Jul. 07, 2020
Nippon Steel Corporation
Nippon Steel Corporation has been selected as a constituent both of the "FTSE4Good Index Series*" and the "FTSE Blossom Japan Index*," well-renowned ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) investment indices three years in a row. At the same time, NS Solutions Corporation, one of our subsidiaries, has also been selected as a constituent both of the indices two years in a row.
- Nippon Steel's ESG initiatives
Iron makes up one third of the earth's weight. Steel is a superb material with abundant reserves, high strength, a high cost-performance ratio, outstanding recyclability, and low environmental impacts both in production and from the perspective of life cycle assessment (LCA). This is proven by a fact that around 90% of metals used in society is steel.
"Nippon Steel pursues world-leading technologies and manufacturing capabilities, and strives to contribute to society by providing excellent products and services," as stipulated in its statement of corporate values. "Contributing to the achievement of a sustainable society (i.e., to achievement of SDGs)" is identified as one of main initiatives in Nippon Steel.
Based on this philosophy, we played a leading role in the establishment of the Japan Iron and Steel Federation's “Long-term Vision for Climate Change Mitigation (Challenge to Zero Carbon Steel)” and are working on technological development aiming to simultaneously solve two problems in the future, such as responding to global steel demand increase and global warming problem. Last year, we announced our support for the recommendations of the "Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)" established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), and based on these recommendations we have expanded information disclosure on the impact of climate change on our business activities. In terms of governance as well, with the resolution of the general meeting of shareholders in June this year, we switched from a company with an Audit & Supervisory Board to a company with an Audit & Supervisory Committee to expedite management decision-making and enhance discussions by the Board of Directors relating to matters such as the formulation of management policies and strategies by limiting the number of items for deliberation, and to enhance the supervisory function of the Board of Directors over management.
We will continue to improve our ESG efforts, and we are committed to create the value of steel and realize its potential as an indispensable basic material for all industries and for building social infrastructure. We will return the value of steel to society and thereby contribute to society, facilitating everyone's enjoyment of the wealth of benefits gained from this.
* The "FTSE4Good Index Series" and the "FTSE Blossom Japan Index" are developed by FTSE Russell, a wholly owned subsidiary of London Stock Exchange Group. FTSE Russel uses its own ESG evaluation model based on the existing international ESG standards, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for selection of companies demonstrating outstanding ESG initiatives. These indices are widely used as important criteria by investors worldwide, who increasingly focus on ESG initiatives of companies. The "FTSE Blossom Japan Index" has been adopted by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan to integrate ESG consideration for its selection of companies for investment.
[Reference]
Details on FTSE4Good Index Series
https://www.ftserussell.com/products/indices/FTSE4Good
Details on FTSE Blossom Japan Index
https://www.ftserussell.com/products/indices/blossom-japan
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