Environmental Management

Kawasaki Group Policy on Environmental Management

In June 2024 the Kawasaki Group set aside its existing Environmental Charter and established the new Kawasaki Group Policy on Environmental Management. Up to this time, the Environmental Charter, which was established in 1999 and revised in 2010, stipulated the common values, principles of environmental management activities, and guidelines for the daily conduct required of every employee, and we promoted environmental management activities accordingly. However, this new policy is intended to substantially revise the Environmental Charter content in view of changes in the demands from society relating to environmental management. Under this new basic environmental policy, we will accelerate initiatives to tackle environmental challenges throughout the entire value chain, including the realization of carbon neutrality, the reduction of energy consumption, the recycling of resources, and respect for biodiversity.

Kawasaki Global Environmental Vision 2050

The Environmental Management Activities Plan 2024 (FY2024–2026)

Based on the Group Mission, the Kawasaki Group Policy on Environmental Management, and the Group Vision 2030, the Group has formulated the Environmental Management Activities Plan as key strategies which cater to the needs of society and facilitate the realization of both environmental conservation and business growth and the Kawasaki Global Environmental Vision 2050 goals of "CO₂ FREE," "Waste FREE," and "Harm FREE." Until 2021, the activities plan was formulated every three years, with follow-up on progress conducted annually. However, in view of the ever-changing requirements relating to the environment, including the move toward decarbonization, resource recycling, and biodiversity, since 2022, the plan has been formulated annually looking ahead to the three years to come. Following approval of the formulated plan by the Board of Directors, the plan is rolled out to the business segments through the environmental management system. The medium-term actions policies toward achieving CO₂ FREE, Waste FREE, and Harm FREE are as follows.
For CO₂ FREE (realization of a decarbonized society), the Group embodies its carbon neutrality strategies in the Environmental Plan, and is actively moving toward achieving carbon neutrality at domestic business sites by 2030. For Waste FREE (realization of a recycling-oriented society), we will continue to actively investigate circular economy business models to cater to the circular economy. For Harm FREE (realization of a society coexisting with nature), we will continue to actively disclose the outcomes of macro-impact studies of effects on biodiversity from the Group’s operations and measures to address these as a means to meeting the requirements of the TNFD (Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures).
In the Environmental Management Activities Plan 2023, which covers fiscal 2023, in addition to the three FREE actions policies described above, we set out new initiatives, including those to visualize CO₂ emissions in the upstream of the supply chain; acquire SBT certification; and ascertain consolidated environmental data such as that on water and waste, with these initiatives then implemented as planned. As part of the Environmental Management Activities Plan 2024, the Group aims to further expand the disclosure of non-financial information for the enhancement of corporate value as well as to actively work to deepen the initiatives set out in the 2023 plan.
Refer to individual pages for details of the key strategies and achievements for CO₂ FREE, Waste FREE, and Harm FREE for fiscal 2023, and the key strategies for fiscal 2024.

Environmental Management Promotion Structure

At the Kawasaki Group, the Board of Directors is positioned as the supreme decision-making body responsible for deliberations on and finalization of fundamental sustainability policies and basic plans for the entire Group. In addition, the Group has established the Sustainability Committee, as an executive-level committee chaired by the President, which decides on various measures based on the basic plan stipulated by the Board of Directors and delivers progress reports to the Board of Directors. Environmental management strategies, including risks and opportunities related to climate change, are deliberated on by the Sustainability Committee as part of fundamental sustainability polices for the entire Group, and the Sustainability Committee delivers regular reports on activities related to environmental management to the Board of Directors.
We also set out basic matters relating to environmental and energy management, and have instituted an environmental management system and energy management system with the aim of extending the Environmental Management Activities Plan to the business segments and of promoting the effective use of energy.

Katsuya Yamamoto, Representative Director, Senior Corporate Executive Officer, Chief Environmental Officer

Compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations

We hold liaison conferences as needed for personnel with environmental responsibilities to ensure adherence to environmental laws and regulations, the dissemination and full understanding of legal revisions, and the enhancement of their capabilities. These conferences, which are held under the direction of the Head Office Environmental Management Division, serve as opportunities for working with Group personnel to preempt environmental accidents and other compliance-related problems. In recent years, we have implemented initiatives in response to laws and regulations related to chemical substances, such as the European Union's ELV Directive^*1, RoHS Directive^*2, and REACH Regulation^*3, as well as the Euro 4 regulation on motorcycle exhaust emissions. In fiscal 2023, there were no revisions to relevant laws. We will continue to collect information on applicable laws and regulations going forward.

*1 ELV Directive: End of Life Vehicles Directive

*2 RoHS Directive: Directive on Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment

*3 REACH Regulation: Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals

The Kawasaki Group strives to implement environmental management activities in compliance with environmental laws and regulations. There were no incidents resulted in fines in fiscal 2023.
The number of accidents, pollution incidents, and complaints relating to the environment have been disclosed on the ESG data page. All of these are being resolved through the institution of actions and measures to prevent recurrence.

Environmental Education

We conduct a variety of training for Group employees to increase their understanding of environmental management. Every year, we formulate an Environmental Management Activities Plan (three-year plan), and revise the content of training in line with its content. In fiscal 2023, we implemented training by means of e-learning, with approximately 13,400 people (approx. 86% attendance) undergoing training. We will continue to implement various training and actively endeavor to maintain and improve the environmental awareness of Group employees.

We periodically distribute information internally to raise environmental awareness. We conduct these awareness raising activities continuously, including the publication of environment related articles in the Kawasaki Group internal bulletin, distribution of the President's message for Environment Month, and distribution of information (case examples of energy saving, forestation activity reports, environmental activities at respective business sites, etc.) through our intranet, so that employees can put environmentally conscious activities into practice not only at the workplace, but also in their local communities and homes.

To enrich management activities emphasizing energy and the environment, we are striving to cultivate individuals with legal qualifications required under laws and regulations related to energy and the environment. The number of employees with legal qualifications at the Kawasaki Group in the most recent four years is indicated in the ESG data. We also conduct training for internal ISO 14001 environmental management and environmental auditors as an internal qualification. As of the end of fiscal 2023, there were 1,662 individual environmental management and environmental auditors.