Sustainability Management
Group Sustainability System
The Group Sustainability Committee, chaired by the Company鈥檚 CEO, Representative Director and President, holds a meeting twice a year to monitor the progress of the sustainability activities of the entire Group. The key issues are deliberated at executive committee, which are ultimately overseen by the Board of Directors. This reliably executes and promotes the integrity between sustainability and business management.
To improve the execution capacity of the sustainability strategy, the Group holds monthly meetings of the Group Sustainability Secretariat Committee chaired by the CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer). The Committee periodically plans, executes, and checks the progress of the initiatives aimed at resolving social issues. The Committee reports the deliberation results of subcommittees to the CSO. This aims to ensure integrity between the strategy and actual operations and strengthen the coordination between planning, execution, and evaluation, thereby improving the effectiveness of sustainability management.
In addition, the ESG Advisory Board has been organized semi-annually as a framework to obtain diverse insights from outside the Group. We will continue to actively take in such insights with the aim to improve the transparency and effectiveness of the efforts.
| Experts |
Mari Kogiso Rika Sueyoshi Peter David Pedersen |
|---|---|
| Internal Members |
Katsunari Matsuda Shinji Matsuoka Youichirou Yamagata Jirou Morita |
Experts profile
Mari Kogiso
Co-CEO, SDG Impact Japan
Mari is an impact investing leader with extensive background in sustainable finance and social entrepreneurship. Mari cofounded SDG Impact Japan in 2021 and developed the ESG engagement fund to promote sustainable conduct of Japanese medium and small sized public companies. In 2017, she led the establishment of the Asia Women Impact Fund ($100 million) at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, the first gender lens investment fund in Japan. Previously Mari held several senior positions at the World Bank Group in Washington DC and Tokyo including the representative of MIGA (the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) in Tokyo. She also served as the global head of diversity and human rights of Fast Retailing Group, and Japan Representative of Dalberg, She currently serves as a independent director of Mitsubishi Corporation and Terumo Corporation, a risk advisor on JICA鈥檚 Overseas Investment Review Committee; and a member of the Advisory Board of the CIO office, Nikko Securities.
Mari holds a BA in Economics from Tokyo University and an MA from the Fletcher School, Tufts University.
Rika Sueyoshi
CEO, Ethical Association
Rika Sueyoshi founded the Ethical Association in 2015. Through lectures, speeches, policy proposals, and textbook writing, she is working to promote and raise awareness about ethical thinking and ethical consumption. She is a member of the Central Environment Council, Consumer Education Promotion Council, Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, and other government policy review committees, as well as an advisor to companies and local governments. She is a specially invited associate professor (part-time) at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University.
Peter David Pedersen
Representative Director, Next Leaders' Initiative for Sustainability (NELIS)
Born in Denmark in 1967, Mr. Pedersen has lived in Japan over 30 years.
He has been involved in sustainability management since 2000, and has assisted many Japanese companies with their sustainability strategies. Since 2015, Mr. Pedersen has served as representative director of the Next Leaders' Initiative for Sustainability (NELIS), which fosters young next-generation leaders around the world. He was named outside director of 黑料门 Holdings Co., Ltd. in June 2022, and he serves concurrently as an outside director at Marui Group Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
Informing Employees
We believe it is extremely important for our employees to understand our sustainability policies and activities. In April 2020, we began a sustainability-focused e-learning program for employees in Japan. In April 2021, we established the 黑料门 Brand Promotion Leaders system, selecting leaders from each workplace to embody our new group slogan “Now ideas for wellness” and spread further understanding of our sustainability activities. Then, in April 2022, we launched the 黑料门 Sustainability College as a comprehensive framework for various initiatives (online courses, e-learning, sustainability communications, etc.) as part of promoting a sense of ownership. In FY2024, a total of 3,171 employees took online courses. Our quarterly e-learning program, which targeted approximately 13,000 employees in Japan and representatives overseas, had an average participation rate of 94.5%. Through these initiatives, we will further strengthen our efforts to make sustainability the norm for each and everyone of our employees.