The Nippon Soda Group's
Sustainability Management

Utilizing our Responsible Care activities as a foundation, we will promote sustainability-focused management to respond to society’s trust and contribute to sustainable development.

Director, Executive Officer
(Supervision of Administration and CSR Promotion) Osamu Shimizu

At the Nippon Soda Group, to achieve sustainable growth and respond to the expectations of the next generation, we promote sustainability-focused management through CSR Activities to Protect Corporate Value and CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value. At the foundation of our sustainability-focused management is Responsible Care (RC) with respect to the environment and society, and we have continued to engage in RC activities since our Declaration on the Promotion of Responsible Care Activities in 1998. Responsible Care voluntarily promotes health, safety, and environmental activities in everything from development, manufacturing, logistics, and use, to post-use disposal and recycling of chemical substances. The results of these activities are disclosed, and social dialogue completes the PDCA cycle. In this way, Responsible Care activities are closely linked to the core elements of sustainability-focused management: ethical behavior; response to social needs and quick, continuous improvements; and proper information disclosure and communication with stakeholders. We believe these are prerequisites for continued business activity, and have termed them CSR Activities to Protect Corporate Value.

On the other hand, we regard CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value as our way to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society through the Group’s businesses. We have identified Agriculture, Healthcare, Environment, and ICT as materialities (important issues) and as domains through which we can tackle the issues facing society. In addition to tackling social issues through our existing products and services, we will also aim to do so through the establishment and advancement of core technologies and the creation of new businesses through our research and technology strategy, as well as the enhancement and expansion of our businesses through business partnerships and M&As. This is our definition of CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value, while our activities are also linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

For us to continue with CSR Activities to Protect Corporate Value and CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value, it is essential that we thoroughly share our philosophy across all Group companies using a top-down approach, and this is where excellent corporate governance plays a key role.

At the Nippon Soda Group, we have set up the Corporate Social Responsibility Administration Meeting, chaired by the President and Executive Officer, to serve as the chief decisionmaking body to promote CSR activities. Held twice a year, the Meeting is attended by all Company directors, executive officers, plant managers, and officers from main domestic Group companies. Through these meetings, management sets CSR targets, assesses results, and revises the targets as necessary to spiral up the PDCA cycle.

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key theme of sustainability-focused management. At Nippon Soda, through the Japan Chemical Industry Association, in 1997 we participated in the Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment,* in 2013 the Commitment to a Low Carbon Society,* and in 2021 the Keidanren Carbon Neutrality Action Plan.* Moreover, in April 2022 we set up a cross-organizational working group for the reduction of GHG emissions. Ahead of the achievement of carbon neutrality in 2050, by FY 2031 we are aiming to reduce GHG emissions by more than 30% compared with FY 2014.

As we aim for sustainability-focused management, the achievement of our Long-term Vision Brilliance through Chemistry 2030, is essential. In implementing strategies for our Long-term Vision, we recognize that human capital is our most important management resource. In our new human capital management vision, Make Employees Brilliant, we are promoting autonomy and growth of employees. Through flexible, efficient workstyles that enable employees to maximize their capabilities, we are aiming to create a virtuous cycle of value creation and greater employee fulfillment. Our ultimate aim is to create workplaces that fill employees with fulfillment and pride and that enable them to utilize their diverse values and strengths to maximum effect.

While we are working to achieve the KPIs and targets in our three consecutive medium-term business plans (Brilliance through Chemistry Stages Ⅰ-Ⅲ), we will work together as a group to drive a range of policies that will help us achieve the plans ahead of schedule.

• *Led by Keidanren (Japan Business Federation)

Materiality Concept

In May 2020, Nippon Soda Group identified new materialities (important issues) in the four fields of Agriculture, Healthcare, Environment, and ICT to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society and increase corporate value in the Group’s Long-term Vision Brilliance through Chemistry 2030, and its medium-term business plan 2020–2022 Brilliance through Chemistry Stage Ⅰ. As a framework for increasing the effectiveness of the Group’s materiality initiatives, we will utilize the monitoring functions of CSR Activities to Protect Corporate Value and CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value.

Materiality Identification Process

Sustainable growth and relevance in our Long-term Vision was discussed and materiality was identified through the following steps:

Materiality

As part of our efforts to conduct CSR Activities to Improve Corporate Value, the Nippon Soda Group states in the basic CSR policy that the Group will make contributions through business toward resolving social issues and to help achieve the development of a sustainable society. In line with the CSR policy, the Nippon Soda Group is addressing efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that allow us to make such contributions through our products.
One company cannot tackle all of the SDGs alone, but if many different companies throughout the world do what they can toward resolving these issues, we believe that the combined efforts will result in the realization of a sustainable society.

Stakeholders

The management philosophy of the Nippon Soda Group is to meet expectations from stakeholders, including customers, shareholders and investors, business partners, employees and local communities, and promote environmentally conscious business practices and activities. The Nippon Soda Group will continue to play a significant role in realizing the sustainable development of our society. At the same time, the Group is continuing to develop as a sought-after chemical group that meets 21st-century social needs by contributing to the creation of a prosperous society based on its desire to create new value through its unique technologies and products.