News Releases
Konica Minolta Named to All ESG Indexes Adopted by the GPIF for Five Consecutive Years and Included in the FTSE4Good Index Series for 18 Consecutive Years
July 30, 2021
Tokyo (July 30, 2021) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) has been named to all of the four responsible investment (RI) indexes adopted by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)*1. These four indexes are the FTSE Blossom Japan Index, the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index, the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index and the S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index.
This is the fifth consecutive year for Konica Minolta to be listed on all of these ESG indexes since the GPIF first adopted them.
Konica Minolta has also been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which is one of the most well-known RI indexes in the world, for 18 consecutive years.
Konica Minolta’s Commitment to Sustainability
In its Medium-term Business Plan “DX2022,” Konica Minolta declares its determination to evolve into a company clearly committed to solving social issues as part of its basic policy, and has remained committed to developing innovations that can promote both the creation of new value for the global environment and human society, and the growth of its business. In the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the company considered how it could contribute to the fight against the pandemic, and has been providing various support and solutions, leveraging the strengths it has developed in the healthcare business and a wide range of other areas. To help with the recent vaccination effort, for example, the company assisted in setting up mass vaccination centers by applying its know-how in arranging event venues, while adding speech-to-text and remote sign-language interpreting services to its “multi-language interpreting for medical institutions” app, to help hearing-impaired persons at vaccination centers. In this way, Konica Minolta continues efforts to address social problems through its business activities.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Digital Platform launched by 16 Japanese companies, including Konica Minolta, has now grown to 44 member companies in just one year since its inception. Konica Minolta uses this platform to work with the companies to develop and share country-specific navigation maps that compile information related to the introduction of renewable energy and recycled materials, thus helping to accelerate the environmental management efforts of the member companies.
Through these efforts, Konica Minolta is striving to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while facilitating the evolution of the business community and human society.
Outline of Each Index
The FTSE4Good Index Series, which was introduced by FTSE Russell, a UK-based global index provider, lists companies around the world demonstrating strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and provides a means for investors and RI funds to select companies with good sustainability prospects for investment. The FTSE Blossom Japan Index is designed to include Japanese companies with excellent performance in ESG practices, and was selected by GPIF, the world’s largest public pension fund, as one of the ESG indexes for its passive investment strategy.
The MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index are ESG indexes introduced in 2017 by MSCI Inc., a US-based global ESG research and index provider. These indexes were also adopted by the GPIF.
The S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index was launched jointly by S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s major index providers, and Japan Exchange Group, Inc. Using TOPIX as a benchmark, it is designed to reduce exposure to high-carbon companies while maintaining the risk/return profile similar to that of their benchmarks. This index, too, was selected by GPIF as an environmental index.
Reference: Evaluation by External Parties
Konica Minolta is currently included in global ESG indexes and is ranked high in the ESG ratings, as shown below.
| Dow Jones Sustainability Index (USA) | World Index (DJSI World): Included in the index consecutively since 2012 Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific): Included in the index consecutively since 2009 |
|---|---|
| FTSE4Good Index Series (UK) | Included in the index consecutively since 2003 |
| FTSE Blossom Japan Index (UK) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index (USA) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (USA) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index (USA, Japan) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2018 |
| S&P Global (USA) | Included in SAM Sustainability Award consecutively since 2013 (Four times as Gold and five times as Silver) |
| Corporate Knights (Canada) | Ranked among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (2011, 2019, 2020 and 2021) |
| ISS-oekom (Germany) | Maintained the highest Prime Status since 2011 |
| Ethibel (Belgium) | Selected for the investment universe of Ethibel Pioneer and Ethibel Excellence for more than 10 years in a row |
| CDP (UK) | Included on the Climate A List (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2020) |
*1：The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is an independent administrative agency responsible for the management and administration of the employees’ pension and national pension reserve funds under control of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
THE INCLUSION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. IN ANY MSCI INDEX, AND THE USE OF MSCI LOGOS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS OR INDEX NAMES HEREIN, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT OR PROMOTION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. BY MSCI OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES.
THE MSCI INDEXES ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF MSCI. MSCI AND THE MSCI INDEX NAMES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OR SERVICE MARKS OF MSCI OR ITS AFFILIATES.