Relationship with the Global Environment

Second Sumitomo Electric Group Stakeholder Dialogue

Theme

Toward the Further Promotion of
the Environmental Management ofthe Sumitomo Electric GroupIn the second stakeholder dialogue held at the Tokyo Head Oﬃce of Sumitomo Electric, we invited three experts with outstandingknowledge about corporate environmental management, and exchanged opinions on the eﬀective and sustainable environmental
management of the Sumitomo Electric Group. We will use the valuable opinions received at the dialogue for further promotion of
our environmental management.

Outline of the Stakeholder Dialogue
Date：March 7, 2011 (Mon.)

Venue：Tokyo Head Oﬃce of Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.

Guests：Prof. Yoshinao Kozuma Faculty of Economics, Sophia University
Prof. Kozuma specializes in environmental accounting theory and international accounting theory.
He has served as chair and member of CSR and environment-related review committees and study
groups organized by Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Cabinet Oﬃce, Government of Japan, Japanese Institute of Certiﬁed Public Accountants, etc.
Manager, Environmental Aﬀairs Division,
Mr. Sadahiro Tanaka General
Toyota Motor Corporation
Mr. Tanaka entered Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (current Toyota Motor Corporation), and took thecurrent post after serving as General Manager, General Admin.Dept of Global Purchasing
Planning Division, Group Leader, the CSR Oﬃce of CSR & Environmental Aﬀairs Division etc.

Dr. Michiyo Morisawa Japan Director, Carbon Disclosure Project
After working for the mitigation of settlement risk among ﬁnancial institutions at Citibank, etc.,
Dr. Morisawa started the research of environmental studies in 2003. When CDP expanded its
operation to include more countries in the world in 2006, she joined CDP as a person in chargeof Japan. Ph.D. in environmental studies at the University of Tokyo.

Facilitator：Mr. Takashi Fukushima (President, Sustainability Accounting Co., Ltd.)
Participants from Sumitomo Electric：

Prof. Yoshinao Kozuma, Dr. Michiyo Morisawa,
Mr. Sadahiro Tanaka (from left)

Shigeru Noda (Managing Director)
Safety & Environment Dept. : Akinobu Kohara (General Manager), Toshio Matsutomo (Manager of the Energy Saving Oﬃce)
CSR Promotion Oﬃce of HR & Administration Dept. : Kazunori Tokuda (Manager), Tatsuro Yoshida (Senior Manager),
Kazumasa Mitsuhashi (Assistant Manager)

Schedule

1

Opening remarks andexplanation of the purpose

Glossary

27 SEI CSR Report 2011

2Presentation on
the environmental management of
the Sumitomo Electric Group

3

4
Exchange of opinions

Summary andclosing remarks＊Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)＊Connected Reporting Framework (CRF)

Collaborative project of institutional investors to request companies to establish
their strategies against climate change and publish speciﬁc data on GHG emissions.

A reporting scheme recently developed in the United Kingdom that
integrates ﬁnancial and non-ﬁnancial information in the disclosure.

Exchange of Opinions
Fukushima： Firstly, would you mention the subjects on theMorisawa： When your company enhances the disclosure ofenvironmental management of the Sumitomo Electric

overseas components in the future, it will be better not toGroup in which you are interested?

exclude data for the reason that the performance has notreached 100% but to present the achievement rate at that

Demands for the Sumitomo Electric Groupin its environmental management
T a n a k a： I h a v e a n i m p r e s s i o n t h a t
Sumitomo Electric has incorporated thepoint and the target rate to be achieved in the future.

The role of environmental managementin the future society

concrete environmental policy into its

Fukushima： What do you think about the opinion that, in thebusiness activities and is making steadyenvironmental management of Sumitomo Electric, it is unclear

eﬀorts. On the other hand, the explanation

what contribution the company makes to society?

of the Company's social contribution

Matsutomo： Until now, the environmental department has

through its main business seems to be insuﬃcient. I would

not joined discussions of how to use our technologies forlike to ask how Sumitomo Electric will chieﬂy contribute tosocial contribution in our company. We will consider

the sustainable development of society through its main

involving the department from the R&D stage when, forbusiness in the future.

example, we discuss our approach to the low-carbon society.

