Sustainability

Toward the Realization of a Sustainable Society

～Further Penetration and Enhancement of ESG Management～

Regarding the implementation of ESG management and response to the SDGs themes, the CSR Promotion Department, established in 2019, is taking the lead in promoting the initiatives while ensuring that they permeate throughout the company. How the Group's businesses can contribute to social issues will be the starting point for future growth strategies. To this end, it is necessary to clearly demonstrate the form of solving social issues through business.
We are required to be proactive in addressing social issues related to the environment, such as "decarbonization" and "going green."
Our group has been steadily promoting environmental preservation activities, but now that the government targets have become more stringent, we must make further changes.
In March 2021, we formulated the "Seventh Voluntary Action Plan for the Environment (FY2021 to FY2025)" based on the "Green Plan 2050," which aims to achieve zero environmental impact by 2050. The plan's environmental objectives include the reduction of CO2 emissions and industrial waste, as well as the effective use of water resources. However, in our group's production activities, not only CO2 emissions but also reduction of industrial waste such as plastics and rubber are major theme, and we will work to reduce the amount of waste used and recycle and reuse waste. However, we believe that the goal of zero environmental impact from industrial waste cannot be achieved without technological breakthroughs, either through in-house development or open innovation.

Meanwhile, with regard to human resource development, we have introduced a new personnel system and, as part of our efforts to reform the way people work, we have put in place a system to promote telecommuting and a framework for creating a comfortable workplace, including regional career-track positions without transfers and childcare and nursing care leave for both male and female employees.
Furthermore, in April 2021, we launched the Women's Activity Promotion Project. We will accelerate moves toward system reforms, education and training, etc., while proceeding with a survey of the attitudes of female employees. Although the ratio of female employees in our group remains low at 11% to 12%, we will work toward our mid-term management plan target of 10% women in management positions by 2026.

In terms of corporate governance, we shifted to a company with an audit committee system in FY2019, and have continued to work toward expanding governance since then. The Company has strengthened its business structure. The Board of Directors now includes three independent outside directors, and its skill matrix can now be composed in a way that covers sales, finance, and technology fields in a well-balanced manner. We will continue to work to establish a corporate governance structure suited to our group and to improve its effectiveness.

• Latest ESG Briefing

Integrated Report 2023