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Konica Minolta Named Industry Group Leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, a Leading Global Index of ESG Investment
Tokyo (September 29, 2017) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) has been named Industry Group*1 Leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), one of the most prestigious global indices of ESG investment, and included in the DJSI World for six years in a row.
Konica Minolta has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific) for the ninth consecutive year.
Konica Minolta received perfect scores of 100 in nine out of 23 categories and named the leader of the industry group*1, Technology Hardware & Equipment, which includes about 120 companies*2 around the world. Konica Minolta is one of the 24 companies that have been named an industry leader and the only Japanese company to be given this prestigious title.
Konica Minolta obtained higher evaluation than last year in 10 categories, including “Customer Relationship Management,” “Supply Chain Management,” and “Innovation Management” in the economic dimension, and “Labor Practice Indicators” and “Human Capital Development” in the social dimension, while receiving perfect or near-perfect scores in six categories in the environmental dimension. This is the result of Konica Minolta’s concerted effort to address the six priority issues of materiality. The DJSI Industry Group Leader Report, compiled by RobecoSAM, states: "Led by its clearly defined six material issues (environment, social innovation, customer satisfaction and product safety, responsible supply chain, human capital), Konica Minolta has proven its sustainability leadership."
CSR activities at Konica Minolta
1. Six Issues of Materiality Identified by Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta has identified the following six issues of materiality that need to be given priority in its CSR activities.
- Environment
- Social innovation
- Customer satisfaction and product safety
- Responsible supply chain
- Human capital
- Diversity
2. Contribution to Improving the Quality of Human Life
Konica Minolta upholds “social innovation” as one of its issues of materiality with the aim of contributing to improving the quality of human life through its corporate activities.
Konica Minolta’s Business Innovation Centers (BICs) established in five major regions around the world are carrying out more than 100 projects, including those designed to develop business to improve the quality of life. Under its Medium-Term Business Plan, SHINKA 2019, Konica Minolta has launched a new business in the area of precision medicine, which is expected to lead to a breakthrough in cancer treatment, as part of its healthcare business. Precision medicine enables medication to be tailored to the medical needs of each individual patient, thus reducing side effects and improving the quality of the patient’s life.
3．Contribution to Solving Global Environmental Problems
In this fiscal year, Konica Minolta expanded the scope of its Eco Vision 2050 by adding the concept of “Carbon Minus” as a more ambitious goal. While Konica Minolta has been working to achieve an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions throughout the product lifecycle by 2050 from the level of 2005, the company has also taken on a new commitment to involving its stakeholders, including business partners, customers and communities, in its environmental efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by more than the amount produced from its corporate activities.
Under the Medium-Term Environmental Plan 2019 with “global” and “digital” as its keywords, Konica Minolta aims to increase its sales and profit by addressing social problems as well as environmental problems from the perspective of sustainable development goals.
About DJSI World
The DJSI World is the first global index to track the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide and is provided by RobecoSAM, the Switzerland-based sustainability investment company, and S&P Dow Jones Indices in the U.S. It assesses corporate sustainability from economic, environmental and social developments. The index is highly recognized among global institutional investors who take a close look at CSR management and sustainability. In the annual review of the world’s 2,500 companies, 319 companies have been listed on the DJSI World and, within the list, 32 are Japanese companies including Konica Minolta.
Reference: External assessment
In addition to the DJSI World and the DJSI Asia Pacific, Konica Minolta has been included in various global indices and obtained high ratings concerning CSR.
| Dow Jones Sustainability Index (USA, Switzerland) | Included in the World Index (DJSI World) each year since 2012 and in the Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific) each year since 2009 |
|---|---|
| FTSE4Good Index (UK) | Included in the FTSE4Good Index each year since 2003 |
| FTSE Blossom Japan Index (UK) | Included in the index that was launched in 2017 |
| MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes (USA) | Included in the index in consecutive years since 2010 * No information is available as to whether or not the company was included in the indexes prior to 2010. * The index is renamed from MSCI Global SRI in 2017. |
| MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index (USA) | Included in the index that was launched in 2017 |
| MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (USA) | Included in the index that was launched in 2017 |
| Morningstar Socially Responsible Investment Index (Japan) | Included in the Morningstar Socially Responsible Investment Index each year since 2003 |
| RobecoSAM (Switzerland) | Awarded Silver Class (January 2017) |
| oekom research AG (Germany) | Maintained the highest Prime Status since 2011 |
| Ethibel (Belgium) | Selected for the investment universe of Ethibel Pioneer and Ethibel Excellence (January 2017) |
| CDP (UK) | Included on the Climate Change A List (October 2016) |
*1:This is an industry group classified according to the Global Industry Classification Standard, an international standard established by S&P and MSCI in 1999. All the companies on the DJSI World are classified into 24 industry groups.
*2:This is the number of invited companies classified into Technology Hardware & Equipment.