Sustainability
Initiatives for All Stakeholders Environment
- Governance
- Environment
- CSR
Basic Policy and Governance of Initiatives
Basic Policy for Environmental Initiatives
Endorsement of TCFD Recommendations
In August 2022, the Company expressed its support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Global warming countermeasures are an important issue for the entire world, one that calls for broad involvement in environmental initiatives. That applies to our Group, as well as our client companies and consumers. The Group will continue its efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. We will work continuously with our client companies and business partners to improve the earth’s environment.
Governance system for climate-related matters
Board oversight and management’s role with regard to climate-related risks and opportunities
The Board of Directors serves as the oversight body on the environment, including climate change. The Sustainability Committee meets twice a year. It serves in an advisory capacity to the Board of Directors, Executive Officers’ Meeting, and Management Meeting. Executive officers and corporate officers participate in the Sustainability Committee. This assesses environmental risks such as climate change and discusses reports on the progress of the Company’s initiatives. Matters referred to the Sustainability Committee are subject to final resolution by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors monitors the status of initiatives related to matters such as climate change. It conducts progress management and discussions based on deliberations by the Sustainability Committee.
Governance system for climate-related matters
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| Board of Directors | Monitors our response to climate change | About once a year |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Officers’ Meeting and Management Meeting | Decides on basic policies and important matters related to climate change | About once a year |
| Sustainability Committee | Discusses basic policies and important matters related to climate change. Makes recommendations to the Management Meeting |
About two to three times a year |
| Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee | Discusses basic policies and important matters related to climate change. Makes recommendations to the Management Meeting |
About four times a year |
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Strategy and Risk Management
Impact of climate-related risks and opportunities
The nature of the Group’s business is that we carry out our activities primarily online. We, therefore, recognize that the direct impact of climate change on our business is limited.
However, technological innovations and changes in markets, services, and consumer attitudes related to climate change could affect our client companies’ revenues, which in turn could affect our business results. Changes in our client companies’ technologies and services, especially with respect to climate change, or changes in consumer attitudes, will affect the demand for research. As a countermeasure to this point, we are monitoring the trends of client companies regarding climate change and regularly reviewing risks. By doing so, we continue working to diversify our client portfolio and capture marketing demand. Based on the characteristics of our business, the Group recognizes the risks and opportunities posed by climate change as follows.
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| Risks | Opportunities | |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 2°C scenario |
Transition risk（1）becomes apparent; physical risk（2）is not assumed to be high
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| 4°C scenario |
Physical risk（2）becomes apparent; transition risk（1）is not assumed to be high
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- The transition to a low-carbon society aimed at mitigating climate change involves policy, legal, technological, and market changes that could have a variety of impacts on a company’s finances and reputation. These risks are called “transition risks”
- Risks that may materialize due to disasters caused by climate change (including direct damage such as torrential rain, floods, storm surges, droughts, wildfires, etc., and indirect damage such as reduced sales due to supply chain disruptions, as well as damage caused by long-term changes in climate change patterns such as rising temperatures, reduced snow and ice cover, and rising sea levels). These risks are called “physical risks”
Countermeasures
In the less than 2°C scenario, the risk of a surge in procurement costs is assumed for various industries that use fuel and electricity. We recognize that changes in client companies’ technologies and services, as well as in consumer attitudes, will have an impact on research demand in the medium term. At the same time, there will be significant opportunities as new products and services are developed. Since some industries present high degrees of both risk and opportunity, we will diversify risk by closely monitoring the performance of individual client companies and business partners, as well as overall industry trends. Given that the 4°C scenario could also become a reality, we will diversify risks and expand opportunities by considering the expansion of our business and services to industries with lower risks and greater opportunities in this case.
Metrics and Targets
Information disclosure
We are committed to disclosing information on our CO2 emissions. As the Group’s business activities are primarily carried out online, the calculation of CO2 emissions covers our main offices in Japan and our cloud service providers (contracted for online research services), plus paper consumption at our main offices.
Data indicators and targets
The Group is using remote working to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our electricity consumption and CO2 emissions are on a downward trend.
In terms of data management, our migration from an on-premises data center to the cloud, which we implemented in 2016, has significantly reduced our energy consumption.
Office electricity consumption
By canceling part of our office space due to the growth of remote working and switching to renewable energy for some office electricity, we achieved a 13% reduction in electricity consumption in FY6/2022 compared to the previous fiscal year.
Going forward, we will continue to undertake various initiatives such as switching office electricity to renewable energy and using data centers with low environmental impact. We will also aim to understand the current situation, study the setting of goals, and carry out measures toward achieving carbon neutrality.
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| CO2 emissions (t-CO2) | FY 6/2018 | FY 6/2019 | FY 6/2020 | FY 6/2021 | FY 6/2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scope 2 Office electricity consumption |
516 | 520 | 435 | 342 | 296 |
| Scope 3 Emissions from the use of cloud services |
※ | ※ | ※ | 217 | 131 |
| Total | 559 | 559 |
- CO2 emissions by cloud service providers are not shown due to the difficulty of calculating them pre-2020.
- CO2 emissions of cloud service providers are calculated using a tool provided by the service provider.
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| CO2 emissions per capita (t-CO2) |
FY 6/2018 | FY 6/2019 | FY 6/2020 | FY 6/2021 | FY 6/2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO2 emissions per capita (Scope 2) |
0.52 | 0.49 | 0.42 | 0.31 | 0.25 |
| Electricity consumption (kwk) | FY 6/2018 | FY 6/2019 | FY 6/2020 | FY 6/2021 | FY 6/2022 |
| Office electricity consumption | 121 | 122 | 106 | 84 | 67 |
| Paper consumption (10,000 sheets) | FY 6/2018 | FY 6/2019 | FY 6/2020 | FY 6/2021 | FY 6/2022 |
| A4 paper (A3=A4×2) | 74 | 73 | 76 | 19 | 7 |