Morisawa： I work for Carbon Disclosure

T o k u d a ： As we a r e a m a t e r i a l

P r o j e c t ( C D P )＊ , a B r i t i s h N G O , a n dmanufacturer, it is inevitable to pay
attention to customers ﬁrst. We tend toinformation disclosure initiative of CDP. As

try to contribute to society throughI also work as the Japan manager ofcustomers. As to research andUnited Nations Principles for Responsible

development, our NEXT Center established

Investment (PRI), I have chances to observe the activities ofin 2010 engages in the proposal of new business areas as

the company from various aspects. I especially appreciate its

well as research and exploration for the acquisition ofcommitment to modal shift involving other companies innecessary fundamental technology. While the sales group,Japan. I hope that the commitment is disclosed even morewhich has direct contact with customers, has joined theactively as a best practice for other companies. I would also

discussion, CSR Promotion Oﬃce will support thelike to ask how the company will address the increase in its

environmental department in participating in it as a contact

greenhouse gas emissions in foreign countries and respondpoint for society.

Relationship withthe Global Environment

Sumitomo Electric cooperates in theto environmental laws and regulations in the future.

management of the Sumitomo Electric

Relationship with the management plan,target setting and boundaries

Group is more advanced in comparison

Fukushima： With respect to long-termwith other material manufacturers. Icommitment, the core of Sumitomoassume that it is the ﬁrst JapaneseElectric's environmental conservationcompany that addressed the Connected

activities is the Action ECO-21 campaign,

Reporting Framework (CRF)＊, which was introduced from its

and its Phase Ⅳ is set to be until 2012.

CSR Report 2010. For environmental management in these

What do you think about this period

days, it is a crucial question to which level of the supply chain

setting? In addition, what is your opinion about theor lifecycle is handled. I would like to know the opinion ofrelationship between absolute and intensity＊ targets when

Sumitomo Electric about this issue.

setting targets?

Kozuma： I think that the environmental

Noda： We believe that Sumitomo Electric isKozuma： The span of a corporate management plan is 10

disclosing its environmental management

years at the longest. It will be impossible to make a superdata wherever possible. Nevertheless, as along-term plan for environmental issues in spite of such aconsequence, the disclosed data may beperiod setting for the management plan.

diﬃcult to understand. We should
communicate the data in a way that people
outside our company can understand them more easily.

Morisawa： I think that it depends on the strategy of thecompany whether it gives priority to absolute or intensity
targets as its long-term targets, and either type of targets isacceptable. When the data are disclosed, on the other hand,both absolute and intensity targets should be presented
because intensity data may highlight your superiority over thecompanies that have entered the market later, like Chineseand Indian companies.

Glossary＊Intensity
An indicator of the eﬃciency of activities, based on the amount of the factors (raw materials, energy, services, time required,waste, etc.) used/discharged to achieve a certain amount of outcomes in such activities as production, sales and life.

SEI CSR Report 201128

Tanaka： When business activities cover extensive areas as in
the case of Sumitomo Electric, it may be diﬃcult to select theManagement & Engineering Unit in each region to serve asthe base. We plan to establish two bases in China and one indenominator of the intensity. As to the period setting, inconsideration of the current economic circumstances, a

ASEAN countries and assign a dedicated team with a small
number of members in each of the bases.

foreseeable period will be three years or less.

