Sustainability Management
The Kurita Group’s Sustainability
The Kurita Group views sustainability as corporate activities within the natural environment and social systems, and the pursuit of sustainable growth taking into account the impact of corporate activities on the environment and social systems, and vice versa. It positions sustainability at the core of business management.
The Kurita Group’s Materiality
The Kurita Group’s corporate vision is “Pioneering ‘new value for water’ to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society.” To achieve this vision, we will identify key issues for each medium-term management plan based on global challenges related to sustainability, define them as the “Kurita Group's Materiality,” and set metrics and targets to address it. These efforts are led by the Sustainability Committee and are overseen by the Board of Directors. The materiality identification process is as follows:
Step 1: Identification of Sustainability Issues
Kurita comprehensively selects sustainability issues across 37 themes as materiality candidates, referencing international rules*1, laws and regulations, disclosure standards*2, and issues identified through stakeholder engagement*3.
- *1 International rules: SDGs, Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report
- *2 Laws, regulations and disclosure standards: GRI Standards, GHG Protocol, SASB Standards, EU Taxonomy, SFDR, CSRD, TCFD, TNFD, etc.
- *3 Stakeholder engagement: Responses to CSR procurement surveys, results of supplier surveys, results of employee engagement surveys, information meetings for shareholders and investors, responses to ESG surveys, social contribution activities, etc.
Step 2: Creation of Materiality Matrix
E&S Committee*4 members, External Directors, Audit & Supervisory
Board members, and the E&S Committee*4 Secretariat were surveyed to
assess the degree of positive and negative impact (probability and scale of
impact) from two perspectives:
(1) Impact of sustainability issues
on the Kurita Group's corporate value
(2) Social and environmental impact of the Kurita Group's
initiatives in response to sustainability issues
The results of the survey were organized in a matrix along two axes: (1) above
on the X-axis/horizontal axis, and (2) above on the Y-axis/vertical axis. Themes
with a significant impact in both the X and Y axes were selected as materiality
candidates. The candidates were grouped into seven main themes and five
sub-themes covering common issues in multiple areas of materiality.
- *4 E&S Committee is the former name of the current Sustainability Committee.
Step 3: Confirmation of Adequacy and Selection of Materiality
Materiality candidates selected in Step 2 were submitted to the Executive Committee and then to the Board of Directors for input. The committee responsible for reviewing the medium-term management plan, which is mainly comprised of members of the Executive Committee, then confirmed the adequacy of the materiality candidates in parallel with the formulation of the medium-term management plan, finalized the Group’s eight material issues and categorized them into two: “basic themes” that should serve as the foundation for management and business activities, and “shared value themes” that lead to the creation of shared value with society. These material issues were then approved by the Board of Directors as the “Kurita Group’s Materiality,” replacing the Group’s existing “CSR Policy.”
Materiality Metrics and Targets
The Group has set metrics and targets tied to the “Kurita Group’s Materiality” and will work to achieve them. The metrics and targets in the Medium-term Management Plan PSV-27 (Pioneering Shared Value 2027) were formulated by the organization responsible for the activity under each metric (“Responsible Organizations”), discussed and decided by the E&S Committee and the committee responsible for reviewing the medium-term management plan, before being approved by the Board of Directors.
Management of materiality initiatives
The Kurita Group will take the following steps to manage materiality and implement initiatives.
Stakeholder engagement
The Kurita Group engages with stakeholders – customers, suppliers, employees,
shareholders and investors, and local communities – and uses their expectations,
concerns and feedback to adequacy of the “Kurita Group’s Materiality” and its
metrics and targets. The information is also reflected in activities to achieve
the Group’s materiality targets.
The Sustainability Committee compiles all the information from each engagement
activity conducted by relevant departments and reflects it in the initiatives
outlined above.
| Stakeholder | Engagement method |
|---|---|
| Customers |
|
| Business partners |
|
| Employees |
|
| Shareholders and investors |
|
| Local communities |
|
- * Please refer to “Participation in Water Resilience Coalition” for more details about the WRC
Promotion system
The Kurita Group will take concerted steps to implement activities related to the Kurita Group's Materiality and its metrics and targets. The Sustainability Committee will receive reports on the status of activities from the Organizations in Charge. In principle, reports on the status of materiality initiatives will be submitted to the Executive Committee twice a year. The Executive Committee will also report the status of activities to the Board of Directors.
PDCA
The Kurita Group sets Groupwide medium-term targets and fiscal-year targets for each activity related to the Kurita Group’s Materiality and its metrics and targets. Revisions to action plans for each fiscal year and to metrics and targets, where necessary, are prepared by the Organizations in Charge, discussed by the Sustainability Committee, and finalized by the Executive Committee. The Sustainability Committee and the Executive Committee evaluate the outcomes of the activities.
