artience group has made it a re-important task to provide products and services that contribute to the improvement of environmental and social sustainability, and thereby deliver "value that resonates with the senses" to client companies and the people who lie ahead of them, based on "social contribution based on our core business" as the basis of the Group's sustainability activities. In particular, in the period up to 2030, we will focus on the markets of the strategic priority businesses covered in the management plan artience 2027/2030 "GROWTH" as our main targets. This is where we will introduce the Group's "sustainability contribution products" to achieve our management plan and ASV2050/2030 targets.

* Sustainability Contributing Products: artience group defines products that provide "environmental value" (realization of a society that coexists with the environment) and "life value" (realization of a comfortable, healthy, and safe society) to client companies (users) and consumers (consumers). Candidate products submitted by the Group's operating companies are reviewed and certified by the Sustainability Contribution Product Certification Secretariat within Sustainability Committee.

In order to solve the most important social and environmental issue of climate change control, artience group In addition to reducing GHG (greenhouse gases) emitted by the company, we need to procure raw materials upstream of the value chain, use of products (production and processing of finished products) by client companies downstream, logistics (transportation and delivery) and sales activities, It is necessary to develop products with the intention of minimizing the total GHG emissions from the use of the final product by consumers to disposal and recycling. In some cases, we believe that a shift from partial optimization to total optimization, in which emissions increase at some stages of the value chain but can be reduced as a whole, will lead to a solution to the problem.

Controlling climate change, that is, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is one of the most important issues in global society and the environment. The first thing that artience group should do to address this issue is to minimize the amount of GHG emitted directly and indirectly through the fuel and electricity used in our production activities (= Scope 1 + 2 emissions).
In addition, we will increase cooperation with suppliers to reduce emissions from raw materials (Scope 3 Category 1), which account for the largest share of the Group's total GHG emissions, and emissions from the transportation of raw materials (Scope 3 Category 4).

* In formulating the Group Materiality, we changed the wording of the GHG emission reduction targets set forth in the previous ASV2030. The previous targets of "CO2 emissions: 35% reduction in Japan compared to FY2020 and 35% reduction in overseas BAU in FY2030" are emissions calculated based on Japan's Global Warming Countermeasures Act (Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures) for both Japan and overseas. In this wording change, in accordance with the GHG Protocol, an international initiative, we have recalculated the previous target value within the calculation range of the entire group that does not distinguish between Japan and overseas.

Among natural capital, the perception of freshwater resources differs greatly between Japan and overseas. Although it is difficult to recall in Japan, where water is abundant, water management is one of the most important social and environmental issues on a global scale. For example, in water-stressed areas where freshwater resources are scarce, people living there compete for water that is scarce in their livelihoods, industries, and natural environment.
As a corporate citizen with a major social responsibility, artience group protects the lives of local people and the rich natural environment through an approach of using and recycling water as little as possible, and taking the lead in protecting and restoring water resources.

We believe that reducing waste and curbing resource consumption is one of our responsibilities to future generations. Since 2008, artience group has continuously achieved zero emission * in total at its domestic production bases, but overseas is still to come. In addition to reducing waste generation, we will take on the challenge of achieving zero emissions for the entire Group, including overseas, by increasing in-house reuse, recycling by external disposal companies, and the sale and transfer of valuable materials.
In addition, with regard to plastics, which face the important global issue of resource recycling, we will strengthen the promotion of recycling in product packaging materials and logistics materials, and work together with resource conservation.

* Zero emissions: This is an initiative advocated by the United Nations University to reduce emissions to zero as much as possible through waste recycling. artience group defines zero emissions as a state in which the ratio of final disposal to waste generated (final disposal rate) is 1% or less.

The prevention of air, water, and soil pollution and the management of hazardous chemical substances are important issues that are strongly demanded by society in the chemical manufacturing industry. Zero emissions of all of the chemical substances used in this index should be aimed at zero, and we are working to minimize emissions by promoting thorough chemical substance management, collection and leakage prevention measures at all stages of product formulation development, raw material selection, production processes, purification systems, and monitoring systems.
Pollution prevention laws and regulations in the countries and regions in which artience group operates are becoming stronger and stricter year by year, but we will protect the right to livelihood and the natural environment of the communities in the areas where we operate by taking measures that exceed them.