K o h a r a： A s t h e e m p l o y e e s d o n o t
understand the Japanese language, weMatsutomo： We set both absolute andemploy videos for education. We are alsousing local languages in danger-prediction

intensity targets. However, intensity targets
are set only in our production units. We
think that the targets on oﬃce work andactivities to make them closer to thecommon level. It is actually diﬃcult
because the sense of people is diﬀerent between countries.

sulfur hexaﬂuoride (SF6) emissions should be
absolute values. Potential causes of anincrease or decrease in absolute values are wide ranging, it isdiﬃcult to make an assessment based on absolute values at theﬁeld level. The activities are evaluated based on intensity.
Noda： To perform environmental management linked withthe medium-term plan, a common period is applied to both
VISION 2012 and Action ECO-21. The goal for environmental
management is also set to be 2012 although the global
ﬁnancial crisis has caused a signiﬁcant delay in part of theplan. Environmental and manufacturing activities are linked
with business management. We have already started todiscuss the medium-term plan for the next period internally,and the committee members representing our divisions anddepartments are now discussing speciﬁc subjects.
Fukushima： With respect to boundaries＊, what do you think
about the issue of consistency with the boundaries ofconsolidation for ﬁnancial reporting?
Morisawa： The boundaries for reporting emissions can bebased on ﬁnancial management, business management, stock
holding and other criteria. CDP recommends the use of theboundaries of consolidation if ﬁnancial management isselected as the basis for the boundaries of reporting.
Kozuma： The original idea came from the demand for thedisclosure of how much environmental impact is actually
covered in the boundaries of consolidation. Although boundaries
are important, there is also the issue of scope＊ and I think thescope of disclosure will expand in a more multi-layered way.

Matsutomo： I ﬁnd it diﬃcult to grasp environmental laws andregulations in foreign countries. It took one year to make achecklist of them in China. While we somehow managed thetask in China, we now have to do it in Southeast Asia. We
have issued an instruction to conduct a survey, but we arenot sure where to begin.
Tanaka： Toyota appoints persons in charge of environmental
issues or information collection in the regional headquarters
and other sites to send information to the head oﬃce.
Nevertheless, our basic goal is that environmental issues arehandled autonomously within each country/region.
Noda： Sumitomo Electric also performs relatively advanced
safety audits. The knowledge achieved from them is used forenvironmental activities and quality control. Concerning theestablishment of bases, we consider forming the Manufacturing

29 SEI CSR Report 2011

Tanaka： While it is essential to pursue both economic andenvironmental beneﬁts, it may be better to highlight theunique features of Sumitomo Electric related to coexistencewith society such as the action plan, which will facilitate
further development. Society has great expectations fromyour company.
Morisawa： With a history of over a century, Sumitomo
Electric has been a top runner that played a role in the higheconomic growth of Japan. I hope that your company
continues to exercise leadership over Asian companies onenvironmental aspects as well.
Kozuma： I hope that your company promotes advanced
initiatives, such as CRF, step by step. To enhance response toglobal environmental regulations, it may be necessary to ask
for public support.
Noda： Although the time was limited, we received many
opinions from the guests who are active in the front linesof the respective ﬁelds. I was impressed with a new wayof thinking many times. We would like to add theseperspectives to our future activities. Thank you everyone.

After the Stakeholder Dialogue
Shigeru Noda Managing Director

Establishment of overseas bases forenvironmental management

GlossaryExpectations from the environmental managementof the Sumitomo Electric Group in the futureWe have been committed toenvironmental management as one of
the key issues in management, andthe exchange with the experts fromoutside our company was very
meaningful. Our activities, such as CRF
and joint modal shift with othercompanies, received unexpectedly high evaluation, and wewould like to place even more emphasis on them. We will
respond to the indications and advice given in the dialogue,
such as disclosure of information in a more proper andeasy-to-understand way, promptly in the CSR Report for thisﬁscal year wherever possible, while some issues including
those related to our basic approach and the matter ofboundaries are diﬃcult to improve in a short term. Thisdialogue enhanced our awareness of coexistence with society
and initiatives from a global perspective. We will speciﬁcally
discuss these subjects to improve and strengthen ourenvironmental management.

＊Boundary＊ScopeOrganizations covered in the report.

Content covered in the report; scope in the value chain.