Programme for Identifying Human Rights Issues
In order to assist companies in implementing human rights due diligence, the Consortium conducts
discussions on relationships between business activities and human rights. An overview of the past
Workshops is explained below.
In the 2012 Workshop, sector specific human rights issues were identified based on UNEP FI HumanRights Guidance Tool1. The final report “Human Rights Issues by Sector (2013)” was released.
In 2013, the Workshop further explored “Human Rights Issues by Sector (2013)” from the perspective of
the value chain. It was very useful to identify human rights issues throughout the value chain, in order tounderstand what human rights issue may be arisen by the activities of different departments. The final
report “Human Rights Issues by Sector (v.2)” was released in 2013.
In 2014, the Workshop was planned and conducted in order to respond to public comments received in2013 indicating that “companies need to understand the particular context in which human rights issuesarise”. First, the participants examined 31 Global Risks outlined in the World Economic Forum Report2
and they then identified 16 Global Risks which were considered to give the greatest influence on the sectors
they belonged to. Then, they explored and identified the interconnectivities between global risks andhuman rights. This identification was useful for them to understand how social and environmental issues
were dynamically interconnected, and to understand the particular contexts in which human rights issues
arose. The final report “Human Rights Issues by Sector (v.3)” was issued.
In 2015, the participants examined the points which should be either added, removed or modified in“Human Rights Issues by Sector (v.2)” using the Human Rights Guidance Tool3 (2014 revision) developed
by UNEP FI. As the main feature of the 2015 Workshop, NGOs/NPOs and subject experts addressed
emerging human rights issues in Japan, covering sexual minorities, the empowerment of womenand technical intern trainees. In addition, the Workshop was scaled up from 9 sectors in 2014 to 11 sectors
in 2015, examining and identifying sector specific human rights issues. The final report “Human Rights
Issues by Sector (v.4)” was issued.
The other workshop was held to discuss how to facilitate food procurement in consideration forsustainability at the Tokyo Olympic and Plaralympic Games, and issued a draft “Food Vision” 4for the2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The 2016 Workshop addressed the relevance between the SDGs and human rights issues. The year of 20151

http://www.unepfi.org/humanrightstoolkit/fundamentals.php (Accessed on Nov 10th, 2014).
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalRisks_Report_2014.pdf (Accessed on August, 08, 2014)
3 http://www.unepfi.org/humanrightstoolkit/ (Accessed on July 10th, 2015)4http://crt-japan.jp/files2014/2-4-0-olympic2020/pdf/Food%20Vision%20for%20the%20Tokyo%202020%20Olympic%20Ga
mes.pdf (Accessed on August 8th, 2017)21

marked the following four significant events: Firstly, at the G7 Summit in Schloss Elmau Germany, G7
leaders pledged to promote responsible supply chains, and strongly supported the UN Guiding Principles
on Business and Human Rights. They also stressed the need to develop substantive National Action Plans
and strengthen grievance mechanisms. Secondly, at a Session of the United Nations General Assembly inSeptember, the SDGs were adopted. Thirdly, In the UK, the Modern Slavery Act was adopted. And finally,at the UN Climate Conference in Paris COP 21 in December, the Paris Agreement was adopted which will
come into effect in 2020. Considering all of these events, the participants identified sector specific humanrights issues with the use of Human Rights Guidance Tool developed by UNEP FI, and they identified
priorities on the SDGs by sector with the use of the SDG Compass5 whilst considering the SDGs and theproposals for the SDGs submitted by NGOs/NPOs at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit. The final report “HumanRights Issues by Sector (v.5)” and “Priorities on the SDGs by sector” was issued.
In 2017, given the raised concerns from NGOs/NPOs, the participants reviewed the sector specific humanrights

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additions/deletions/correction points. This year's workshop was implemented to help companies recognize
human rights issues particular to Japan, human rights issues in supply chains in Asia, and trends ofinstitutional investors in Japan. Compared to the composition of corporate participants last year, there weremore corporate participants from the consumer goods sector and food sector, whereas there were lesscorporate participants from the manufacturing sector and infrastructure sector. Also, there were moreparticipants from the human resource department and procurement department. Lastly, over 70% of theparticipants were new to the workshop.
In 2018, given the raised concerns from NGOs/NPOs, the participants reviewed the sector specific humanrights issues formulated by the CSR Consortium last year as to whether there were any
additions/deletions/correction points. As a feature of the working of 2018, NGOs/NPOs raised globally
increasing concerns such as on marine plastic pollution, SOGI (sexual orientation/gender identification),and the Technical Intern Training Program in Japan. Also, the subject experts shared the trends of Japaneseinstitutional investors. In regard to the composition of the corporate participants, the participation from thechemical and building materials sector, consumer goods sector, and food sector increased significantly fromthe previous year. In addition, the companies in the pharmaceutical, printing and consulting sectors, which
did not identify sector specific human rights issues in the previous year, participated in the workshop. On
the other hand, the companies from the manufacturing and transport sectors did not participant in theworkshop this year.
In 2019, given the raised concerns from NGOs/NPOs, the participants reviewed the sector specific humanrights issues formulated by the CSR Consortium last year as to whether there were any
additions/deletions/correction points. As a feature of the working of 2019, NGOs/NPOs raised globally
increasing concerns such as AI and human rights, AI and privacy, relationships between climate change and5

http://sdgcompass.org/ (Accessed on August 15th, 2016)

