Policy and Vision

Toshiba Group holds environmental initiatives to be one of our top priority tasks in corporate management, guided by The Essence of Toshiba. We will strive to create enriched value and ensure harmony with the earth to be committed to people and committed to the future. Through our environmental management that aims to achieve a decarbonized society, a resource circulating society, and a society in harmony with nature, we will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society and turn on the promise of a new day.

• Toshiba Group assesses the impacts of its business activities and products and services on the environment (including biodiversity), sets environmental impact reduction targets, and implements environmental activities.
• Toshiba Group continuously improves its environmental management through audits and activity reviews.
• Toshiba Group complies with all laws and regulations, industry guidelines it has endorsed, and its own standards on the environment.
• Toshiba Group further raises employees' environmental awareness, and the company as a whole makes efforts for environmental protection.
• Toshiba Group operates globally and promotes environmental activities throughout the Group accordingly.

• Toshiba Group recognizes that natural resources are finite, and it implements vigorous environmental measures to promote their effective, practical use in terms of both business activities as well as products and services.
• Toshiba Group develops and provides environmentally conscious products and services that contribute to reducing environmental impacts throughout their life cycle.
• In all phases of activities - including the design, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, sales, and disposal phases - Toshiba Group implements measures to decrease environmental impacts, such as those for responding to climate change, effective resource use, and chemical management.
• Toshiba Group considers what value and meaning it can provide to society and strives to develop environmental technologies for the future in order to contribute to realizing a sustainable society.

Toshiba Group actively communicates with stakeholders, such as local communities and society, and promotes environmental activities in collaboration with them.

• The Essence of Toshiba
• Toshiba Group Standards of Conduct 8. Environment
  
  
• Toshiba Group's Basic Policy for the Environment (PDF)(76KB)

In recent years, climate change, the depletion of energy and resources, and various other environmental issues have intensified, to the point where they threaten the safe, secure lives of future generations. With regard to climate change in particular, given the impacts of floods, droughts, and enormous typhoons in many parts of the world, the 2015 adoption of the Paris Agreement*¹ has accelerated the movement toward carbon neutrality in each country. In the face of these circumstances, companies must recognize the importance of climate change from a long-term perspective and proactively respond in order to achieve carbon neutrality.
Furthermore, regarding issues such as the transition to a circular economy, water resources, water pollution, biodiversity conservation, and the issue of marine plastics, various countries around the world have been responding over the last several years, and social interest is growing ever stronger. At the same time, there is increasing activity related to corporate sustainability management as a whole, such as stricter regulations on information disclosure and the expansion of ESG investment.
Amid these changing circumstances, we consider it important to continue providing enriched value to customers while responding to global trends from a long-term perspective in order to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society and to aim to grow sustainably as a company. Therefore, Toshiba Group has formulated the Environmental Future Vision 2050, a long-term vision from a global perspective, which includes responding to carbon neutrality and the circular economy. With the goal of "contributing to the realization of a sustainable society through environmental management which aims to create enriched value and to ensure harmony with the earth," the Environmental Future Vision 2050 aims to realize a sustainable society—in other words, a decarbonized society, a resource circulating society, and a society in harmony with nature. Based on the concept of backcasting*², we will promote efforts in three areas—namely, "response to climate change," "response to the circular economy," and "consideration of ecosystems" —so as to realize the ideal situation in 2050.

*1  The Paris Agreement is an international framework adopted at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) that seeks to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It aims to restrain the increase in the global average temperatures to less than 2°C from the pre-industrial level and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C. To this end, the Agreement's target is to lower the volume of GHG emissions to substantially zero by the latter half of this century.

*2  Backcasting is a method that defines a desired goal and works back through the series of actions necessary for its achievement.

Under "response to climate change", we aim to achieve carbon neutrality throughout Toshiba Group's entire value chain by FY2050 to contribute to the goal of the Paris Agreement. As a milestone, we aim to reduce GHG emissions by 70% by FY2030 compared to the FY2019 level. Specific initiatives include investing in energy-saving equipment and introducing equipment for renewable energy and procuring power derived from renewable energy in carrying out Toshiba Group's business activities; suspending the receipt of new orders for coal-fired thermal power plant construction work; and leveraging our technological capabilities to create products and services that contribute to GHG reductions in society. Such products and services include: energy technologies such as renewable energy, energy aggregation*³ for power supply and demand adjustment, CO₂ separation, capture and reuse technologies; as well as social infrastructure products and building-related products with high energy-saving properties. We will promote business that involves measures to adapt to climate change, which are aimed at ensuring stable energy supply and strengthening resilience, reducing GHG emissions derived from products and service purchased in cooperation with our suppliers, and conducting engagement activities with various stakeholders.
Under "response to the circular economy", we will promote the efficient use of resources in both business activities and products and services. At the same time, we will actively collaborate with relevant parties, such as industry organizations, government agencies, and other companies, in order to adapt our business models to the circular economy. Specifically, we will work to reduce the volume of waste from business activities and recycle used products and parts, and aim to build circular economy business models based on solutions that employ digital technologies and other related innovations.
Under "consideration of ecosystems", we will contribute to the creation of a society where humans live in harmony with nature and continue to enjoy the blessings of ecosystems by promoting compliance with policies and regulations on chemical substance management in countries around the world, proper management of water resources and water quality, and activities to conserve biodiversity on and off the premises of Toshiba sites.

*3  A mechanism for consolidating various energy resources, such as renewable energy and Electric Vehicle (EV), and controlling output according to power supply and demand conditions.