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In its Business Philosophy, Sumitomo Chemical affirms its commitment to creating new value by building on innovation, contributing to society through its business activities, and developing an invigorating corporate culture and continuing to be a company that society can trust. Based on this three-part philosophy, we have identified our material issues to be addressed as management priorities.
In fiscal 2018, the Group first identified and announced material issues for sustainable value creation. We revised the issues in fiscal 2021 based on changes in society since then.
We identified our material issues for sustainable value creation, which comprise two sets of material issues—those for social value creation and those for future value creation. The environment (including contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation, and recycling resources), food supply, healthcare, and ICT are classified under material issues for social value creation. Advancing innovation, bolstering competitiveness leveraging digital transformation (DX), and human resources (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; development and growth; and health) are classified as material issues for future value creation.
Furthermore, regarding the items that serve as the foundation for business continuation—occupational safety and health, industrial safety and disaster prevention, product safety and quality assurance, respect for human rights, compliance, anti-corruption, and cybersecurity—we have been making Group-wide efforts and will continue to work on them as management priorities.
We have set key performance indicators (KPIs) for initiatives related to our material issues for sustainable value creation. With the use of KPIs, we will continue to manage and disclose the progress of those initiatives, while also promoting dialogues with stakeholders in and outside the company, to enhance and accelerate our sustainability efforts. Regarding those items serving as the foundation for business continuation, we will continue to proactively make disclosures on our initiatives and outcomes, as we step up our efforts.
Material Issues for Sustainable Value Creation and the Foundation for Business Continuation
The items serving as the foundation for business continuation are elaborated in the following sections:
Process for Identifying and Revising Material Issues to Be Addressed as Management Priorities
When identifying our material issues, we compared the issues we consider the Group should address based on our corporate philosophy with the social issues identified in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and various international guidelines related to sustainability. We also referred to external experts’ advice as well as what we learned by engaging in various initiatives and communicating with stakeholders.
We believe that 1) resolving issues through our business and creating both social and economic value is as important as 2) continuing our business to achieve relevant goals. Based on this view, we have identified our material issues for sustainable value creation based on the former belief and our foundation for business continuation based on the latter belief.
We revised the issues in fiscal 2021 based on subsequent changes in society. We will regularly confirm these issues going forward and revise them as necessary.