amount of the affiliated store itself indicated by the payment data is not defined, the derivation unit derives the greenhouse gas emission amount related to the purchase based on the unit emission amount of the business type to which the affiliated store belongs indicated by the payment data and the purchase amount indicated by the payment data. Information processing system.

2. a second acquisition unit that acquires accounting data of the company related to purchases of goods or services using the corporate card from a device of the company; The derivation unit classifies the greenhouse gas emissions related to the purchase into one of a plurality of categories in the Scope 3 Standard defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol based on the accounting data acquired by the second acquisition unit. The information processing system according to claim 1 .

Images