2human rights, foreign workers in Japan, grievance mechanism, and SDGs and human rights. In regard tothe composition of the corporate participants, the participation from the chemical and building materials
sector, consumer goods sector, and food sector increased significantly from the previous year.
In 2020, given the raised concerns from NGOs/NPOs, the participants reviewed the sector specific humanrights issues formulated by the CSR Consortium last year as to whether there were any
additions/deletions/correction points. Due to the impact of Covid-19, this workshop, which was originallyheld from May to July, was postponed twice. In the end, we planned and implemented an online workshop
using the Zoom system from August to November. At the beginning of the workshop, the secretariat andparticipants made some mistakes and were confused about how to operate the Zoom system. However, theyaccumulated know-how on Zoom methods as they experienced the workshop. In the half of the workshop,
face-to-face meetings with adequate infection control measures were also incorporated, and the workshop
was conducted in a hybrid format combining both online and face-to-face meetings. Many of theparticipants were working from home for infection control measures, and the workshop truly reflected thecurrent work style.
In 2021, as was the case last year, NGOs/NPOs and experts raised issues and, referring to the human rights
guidance tool developed by the United Nations Environment Programme's Financial Initiative (developedin 2011 and revised in 2014), the Nippon CSR Consortium conducted a review of each sector to see if there
were any additions, deletions or amendments to the "Human Rights Issues by Sector" formulated last year.
Due to the impact of the Covid-19 since last year, the program was conducted in an online format using theZoom system. Due to the state of emergency declared during the period (June to October), most of theparticipants were teleworking, and the programme reflected the work style of the Covid-19. Due to theteleworking environment, some participants came from Chubu, Kansai, Kyushu, Tohoku and the UnitedStates, broadening the scope of the programme.
The ten themes included human rights and environmental issues that needed to be taken into considerationin the ongoing shift to renewable energy, forced labor issues in Xinjiang and the Uyghur Autonomous
Region that had a major impact on the global supply chain, proposals from Generation Z who have risen tothe occasion of climate change, and hidden challenges in resource recycling. The results were published as"Human Rights Issues by Sector (Tenth Edition)" and "Content of Sharing and Discussion AcrossIndustries. The "Content of Cross-industry Sharing and Discussions" was the result of discussions among
participants from other industries on how their business activities negatively impact the human rights of
their stakeholders and how they should respond to such impacts, referring to specific examples related to"Business and Human Rights" introduced by civil society.
In 2022, as in the previous year, we received issues raised by NGOs/NPOs and experts and, referring to the
Human Rights Guidance Tool (formulated in 2011 and revised in 2014) developed by the United Nations
Environment Programme Finance Initiative, added, deleted, or revised the "Human Rights Issues bySector" developed by the Nippon CSR Consortium last year. The following items were reviewed on anindustry-by-industry basis to see if there were any additions, deletions, or modifications. Due to the impact

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of the new coronavirus infection (Covid-19), the program was conducted using the Zoom system, an online
meeting tool, in combination with face-to-face meetings, as in the previous year. Due to the declared stateof emergency and restricted activities, STEP 1 was held via the web, and from STEP 2 (the 6th meeting)onward, the program was held via a 2-dimensional relay between the web and a face-to-face meeting placewith infection countermeasures in place, reflecting the work style of the coronavirus disaster. The use of ateleworking environment has broadened the range of participants, who now come from all over Japan. This
year's program included 10 themes, such as the issues of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees,
including those from Ukraine; plastic waste, which is becoming increasingly contaminated on a global
scale; migrant workers (including foreign technical interns) in Japan; and the dangers of handling personal
information in cyberspace, which is increasingly being used for business purposes. The discussion wasbased on the issues raised by the participants. The results were summarized as "Important Human Rights
Issues for Each Industry (11th Edition). The "Summary of Discussions among Companies in Different
Industries (12 teams)" (Appendix 2) is attached as an appendix to this report. In the "Summary ofDiscussions among Companies from Different Industries (All 12 Teams)," the participants, who wereshuffled from one industry to another, discussed the following issues from the following perspectives,
which the secretariat summarized in a diagram.
The secretariat summarized the discussion by drawing up a diagram from the following perspectives:⚫

The impact of alleged human rights abuses involving the state on real businesses and the cases inwhich such abuses have become apparent⚫

Cases in which the company's activities may have a negative impact on the issues raised by civilsociety⚫

The form of "relief mechanisms" that should be put in place for socially vulnerable groups.

In 2023, as in the previous year, we received issues raised by NGOs/NPOs and experts and, referring to the
Human Rights Guidance Tool (formulated in 2011 and revised in 2014) developed by the United Nations
Environment Programme Finance Initiative, added, deleted, or revised the " Human Rights Issues bySector" developed by the Nippon CSR Consortium last year. The following items were reviewed on anindustry-by-industry basis to see if there were any additions, deletions, or modifications. New coronavirus
infection (Covid-19) was declared a "category 5 infectious disease" in May, moving to the "new normal.
Although improvement in coronas was observed, the program continued from last year, utilizing the Zoomsystem, an online conferencing tool, and face-to-face meetings; STEP 1 was held via the web, and from
STEP 2 (6th meeting) onward, the program was held via the web and a 2-dimensional relay between theweb and the face-to-face venue. Because of the teleworking environment, participants came from all overJapan, expanding the range of participants. This year's session focused on the issue of climate change,
which is attracting attention as a human rights issue. Human rights abuses in the Palestinian Interim
Authority (PA) The discussion was based on issues raised by civil society on 10 themes, including theemergence of generative AI. The results were summarized in "Human Rights Issues by Sector". This year,
the Global dialogue was held in October, taking advantage of the visit to Japan of overseas experts in thefield of human rights, which had been interrupted by Covid-19.

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