Now that it has become a global consensus that a company should be responsible for the sustainability of the entire supply chain to which it belongs, there is a need to further raise the level of human rights violations, occupational health and safety, and conflict minerals in particular, as essential issues in supply chain management, along with environmental responses.
artience group considers the supply chain to be a community, and strives to improve the sustainability of the supply chain and expand the scope of the supply chain by sharing awareness of issues, grasping the current situation through self-assessment, auditing activities, and continuing improvement activities.

As a artience group of the Corporate Philosophy of the , we will develop measures to respect the human rights and diversity of all people working in the Group, including employees, at the highest level. In particular, we will work to eliminate all human rights violations, discrimination, and harassment that may occur inside and outside the company, and strive to ensure that the results are tangible to our employees.
With regard to diversity, we will work in all directions, from visible diversity to invisible diversity, but during the implementation period of this Group materiality, we will prioritize gender diversity, which is an urgent issue.

While it is becoming more difficult to secure human resources due to the decline in the working population in Japan Japan, especially the shortage of young people, the competition for information engineering skills such as DX, generative AI utilization, and data science has become a global issue.
artience group is based on the basic concept of "an organization exists because of the individual," and we will develop and promote human capital management that respects the intentions and aspirations of individual employees and supports and encourages each employee's challenges. We believe that securing and developing the "challenged human resources" sought by the Group and enhancing engagement is essential for the survival of the company.

In order for employees to fully demonstrate their abilities in their respective workplaces, it is said that in addition to "psychological safety" that does not shrink themselves, "physical safety" brought about by the realization of occupational health and safety is indispensable.
As a chemical manufacturing company, artience group has been focusing on occupational safety and disaster prevention at production sites and has achieved results, and the priority and importance of these efforts will not change in the future. Furthermore, as the workforce ages and work attitudes become more diverse, the importance of corporate support for the health and work-life balance of employees and their families is increasing, and we will address these issues as a cornerstone for the sustainable growth of the Group.

In a VUCA (complex, uncertain, fast-changing, and unpredictable future) world, the decision-making of executives at the helm of a company is one of the most important issues in the governance space. By demonstrating management capabilities that can meet the expectations of diverse stakeholders, transparent management through appropriate information disclosure, and building a sound financial base, artience group will practice the "union of interests and interests" of personal growth and contribution to sustainability for society and the environment.
In particular, in this area of Group materiality, we will actively promote the reform of Board of Directors, which is the management entity.

In order to maintain, improve, and prevent the decline of corporate value, compliance and risk management are indispensable elements for all companies and organizations. artience group has been focusing on compliance and risk management, and while steadily continuing to do so, we will promote the appropriate operation of the whistleblowing system, including thorough dissemination and deepening understanding of the Code of Ethics and Conduct (formerly the Code of Business Conduct) revised in fiscal 2024, and raising awareness of the whistleblowing system.
In addition, we will place emphasis on information security and cyber incident response, which have become dramatically more important in recent years, and horizontally expand the development of systems to overseas bases.

For all manufacturing companies, product safety and quality assurance are universally important issues in building relationships of trust with client companies and consumers. Since its founding, artience group has always addressed these two issues, and will continue to work to strengthen its global product safety and quality assurance system while emphasizing risk management for these issues.
On the other hand, we consider the Group's excellent product safety and quality assurance itself to be a business opportunity, and we will also engage in activities to disseminate information as part of marketing and branding.

For artience group, the promotion of DX (Digital Transformation) is indispensable for the evolution of all operations and duties, such as production process reform, strategic evolution of marketing activities, speed up R&D and material development, streamlining information management, and improving the accuracy of forecasting in management decisions. Based on the recognition that there is an urgent need to increase the labor productivity of the entire Group through the securing and development of DX human resources and actively introducing them to various work sites, we have selected the promotion of DX as one of the themes of this Group materiality.

In order for artience group, as a materials manufacturer, to realize a business model that provides value to consumers, we believe that it is necessary to "co-create through partnerships" that goes beyond the mere relationship between suppliers and customers in our relationships with client companies. We will actively promote the building of partnerships with other companies, governments, and academic organizations, and aim for a corporate culture in which a business model of creating and providing "unprecedented value" is the norm by integrating knowledge and capabilities.
Based on such an outward-looking corporate culture, we will strive to strengthen communication with society and promote social contribution.