The Sumitomo Electric Group recognizes that addressing global environmental issues including climate change is one of its key management issues, and continues to engage in environmental protection activities from a global perspective, in accordance with the Environmental Policy established in 1997.

The Group has set forth the pursuit of “LIVING IN SAFETY AND COMFORT ON OUR GREEN PLANET” in its long-term vision, “2030 VISION,” and the goal of “Creating a Green Society through our Connecting and Supporting Technologies” in its “Mid-term Management Plan 2025,” emphasizing its contribution to the realization of a “green society.” The Group has been steadily engaged in environmental protection activities, including decarbonization, circular economy, and preventing environmental pollution. In order to further create and expand environmental value, respond quickly and appropriately to developments in the institutional environment in the global market, and strengthen the Group’s planning capabilities, the GX Promotion Committee chaired by the President was established in October 2024, under the Sustainability Management Promotion Committee. The GX Promotion Committee consists of the Global Environment Promotion Conference and the GX Strategy & Regulatory Aairs Conference. The Global Environment Promotion Conference oversees environmental protection activities on a global level, and discusses and deliberates specific targets and implementation strategies to address global environmental issues. The GX Strategy & Regulatory Aairs Conference oversees all GX-related planning activities throughout the Group.

The Group manages environmental protection activities systematically and is working on continuous improvement. To ensure steady implementation of environmental management, the Group is promoting the acquisition of external ISO 14001 certification of its environmental management system. As of March 2025, of 389 consolidated subsidiaries, 223 have obtained ISO 14001 certification, bringing the acquisition rate, including the Company, to 57%.

For top-priority issues such as environmental conservation, the Safety & Environment Division, under the leadership of the Risk Management Committee, which meets in conjunction with the Management Conference, plays a central role in formulating targets and action policies in cooperation with the relevant Corporate Staff Group, taking into consideration the deliberations of the Global Environment Promotion Conference. Based on the set targets and policies, each division sets its own targets and implements activities. To address risks including climate change, the Compliance & Risk Management Office takes the lead in promoting the formulation of business continuity plans (BCPs). While placing top priority on ensuring safety, the Group strives to minimize damage in the event of a disaster and ensure business continuity.

To achieve a “Greener Global Environment,” the Group’s long-term vision, “2030 Vision,” sets the following targets for decarbonization: a 30% reduction in Scope 1+2 emissions and a 15% reduction in Scope 3 emissions by 2030 compared to FY2018 levels, and achieving carbon neutrality in Scope 1+2 emissions by 2050. The “Mid-term Management Plan 2025,” which serves as a milestone on the way to the Vision, sets specific targets for various items, in addition to decarbonization, and activities are being implemented to achieve the set targets. The targets set in the “2030 VISION” and the “Mid-term Management Plan 2025” are for the entire Sumitomo Electric Group, including listed subsidiaries.

The Group is working on “Go for Green 2025,” which sets out specific targets for 2025 as shown below. However, the table below does not include listed subsidiaries’ initiatives.

In addition to audits based on ISO 14001, the Group conducts environmental audits by the Environment Department to ensure thorough compliance with relevant laws and regulations and to reduce environmental impact. The environmental audits check (1) compliance with environmental laws and regulations and (2) maintenance and management of environment-related facilities and production equipment. The Group has set a policy of conducting, from FY2022 onwards, either an “environmental audit,” which checks both (1) and (2), or an “environmental law compliance inspection,” which checks only (1), every three years, depending on the magnitude of the potential environmental risks at each business site, such as whether or not hazardous substances are used.
Based on this policy, in FY2024, environmental audits were conducted at 18 sites both in Japan and overseas, and environmental law compliance inspections were conducted at 14 sites.

(1) Checking of compliance with environmental laws and regulations
Information on laws and regulations in the countries and regions where overseas sites are located is collected by using external services as needed, and compliance checks are carried out based on the collected information. The check items are not limited to compliance with laws and regulations but include the efforts to prevent omissions in reporting to government authorities, and the management status of wastewater quality based on voluntary standards that are stricter than regulatory values.

(2) Inspection of environment-related facilities and production equipment
From the perspective of preventing the leakage and spillage of hazardous substances, inspections are conducted to check the management status of environment-related facilities and equipment, including water quality facilities (chemical tanks, wastewater treatment facilities, etc.), ancillary facilities (pipes, etc.), and waste storage sites.

The Group quantitatively assesses the environmental impact of its overall business activities and strives to reduce and properly manage such impact. We have compiled the results of our business activities in FY2024 in terms of the amount of energy and resources used in business activities (INPUT) and the products and substances that have an environmental impact resulting from those activities (OUTPUT).

The Group quantifies and analyzes the costs and economic effects of its environmental conservation efforts, such as measures to combat global warming. Since our CSR Report 2010, we have collected and disclosed environmental accounting data based on a new disclosure approach in reference to the concept of the Connected Reporting Framework (CRF)^＊

＊Connected Reporting Framework (CRF): A reporting scheme recently developed in the U.K. that integrates financial and non-financial information in the disclosure.