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Tokyo—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today published the English edition of Toshiba Group Environmental Report 2019. 

In recent years, environment issues, including climate change, energy and resource depletion, and growing waste generation, have become increasingly serious. Toshiba Group recognizes responding to these problems as one of the most important issues management faces. In the "Toshiba Next Plan," the company-wide transformation plan announced in 2018, Toshiba Group states that it will contribute to solutions to social issues and achievement of the SDGs. In addition, to strengthen initiatives to counter climate change, Toshiba Group declared its support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)^*1 in May 2019.

The report explains in detail Toshiba Group's initiatives to achieve the SDGs, and its response to climate change, including initiatives in accordance with the TCFD recommendations. It also provides an overview of Toshiba Group’s long-term Environmental Vision 2050*², the progress of the Sixth Environmental Action Plan that is being promoted to achieve the vision, specific initiatives in manufacturing, products and services, and basic activities that support those initiatives. 

The report can be downloaded from Toshiba Group’s Environment website at: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/communication/report/index.htm         

 The report has the following sections:

 1. Special Feature
Two items are featured in this section. The first introduces Group policy for contributing to achievement of the SDGs, and cases of the products and services and advanced technologies used to do this in three categories: "De-carbonized Society," "Sustainable City," and "Circular Economy." The second reports on Toshiba Group’s response to climate change, including the results of analyses of risks and opportunities in line with TCFD recommendations, and efforts to quantify greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain.

 2. Vision and Strategies
The section provides an overview of Toshiba Group’s Environmental Vision 2050, and reports on the goals of the Sixth Environmental Action Plan (FY2017-2020) and achievements to date. Also, Toshiba Group is quantifying environmental impacts at each stage of product life cycles. Impacts are then reported by region and type, using the latest environmental impact assessment method.

 3. Business (Manufacturing)
Toshiba Group promotes environmentally-conscious manufacturing process, and this section looks at efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste volumes, the volume of water received and volume of chemicals discharged per unit of production. Cases include energy-saving measures at Fuchu Complex in Tokyo and waste reduction measures at the Group’s HDD production site in the Philippines.

 4. Business (Products and Services)
Reduced consumption of energy and resources are constant targets, and drive forward efforts to deliver low-carbon energy technologies and energy-saving products and services. Toshiba Group is making efforts to reduce use of resources and expand use of recycled materials, and to cut the amounts of specified chemical substances in products. Cases once again look at specifics, such as lowering the energy consumption of air conditioners and MFPs, resource-saving designs for elevators, and the promotion of international standardization of a simplified screening method for phthalates*³.

 5.  Management
The closing section looks at the basic activities, such as environmental risk and compliance measures, the environmental management structure, environmental education and human resources development, environment-related communications, and conservation of biodiversity. The latter details how Toshiba Group sites around the world are promoting initiatives to contribute to the “Aichi Targets^*4” and provides cases from sites around the world, including Japan, Thailand, and the United States.

 

Note:

*1

The TCFD is an organization established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in 2015 where financial institutions and companies discuss the climate change issue from the perspective of financial stability.

*2

Toshiba Group’s long-term Environmental Vision 2050 envisages the ideal situation for mankind in 2050. It targets increasing Toshiba Group's overall eco-efficiency to 10 times the FY2000 level by FY2050 (Factor 10), and realizing affluent lifestyles lived in harmony with the earth.

*3

Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate, and diisobutyl phthalate. These substances are used mainly as plasticizers for plastics (e.g., cable coatings) and there is some concern about their effects on the human body.

*4

The Aichi Targets were adopted at the tenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) held in Nagoya, Japan in October 2010, and define 20 goals for the international community to achieve by 2020 such as raising awareness of biodiversity, sustainable consumption and production, and conserving endangered species.