Evaluation from the Outside of the Company
Third-Party Opinion Response to the Third-Party Opinion
Third-Party Opinion
* As of September 18, 2020
Emi Matsukawa
Ms. Emi Matsukawa established the Collective Action Institute and is Chair of the Board of Directors. She also serves as Senior Manager of CDP, an international environmental NGO. Ms. Matsukawa specializes in sustainability management/disclosure, clean technology, and ESG (environment, social, governance) investment. She provides consulting for listed companies, institutional investors, and entrepreneurs. After graduating from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, she joined Fujitsu Limited and, following a period at a research and consulting company and other organizations, established Grid & Finance Advisors Inc. in 2011, where she served as the president. Ms. Matsukawa’s key achievements include being a member of the Ministry of the Environment’s Committee on Revisions of Environmental Reporting Guidelines and Environmental Accounting Guidelines, and a principal consultant for Research on Stewardship Responsibilities and ESG Investments for the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). She has been a guest speaker at many events, including the ESG Dialogue Symposium sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment; Tokyo University Wood Use System Research Group’s Sustainable Corporate Growth Strategy Based on ESG Issues; the Forestry Agency’s Deforestation Zero Symposium; and Principles for Financial Action for the 21st Century and the Ministry of the Environment’s ESG Evaluation for Long-term Investors.
Disclosure on the New Website
After viewing the newly created CSR website, it seems that G-TEKT is taking a sincere stance toward the ever-increasing demand for information disclosure regarding sustainability management. In addition to reporting on plans and results, G-TEKT has also provided a summary under the ESG Data section. I believe disclosures such as this are the basis for building better dialogues and relationships with ESG investors, the international community, and global suppliers.
Expectations for More Extensive Reporting
Judging by the reports that have been made on results from the perspective of global ESG evaluation, G-TEKT has clearly improved the cycle of reporting with better planning, implementation, and results. In particular, G-TEKT is now reporting on environmental initiatives with figures that also incorporate the work being done at consolidated subsidiaries, both in Japan and overseas. In addition, G-TEKT has shown that it is striving to create a better environment through such means as revising the Code of Conduct regarding respect for human rights. At the same time, I was somewhat unsure about the range of employees covered by policies on labor and human rights issues and about the framework for making related information readily available, which have been issues in the past. I assume that there is the risk of human rights abuses and corruption, especially in overseas places of work, but I was unable to find a clear policy dealing with this. Establishing a committee to promote diversity and inclusion is a major step forward for G-TEKT as it relates to best practices. As a global company, I expect to see disclosure of numerical targets and results for the entire overseas region.
Consistency with the Paris Agreement
As indicated in the Message from the President, the world of mobility is undergoing an unprecedented period of change. In particular, G-TEKT needs to identify the risks and opportunities associated with changes in society caused by climate change, since this is a key component of the Company’s business. Although G-TEKT’s greenhouse gas emission reduction target has been viewed as relatively low in the past, the Company reported that it had formulated a policy using Science Based Targets with goals that are consistent with the Paris Agreement. I will pay close attention to what kind of strategy is employed for this scenario.
Beyond CSR
G-TEKT’s materiality was defined in 2016. I believe the time has now come to update the issues the Company faces, incorporate long-term perspectives, and place an emphasis on objective external factors in order to reflect the current state of the world, which has changed radically in the past few years. On top of that, I would like to see G-TEKT disclose its direction on strengthening the framework for sustainable management, cognizant of the risks and opportunities in business that are deeply correlated with ESG issues, by broadening the scope of CSR beyond responsibilities that should be fulfilled and making a contribution to society.
Emi Matsukawa,
Chair of the Board of Directors for Collective Action Institute
Response to the Third-Party Opinion
We would like to thank Ms. Emi Matsukawa for her valuable opinion on G-TEKT’s newly upgraded CSR website. We hope Ms. Matsukawa will have even higher expectations of us and that we can live up to those expectations. As well, we take seriously the areas pointed out as needing improvement, and going forward we will look to strengthen our internal system for disclosing more ESG information on a consolidated basis that includes overseas subsidiaries. We will also set rational targets and disclose results. With this in mind, we have decided to disclose all relevant information on our website rather than in the CSR Report, which we previously issued once a year. We will more frequently update information on our website and strive to provide more extensive coverage of our initiatives.
Looking at our materiality (key issues) identified in 2016, we intend to incorporate a long-term perspective that considers global changes and ESG.
G-TEKT will continue contributing to the realization of a sustainable society and strive to be a vital player in this regard. To that end, we will work to resolve more social issues and strive to convey our work in this area to stakeholders in an easy-to-understand way through our website.
I look forward to receiving your continued feedback.
Secretariat of CSR Activities: Corporate Business Planning Division
