Stakeholder Engagement and Third Party Opinion

The Nisshinbo Group believes that only by listening to customers, stockholders, employees, and the other stakeholders involved with the Group as stipulated in VALUE and gaining their understanding and trust will the Group be able to achieve sustainable growth and enhance its corporate value over the medium to long term. The Group takes a variety of opportunities to deepen communication with all stakeholders and works to resolve issues.

The Nisshinbo Holdings’ Basic Policy on Communication with stakeholders is stipulated in "Nisshinbo Corporate Governance Policy" III-1-(1).

Stakeholder Engagement Initiatives

Stakeholder Examples of approach (FY2022 results) Main contact for dialogue
Customers
  • Web site, SNS
  • Exhibitions, Online seminars
Sales and Engineering
  • Activities to improve customer satisfaction (95 cases)
  • CM
Shareholders/investors
  • General Meeting of Shareholders (One time)
  • Financial Results Briefing (Two times)
  • Business Briefing (Two times)
Corporate Communications
  • Individual meetings with institutional investors and analysts (approx. 80 times)
  • IR tools (integrated reports, sustainability website, shareholder newsletters)
  • Websites for shareholders and investors
Employees
  • In-house newsletters for the group companies, both in Japan and overseas (4 times),Intranet
  • Town hall meetings between the president and employees (10 days, 38 meetings in total)
  • Global survey (one time)
Diversity
  • Health fairs and events for employees (10 times)
Health Management
  • Internal reporting system (6 times)
Corporate Ethics
  • Improvement suggestion meetings (31 times)
Business units
  • Disaster prevention training, BCP training (15 times)
Local community
  • Factory tours and job experience (11 times),Craft workshops (30 times, 560 people)
Business sites
  • Cleanup activities
  • Participation in biodiversity conservation activities
Suppliers
  • Dissemination of the Basic Policy on Sustainable Procurement
Procurement
  • Implementation of sustainable procurement questionnaires
NGOs, NPOs, government agencies
  • Donation activities
Business sites

Third-Party Opinion

Continuing to meet the expectations and needs of the Nisshinbo Group's stakeholders, the Group received feedback from outside experts regarding their assessment of the Nisshinbo Group's sustainability efforts, as well as their expectations and requests of the Group.

Takeshi Shimotaya
Managing Director, Sustainavision Ltd.

I hereby express my opinion as a third party about the Nisshinbo Group's sustainability initiatives based on the information provided in the Nisshinbo Group Sustainability website.

In February 2015, the Nisshinbo Group set three materialities: "Contribution to the environmental and energy field, Creation of a safe and secure society," and "Global compliance," and the Group has been implementing sustainability activities in a balanced manner. "In the Environment area," the Nisshinbo Group endorsed the TCFD recommendations in June 2022 and shifted its efforts to embrace climate change-related business opportunities and mitigate risks, aiming for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. The report actually lists specific activity items under these three materiality items, so if you set these as specific materiality items, the priorities of each activity item become even clearer. In addition, there is a global tendency to emphasize stakeholders that are considered dual materiality. It is important for the Nisshinbo Group to further deepen engagement with these stakeholders through ongoing communication, communicating progress on the materiality items relevant to each stakeholder, and obtaining feedback on the expectations and concerns.

In addition, "Business and Human Rights," which have recently been required to be addressed globally, will be clarified through the formulation of a human rights policy and the introduction of human rights due diligence, as well as the identification and prioritization of human rights risks. This also applies to supply chain management, which will require the introduction of audits and SAQs.* The establishment of a grievance mechanism to make it work properly is also an important factor.

The Nisshinbo Group participates in a variety of different initiatives, but the Group must be aware that these initiatives are related to SDGs 17, and from its participation in these initiatives, the Group must confirm what environmental and social issues related to its corporate activities will be resolved, and how the implementation of these initiatives will relate to its core business. I hope that management and employees will continue to implement sustainability as a business practice based on a common understanding.

* SAQs︓Self-Assessment Questionnaire

Takeshi Shimotaya Managing Director, Sustainavision Ltd.

Takeshi Shimotaya
Managing Director, Sustainavision Ltd.
Joined a major heavy industry manufacturer in 1991 and was responsible for human resources, general affairs, recruitment, training, payroll, labor negotiations, occupational health and safety, etc. in the plant management department. After setting up a new business in the environmental sector (new energy and R.P.F. manufacturing), moved to the UK in 2007.
Holds a Master of Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia, UK, and an MBA from Lancaster University, UK.
In 2010, he established Sustainavision Ltd. in the UK to serve as a CSR bridge between Japan and Europe.
Based in London, Sustainavision Ltd. provides CSR and sustainability consultancy, training, seminars and related research to Japanese companies.
President, Japan Sustainable Restaurant Association
Founder, The Global Alliance for Sustainable Supply Chain