Conservation of Biodiversity

In the SAKATA INX VISION 2030, the SAKATA INX Group identified "strengthening ESG / sustainability efforts emphasizing the global environment and local community" as an important strategy, and set "activities to maintain a sustainable global environment" as one of the Group's key issues. We aim to create a society where people can live in safety and good health by protecting the global environment.
To achieve this, we are working to solve social issues and build a sustainable society through our business activities, such as by reducing emissions of environmentally hazardous substances in our production activities and actively developing and rolling out environmentally friendly products.

Our View on Biodiversity

The SAKATA INX Group's business activities are based on ecosystem services enabled by various forms of natural capital.
As stated in our Basic Environmental Philosophy, we recognize that maintaining a sustainable global environment is a top priority management issue. In our corporate activities, we identify dependency and impact on biodiversity throughout the supply chain and engage in efforts to conserve it.

Basic Policy on Biodiversity

In February 2023, we established the SAKATA INX Group Basic Policy on Biodiversity as a guideline for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, which is the foundation for our social activities.

Governance

Sustainability Promotion System, Including Biodiversity Measures

Biodiversity governance is overseen by the Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by the President and CEO, and includes all directors. In addition, various other committees, which are subordinate organizations of the Sustainability Committee, identify various risks, including measures to conserve biodiversity within the Group, and deliberate on response measures. The Sustainability Committee meets semi-annually (twice a year) to approve important environment-related policies and targets, including measures to conserve biodiversity, and to manage their progress.

Additionally, our Risk & Compliance Committee works to identify and prevent risks relating to biodiversity, and respond to them as and when they occur, based on our Risk Management Regulations. Risks and response measures are also monitored and periodically evaluated, reviewed, and revised according to the situation.

▼Governance structure

Assessing Dependency and Impact on Biodiversity

With regard to dependency and impact on biodiversity, we use ENCORE*'s industry group assessment to assess an overview of dependency and impact in our own sector and sub-industry group (materials, specialty chemicals). In the 2023 ENCORE assessment, in terms of dependency, dependency was evaluated as "high" for two items: groundwater and surface water. In terms of impact, impact was evaluated as "high" for seven items: namely GHG emissions, non-GHG air pollutants, soil contamination, solid waste, use of land ecosystems, water pollution, and water consumption.
Going forward, we will focus on items evaluated as having a high degree of dependency / impact, and conduct risk assessments and disclose initiatives for each item.

*ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risk and Exposure): A tool that provides a visualized overview of dependencies and impacts, jointly developed by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA) － a network of financial institutions ー and the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC).

Risk Assessment and Improvement Initiatives in Direct Operations

The results for the risk assessment of our direct operations and the status of our efforts to improve upon items assessed as having a high degree of dependency and/or impact on biodiversity in the ENCORE assessment are as follows.

We recognize that water is an important form of natural capital that is indispensable for our business activities, and are working to reduce our environmental impact by reducing water consumption and using appropriate wastewater treatment, as well as identifying and reducing water risks.

　▮ For details, please see  Prevention of Water Pollution .

Region (Numbers of sites are shown in parentheses.)	Numbers of sites with nature conservation areas within a 3 km radius
	World Natural Heritage	Ramsar Convention Wetlands	IUCN Categories				KBA
			Ia	Ib	II	III
Japan (4)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Asia (excluding Japan) (15)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Americas (9)	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Europe (4)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Total (32)	0	1	0	0	1	1	4

In FY2023, there were no violations of environmental laws and regulations or fines at any site, and no cases of negative impact on surrounding ecosystems as a result of business activities. The SAKATA INX Group has established a Basic Environmental Philosophy, Basic Environmental Policy, and Basic Policy on Biodiversity, and is engaged in initiatives to reduce its environmental impact and conserve biodiversity. At the above sites that have been found to be in close proximity to important areas, we will further consider biodiversity and investigate whether there is any impact from our business activities.

Item	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Number of violations of environmental laws and regulations (cases)	0	0	0	0
Amounts of fines related to the above (yen)	0	0	0	0

Conservation of Biodiversity

SAKATA Forest Conservation Activities

At our Shiga Plant, which entered operation in 2014, we created a "SAKATA Forest" (covering an area of approximately 0.7 hectares) on plant grounds, in harmony with the natural environment of the surrounding area, and are working to conserve biodiversity.
Surrounded by abundant natural surroundings such as Lake Biwa and Mount Ibuki, SAKATA Forest provides green spaces and waterfronts that contribute to the formation of an ecosystem network that connects these surroundings, contributing to the conservation of biodiversity throughout the region. Based on the concept of "Creation of Familiar Landscapes," we consider local planting, such as by selecting tree species found in surrounding mountain forest areas for planting. In an ecosystem survey conducted in 2023, a variety of animals and plants ー including some rare species ー were identified.

In the second half of FY2023, SAKATA Forest was also recognized by the Ministry of the Environment as a "Natural Symbiosis Site*" as a location that has value regarding biodiversity as below.

• A location that offers ecosystem services and houses a healthy ecosystem composed of a variety of plant and animal species, primarily native species.
• A habitat where rare plant and animal species thrive or have the potential to thrive.
• A site that plays a crucial role in the life cycle of animals, serving as a place for wintering, resting, breeding, foraging, and migrating.

Going forward, we will continue monitoring and conservation activities and work to further conserve the ecosystem.

* Natural Symbiosis Site: A system in which the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) recognizes areas where biodiversity is being conserved through private-sector initiatives in order to achieve the "30by30" goal, which aims to effectively conserve at least 30％ of land and sea as healthy ecosystems by 2030. Recognition began in 2023, with 122 locations (35 prefectures) recognized in the first half and 62 (30 prefectures) recognized in the second half.

Activities to Preserve Biodiversity at Production Sites

As part of our contribution to the achievement of Life Below Water, one of the 17 SDGs, we participated in a nationwide cleanup campaign called Zero Marine Litter Week, sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and the Nippon Foundation. Cleanup activities were carried out along the coast of Sakai in Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture and Sakai in Osaka Prefecture, with a total of 40 employees participating. On the Hiratsuka coast, 32 bags of regular trash and nine items of large/oversized trash were collected. In Sakai, 31 bags of trash including packaging for food and other items of daily necessities, PET bottles, and empty cans as well as three items of large/oversized trash were collected.

Use of FSC-certified Paper

We pay consideration to the conservation of forest resources by using forest-friendly paper (FSC-certified paper).

Cooperation with Stakeholders

We participate in the following initiatives to further drive our biodiversity conservation activities.

• Clean Ocean Material Alliance (CLOMA)
• TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure) Forum
• 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity
• Keidanren Biodiversity Declaration Initiative
• Green Purchasing Network

We also support the environmental conservation activities of the following organizations.

• World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan) as a Corporate Member
• Supporter of the Japan Conference for 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework (J-GBF)