External Evaluation (ESG Factors)

The FTSE Blossom Japan Index is designed to measure the performance of Japanese companies that enjoy high reputations in the area of ESG.

The FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index is designed to be sector-neutral, reflecting the performance of Japanese companies that exhibit relatively outstanding ESG actions in their sectors.

The MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index is composed by selecting companies with outstanding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) ratings from within the constituents of its parent index, the MSCI Japan IMI Index. Approximately 50% of companies from each GICS^® industry classification are targeted for inclusion.

The MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (WIN) is constructed on the basis of disclosed information concerning gender diversity. Companies that promote high-level gender diversity in the workplace are considered more capable of adapting to the risk of talent shortages in a future shrinking workforce, and thereby better able to yield sustainable earnings over the long term.

We have received a silver medal in a sustainability assessment by EcoVadis (headquartered in France), which evaluates the corporate ESG-related initiatives. The silver medal is given to the top 15% of all evaluated companies.

EcoVadis has assessed over 130,000 companies (from 180 countries and over 220 industries) on corporate policies, measures, and performance in four areas: Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. The evaluation results are widely used as supplier selection criteria by many companies in Europe and the United States.

The Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program is operated jointly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Nippon Kenko Kaigi. This program recognizes companies of varied size that practice particularly outstanding health and productivity management, based on initiatives rooted in community health issues and health promotion initiatives advanced by Nippon Kenko Kaigi.

For the second consecutive year, our company was awarded “Top 500” certification in the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program, a designation given to top corporations.

The Platinum Kurumin certification is awarded to companies that have achieved a higher level of initiative, such as the introduction and use of systems to support a balance between childcare and work, selected from among those that have received Kurumin certification as companies that support the childcare of their employees in accordance with the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children.

In June 2023, we were certified as a Platinum Kurumin in evaluation of our various initiatives.

The Eruboshi Certification is awarded to companies that demonstrate outstanding implementation of initiatives related to participation and advancement by women in the company under the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace.

Our company was recognized for achieving prescribed standards for items including "Employment",
"Continued Length of Employment",
"Working Hours and Work Styles", and "Diverse Career Paths", receiving two out of a maximum of three stars.

Science Based Targets (SBT) are greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets advocated by an international initiative, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), jointly operated by the environmental NGO CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations Global Compact, and others. When the SBTi recognizes that a company’s GHG emission reduction targets align with the levels deemed necessary by the latest climate science to achieve the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement, it certifies these targets as Science Based Targets (SBT).

Toyobo group has obtained certification for our goals of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 27%, and Scope 3 emissions^* by 12.5%, from fiscal 2021 levels, by fiscal 2031, as these targets are recognized as SBT.

• The certification for Scope 3 emissions covers emissions related to activities associated with purchased goods and services (such as manufacturing) and emissions from the use of sold products.

Our company was selected as the highest-rated Supplier Engagement Leader in the CDP Supplier Engagement Ratings.

The Supplier Engagement Ratings are based on responses to questions in the four areas of "Governance", "Targets", "Scope 3 emissions", and "Supply chain engagement" in a corporate survey on climate change conducted by CDP. This evaluates climate change initiatives throughout companies' entire supply chains.

“Natural Symbiosis Sites” are sites certified by the Ministry of the Environment, recognizing areas where biodiversity conservation is achieved through private sector initiatives and other efforts.

Toyobo group has obtained certification for our privately owned forest, “Toyobo Aya-no-Mori” forest, in Higashimorokata-gun district, Miyazaki Prefecture. We have entered into a comprehensive partnership agreement with the local municipality of Aya-cho to jointly promote proactive initiatives for biodiversity conservation in the Aya-no-Mori Forest.

In addition, Aya-no-Mori Forest is registered in the World Database on Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECM).