Enabling
the future
together2023

Sustainability Report

Fiscal year ending March 31st 2023

Nippon Gases (hereinafter also referred to as, “Nippon Gases Europe”, “NGE”) part of
Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation (NSHD) is the brand name under which Nippon Gases
Euro-Holding S.L.U. with Spanish tax ID B88128368 (also referred as “NGEH”) and its subsidiaries operate in Europe.
Reporting Period.
This non-financial report includes information of Nippon Gases for the period April 1st, 2022
to March 31st, 2023. Within the report is also referred to as “FYE2023” (Fiscal Year Ending)and “2023”.
Scope of the Report.
The Sustainability Report is part of the consolidated Directors Report of Nippon Gases
Euro-Holding S.L.U. This report includes information on the sustainability (also referred as
non-financial information) activities of NGEH and its subsidiaries.
References and Guidelines.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the content required by prevailing
Spanish company law and in conformity with the criteria outlined in the Global Reporting
Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) : in reference with GRI

standards as well as other criteria described in chapter 5.8 Table of contents required under
Spanish Law 11/2018 regarding non financial reporting .
Publication.
Current issue: Sustainability Report 2023. Fiscal year ending March 31st, 2023.
Previous issue: Sustainability Report 2022. Fiscal year ending March 31st, 2022.
Enquiries.
Att: Sustainability Director
Nippon Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U.
C. Orense 11 – 9th floor.
28020 Madrid (Spain)
Disclaimer.
This report contains not only past and present facts about Nippon Gases, but also forecasts
related to social conditions, business plans, policies and estimates of their outcomes.
These forecasts and estimates are assumptions or judgments based on the information
available at the time of their writing. As such, actual future social conditions and businessactivity outcomes may differ from the forecasts and estimates presented in this report.

Index1

Enabling the future together

09

3

Towards a carbon neutral world

57

1.1

Message from the President

11

3.1

Climate change

65

1.2

Nippon Gases Group

13

3.1.1

Greenhouse Gas emissions

65

1.2.1

Group structure

14

3.1.2

Carbon Neutrality

67

1.2.2

Management team

14

3.2

Environment management

69

1.2.3

Market position

15

3.3

Energy management

71

1.3

Vision, philosophy and guiding principles

16

3.4

Water management

76

1.4

Sustainable development

17

3.5

Raw material usage

79

1.4.1

Sustainability framework

17

3.6

Other Emissions

80

1.4.2

Nippon Gases initiatives

18

1.4.3

Nippon Sanso Holdings (NSHD) initiatives

19

1.4.4

Sustainability Mid-term Plan

20

4
4.1

2

Working beyond the present

Empowered by people
Human capital

81
87

23

4.1.1

Internal framework

87

4.1.2

Headcount89

2.1

Business model

29

4.1.3

Employee turnover

89

2.1.1

Products Markets

30

4.1.4

Compensation

90

2.1.2

Service supplier

31

4.1.5

Equality of opportunity

91

Expanding into Total Electronics

33

4.1.6

Talent91

2.2

Stakeholders’ engagement

35

4.2

Communication

93

2.3

Strategy37

4.3

Work-life balance

96

2.4

Corporate governance

39

4.4

H&S management

97

2.4.1

Governance structure

39

4.5

Community commitment

100

2.4.2

Highest governance body

41

4.6

Success Stories

101

2.4.3

Committees

43

4.6.1

People101

2.4.4

Governance performance

44

4.6.2

Earth

103

2.5

Risk management

45

4.6.3

Customer

106

2.5.1

Roles and responsibilities

45

4.7

Awards08

2.5.2

Internal framework

46

2.5.3

Risk management model

47

2.5.4

Risk identification

48

5

Annex

2.5.5

Climate risk

50

111

2.6

Ethics & compliance

50

2.6.1

Internal framework

50

2.6.2

Fair competition, anti-corruption and bribery

51

2.6.3

Prevention of money laundering

52

2.6.4

Respect for human rights

52

2.6.5

Extraordinary compliance initiatives

52

2.7

Customers

53

2.7.1

Internal framework

53

2.7.2

Customer relationships

53

2.8

Supply chain

55

2.8.1

Supply chain procedures

55

2.8.2

Responsible supply chain

55

2.8.3

Supply chain innovation

55

5.1

Community initiatives

5.2

Membership list of associations

117

5.3

2023 Summary data

118

5.4

GHG emission verification statement (SGS)

127

5.5

Glossary132

5.6

About this report

133

5.7

Legal entities list

134

5.8

Table of contents required under Law 11/2018

135

5.9

Independent Limited Assurance of
the Sustainability Report

139

113

1.
Enabling thefuture together
As the European subsidiary of Nippon
Sanso Holdings Corporation (NSHD) – a
global company with over 100 years’
worth of experience – Nippon Gases is
responsible for representing the Group’s
presence and interests in Europe.
Comprised of 5 operational regions across
13 countries, Nippon Gases believes in an
innovative, collaborative, and proactive
approach to business. Combining not only
each region’s specialities and leadership,
but also each team, and every employees’
individual talent and knowledge.

We achieve results whilst maintaining
the highest standards in safety andsustainability – being recognised by manyindustrial gases associations. Being
able to move forward and improve as ateam, implementing our joint approach tobusiness whilst being able to give back to
our employees and communities in which
we operate, is how we are enabling thefuture together.

Back to index

910Message from the President

Eduardo Gil Elejoste

One year ago, when I was working on the Sustainability Report's opening letter, I was hoping that the war in Ukraine, which
had started a couple of months before, would soon be over. Unfortunately, this was not meant to be; we have recently
passed its first year and the end does not seem near.
Rivers of ink have flowed dedicated to the suffering and disasters caused by the war and there is very little we can add
here. In this report we concentrate on those internal and external, matters that are relevant for our company (our company
meaning, our employees, our assets, our customers, our suppliers, our neighbors, our shareholders..). Without a doubt, thewar has been relevant and has had a significant impact on our business last year.

Working beyond the present
To name a few: natural gas record prices in
Europe (natural gas prices reached 15 times
the historical average, later returning to a newmarket price 2 to 3 times above), electricity
record prices in Europe, inflation higher than in
the last few decades in Europe, global logistics
disruptions, significant product shortages
in Europe and globally (as an example, in ourbusiness in Europe, the CO2 supply chain
disruption due to the cost driven stop ofammonia production plants), European industry
slowing down, a general economic slowdown,
economic stagnation...

Despite these challenges,
many of them unexpected,
we have proven our resilienceand adapted our decisions andstrategy to continue performingfor our stakeholders.

Towards a carbon neutral world

As far as decarbonizationis concerned, as afundamental part of theoverall sustainability effort,
industrial gases are an
essential contributor to
the solution.

In Nippon Gases, we have increased the usage of
renewable electrical energy up to 35% this past year
and, including low carbon energy usage, we havereached 76% of the total electricity consumed. We
11

In addition this increasing use of greener electricity, weare continuously investing in new technologies and in
the modernisation of our facilities to reduce the specificconsumption. In the last 10 years, we have reduced thespecific electricity consumption by 8%.
We are also working to reduce the transportation
greenhouse gases intensity by more than 6% fromFYE2022 to FYE2026 and we are striving to reduce water
usage and to minimise waste in all our sites. Externally,
our customer portfolio includes industries with high CO2emissions, as well as others with lower emissions, butwith a strong commitment to sustainability. We help
them reduce their carbon intensity, providing tailormade solutions, adapted to their specificities. We areworking on new CO2 supply projects of biogenic origin,on a green hydrogen project, as well as on a large scalecarbon capture and transportation project. Our products
and technologies avoided client emissions of more than
1.4 million tons of CO2, 1.5 times more than our current
emissions of 0.9 million tons of CO2.

Empowered by people
Our entire Nippon Gases organisation has been giving its
best during the difficult times we have just gone through. I
want to thank all our employees for their hard work and to letthem know that their effort and dedication has resulted in ourcompany meeting our goals, both financial and non-financial,despite the unforeseen difficulties that we all had to struggle
with. We have been able to overcome the challenges oflast year, of two years of pandemic and one year of war,
working harder on our priorities: people excellence, safety,
compliance, sustainability and customer focus.

of all employees. According totheir own voice, gathered in theannual employee survey, 88% of
employees rated their sustainableengagement with Nippon Gases
as high.

I want to highlight that,
especially under this challenging
environment, the wholeorganisation continues to focus
on the positive engagement

Working collaboratively, when we go back to these lines
in one year, we expect to have made all these projects areality, so that we will continue enabling the future together,working beyond the present towards a carbon neutral world,
empowered by people.

Back to index“Enabling a Carbon neutral world ” is the leitmotivof the recently launched NSHD group and Nippon
Gases carbon neutrality strategy. We are working
internally, inside our own company and externallywith our customers. We, all industrial gases
companies, are intensive electricity consumers
and we use road transport as one of the major
ways to reach our customers. As such, we need tocontribute to a decarbonized society also from aninternal point of view.

have achieved an emission reduction of 36% from thebaseline FYE2019, we sign long term Power Purchase
Agreements (PPA) contracts whenever possible and wehave started to use photovoltaic (PV) solar panels for
self-generation.

12

1.2 Nippon Gases Group
Nippon Gases is the European subsidiary of Nippon Sanso
Holdings Corporation (NSHD), a global company with over
100 years of experience and a major presence in Japan,
Asia, Australia, the US and Canada. We are the fourthlargest industrial gas company in Europe with over 3,000
employees – of which 27.9% are women. Nippon Gases highly
experienced team of motivated and engaged employees
contribute to the sustainable growth of our customers,
suppliers and partners.

The main products supplied by Nippon Gases are oxygen,nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, carbon
monoxide, gas mixtures, electronic gases, specialty gases
and the services and technologies associated with the useof these gases and mixtures. As the strategic partner forindustrial and medical gases for our customers, we offer ourown technological solutions to a wide range of markets suchas aerospace, chemicals, electronics, energy, environment,
food and beverages, health and homecare, manufacturing,
metal production and petrochemicals.
The high quality of our products, services and application
technologies forms the foundation of our success in
the industries wherein we operate. We emphasise close
cooperation with our customers as the key to offering them
the products, services and technologies that will help themin being a more sustainable business – all by increasing theirproductivity and reducing their energy consumption.
Nippon Gases’ commitment to our customers, employees
and partners – and to the communities in which we operate –reflects our dedication to sustainable development. As partof this effort, our procurement and supply chain also adheres
to Nippon Gases’ Code of Conduct Principles.

14

Pipelines

5

Specialty gases laboratories

30

Air separation units (ASUs)

6

Hydrogen plants

44

Onsite12

CO2 plants

1K

Trucks

2.8M

Cylinders40

PAG Plants

7

Operative terminals

Even though we operate in 14 countries (13 European
countries and with a presence in Singapore throughour helium Offshore business), the European group is
managed throughout 5 business regions. The groupstructure of Nippon Gases is clearly outlined below.

1.2.2 Management team

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Our presence in Europe positions us as a leading company –operating today in 13 European countries (Belgium, Denmark,France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden and UK), serving more than 150,000
customers through a combination of onsite/piping, merchantand packaging lines of business across key industrial zones
and having achieved revenues of €1.9 billion during FYE2023.

1.2.1 Group structure

The Nippon Gases Management Team consists of Euro-Holding's
functional Directors and regional Managing Directors (MDs).

Back to index

Dordrecht,
Netherlands

1314

1.2.3 Market position
Nippon Gases is the fourth largest industrial gases company
in Europe, with an overall market share close to 9%.

19%Considering only our current
operational European countries,
our market share is around 12%.

–

Safety–Uninterrupted supply–

Expertise in the industries we serve–

Responsiveness to customer requirements

Since 1910, Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation, to which Nippon Gases belongs,
has been adapting its operations to the needs of its customers.

42%

We are recognised as leaders in:

Bulk Liquid30%
9%Pipeline &Onsite1.3 Vision, philosophy,& guiding principles
Our capacity to respond proactively to the needs of the market and to innovate
collaboratively are central values that guide all our operations to make life better
through gas technologies – building positive relationships between people andsocieties, as well as with our planet.

Packaged

Our vision

Other

Our philosophy

The company also enjoys a wide portfolio in terms of markets served, with morethan 34% of its sales in resilient, non-cyclical markets such as food and beverages,
health and homecare, electronics or environment:

Manufacturing
Metal Production

Nippon Sanso Holdings formulated its first medium-term
management plan, NS Vision 2026, defining five strategies:
Sustainability Management, Exploring New Businesstowards Carbon Neutrality, Total Electronics, Operational
Excellence, and DX Initiatives.

Making life better through gas
technology.
The Gas Professionals.

Food & Beverages
Healthcare
Chemicals & Petrochemicals
Other
EnergyOur guiding principles

Electronics
Environmental Remediation

19%

The main priorities of our company are employee excellence, safety, compliance, environmental
sustainability, customer focus and financial results.
All Nippon Gases employees adhere strictly to our principles in safety, compliance and diversity and inclusion.

19%

SafetyAll accidents can be prevented.
Safety is the responsibility ofline management.
Every employee is responsible forhis/her own safety.

18%

10%

3%

12%

6%

Every employee must stop a job if itcannot be done safely.

2%

Efforts in safety yield results in safety.

10%

Safety is a condition of employment.

Compliance

Diversity

All compliance breaches canbe prevented.

Diversity and inclusion are essential toboth our work and our workplace.

Compliance is the responsibility ofline management.

Inclusion is a line-management
accountability.

Every employee is responsible forhis/her own ethical behaviour.

Every employee is responsible forbeing a model for inclusive behaviour.

Every employee must stop a job if itcannot be done ethically.

Every employee must stop
non-inclusive actions or conduct.

Efforts in compliance yield resultsin compliance.

Efforts in diversity and inclusion will
increase engagement and improvebusiness results.

Ethical behaviour is a conditionof employment.

Inclusiveness is a conditionof employment.

Back to index

15

Proactive. Innovative.
Collaborative.
ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

We aim to create social value through innovative gas
solutions that increase industrial productivity, enhance
human well-being and contribute to a more sustainable
future.

16

1.4 Sustainable development
Sustainable development means adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs ofthe corporation and its stakeholders today, whilst protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human andnatural resources that will be needed in the future. This includes being responsible towards employees,
customers, communities, the environment and partners. By adopting socially and environmentally
responsible behaviour, businesses can make a significant contribution to boosting employment andwealth creation, fostering social justice and protecting the environment.

Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation materiality matrix
NSHD’s materiality matrix was initially formulated in 2015, being revised and having
obtained approval from the NSHD Board of Directors in December 2021.
The respect for Human Rights, Safety and Security, and Corporate Ethics arepreconditions for the existence of an Enterprise.

Strengthening communication withstakeholders.
Sustainable supply chain.
Contribution to regional and industrial
development as social infrastructure.
Diversity & Inclusion (KPI).

Conservation of water resources (KPI).

1.4.1 Sustainability framework

The Sustainability Committee (SC), led by the Nippon Gases
President, is comprised of 13 top representatives of thefunctional areas, and meets on a quarterly basis.

IMPORTANCE OF STAKEHOLDERS

The President appoints the Nippon Gases Sustainability
Director to execute and handle sustainability programmes.
The management of sustainability matters is covered by the
Sustainability Committee and the Sustainability Task Force.

Pursuit of customer satisfaction (KPI).
Technology and R&D capabilities that
support the creation of customers andsocial value.
Promotion of initiatives for digital
innovation.
Employee and family health.

Providing products and services that contributeto solving environmental and social issues (KPI).
Climate change mitigation and adaptation (KPI).
Effectiveuse of resources and prevention ofpollution (KPI).

Strengthening information security measures.
Improvement of productivity andpromotion of production optimisation (KPI).
Development and mainteance ofhuman resources.

Conservation of biodiversity.
Improvement of employee engagement (KPI).
Providing comfortable and affluent lifestyles.

Protection and effective utilisation ofIntellectual Property.

IMPORTANCE TO OUR BUSINESS
Important issues related to theglobal environment.

Important issues related tosocial systems.

Important issues related tocompanies and organisations.

The Sustainability Committee is responsible for:–

Coordinating with NSHD’s CSO (Chief Sustainability
Officer) and Sustainability team when establishing thesustainability strategy and defining ESG goals
and targets.

–

Monitoring the performance of Nippon Gases’
Sustainability Mid-Term Plan.

–

Evaluating initiatives related to compliance, safety,
quality, supply chain, human rights, the environment,
energy, people and community.

–

Promoting and coordinating the publication of Nippon
Gases’ annual Sustainability Report.

1.4.2 Nippon Gases initiatives
During the FYE2023, Nippon Gases has focused on consolidating and following the progress of initiatives committed in our
Sustainability Mid-Term Plan FYE2022 - FYE2026, disclosed in last year’s Sustainability Report.

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERThe Nippon Gases President has ultimate responsibility andauthority over our initiatives to work towards the European
Union’s (EU’s) transition to a climate-neutral and green
economy, in line with the European Green Deal. Additionally,
he leads Nippon Gases' commitments related to the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including its humanrights and environmental objectives.

Coexistence with the local community.

Product and service safety & quality (KPI).

Third-party engagement initiatives
Nippon Gases’ adherence to external commitments is confirmed and exemplified by engaging third-party agencies relevant tostakeholders to evaluate our sustainable strategy, and provide visibility to our stakeholders.

2022

Responsible CareIn FYE2023 we participated in the
Ecovadis survey and received a Gold
Medal, recognising Nippon Gases in the
top 2% of companies in our sector forour sustainability programme, covering
the areas of Environment, Labour andHuman Rights, Ethics and Sustainable
Procurement.

Nippon Gases participate in the
Responsible Care programme lead by
CEFIC, the International Organisationof the National Chemical Associations.
Now, under the umbrella of Nippon
Gases and the Global Charter signed
by our President, we all benefit fromcoordination and commitment to fulfil
the six Responsible Care pillars.

United Nations Global
Compact (UNGC)
We have been an active participantof the network since we joined. Thisfiscal year, we updated our membershipstatus to be registered as an affiliate of
Nippon Sanso Holdings.

Back to index

17

Ecovadis18

1.4.3 Nippon Sanso Holdings (NSHD) initiatives
As part of the NSHD group, we continue to align with TCFD (Task Force on Climaterelated Financial Disclosures) and have launched various sustainability initiatives
included in the Medium-Term Management Plan Sustainability Programs.

Carbon Neutral
Program I (CNP I)

Carbon Neutral
Program II (CNP II)NSHD aims for carbon neutrality
by technological breakthroughs by
FYE2051.

NSHD will reduce our customers’
GHG emissions through environmental products offerings andapplications.

NSHD Group GHG emissions
FYE2026: -18% FYE2031: -32%** Compared to FYE2019

By FYE2026, NSHD will achieve
GHG reduction contribution that exceeds GHG emissions by the Group

1.4.4 Sustainable Mid-Term Plan
In January 2022, the Nippon Gases Sustainability Committee
approved the Sustainability Mid-term Plan FYE2022 FYE2026. This plan outlines the purpose, governance andthe process by which to identify the initiatives, and has been
defined in alignment with the NSHD corporate medium-term
plan. We are aware of the role we play in society and thus
have also incorporated a series of ESG commitments into our
Sustainability Mid-term Plan FYE2022 - 2026.

Climate Change /Innovation and Technology

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
approaches of waste treatment
are requirements of the times.

We aim for the preservation ofwater resources by the efficientutilisation of water throughout ourbusiness activities.

Safety First
Program (SFP)

Quality Reliability
Program (QRP)

Aim for World-Class Safety in theindustrial gas industry.

Instill a quality-oriented culture
to further reform of employee
awareness, and enhance NSHD’s
quality and reliability by promoting
introduction of automation technologies.

Lost Time Injury Rate (LTIR): 1.6 orlower (FYE2026)

Talent Diversity
Program (TDP)
Diversified talents are essential
to the sustainable growth of
our Group.

19

Human capital. Employee engagement
Diversity and Inclusion
Stakeholders and communities

Environmental management
Productivity program
Use of resources- water
Waste management

Ethics and Compliance
Governance bodies
Human rights
ESG risk management

Safe Operation

Sustainability reporting certification

Health and Safety
Customers and product safety

Procurement. Supplier ESG engagement

Product Carbon Footprint certification

The FYE2026 targets and the progress of each initiative
are reported hereafter.

Compliance
Penetration
Program (CPP)We further promote our compliance activities by instilling awarenessand correct understanding of compliance among all employees.
Rate of receiving compliancetraining 100%

Back to index

Female employee 22% FYE2026,
25% FYE2031; Female Management posts 18% FYE2026, 22%
FYE2031

PeopleEnvironmental

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Sustainable Water
Program (SWP)

Five areas of activities have been defined to coordinate theinitiatives identified for the mid-term plan:

The governance and follow-up of the Mid-term Plan is
managed by the Sustainability Committee and its Task Force.

Carbon neutrality
Energy renewable sourcing

Zero Waste
Program (ZWP)

The communication of our Mid-term Plan and its progressis disseminated through our internal channels (website,
quarterly magazine, quarterly meetings), via our corporatewebsite and through our Sustainability Report.

20

SDG GOAL

NGE MIDTERM INITIATIVESTARGETSTATUS APR 2023

29% reduction FYE2026
35% reduction FYE2031

On Track
35% vs FYE 2019 Baseline

Carbon Neutrality: Expand products and services thatenable customers to reduce CO2 emissions. Increase
the rate of CO2 reduction contribution to customers

Contribution > Emission

To Follow
Contribution 1.4 Mill TCO2 >Emission 0.9 Mill TCO2

Carbon Neutrality: Biomethane production by
Anaerobic Digestion of Waste water treatment sludge

Reach 8 unit/yr with average
production 500 m3/hr, equivalent 281
GWH per year

On Track
Several projects underdevelopment

Carbon Neutrality: Promotion of this Biomethane assource for producing green or low carbon Hydrogen forsmall/ medium customers

Renewal Energy: Continue promotion of renewableenergy share

Reach 6 unit/yr with average
production 240 m3/hr

35% renewable energy

To Follow
35% Renewable Energy during
FYE2026

50,000 Tons CO2eq.

On Track
To meet 50,000 Eq. CO2 Tons 70%
achieved

Reduction 10% in water intensity vssales.

On Track
FYE2023 at 1.09

Improve Lost Time Injury rate. (LTI per million working
hours).

LTI 0.54

On Track
FYE2023 at 0.52

Preventable Product Vehicle Accident rate (Pre-PVA
per million kilometers driven).

Pre-PVAR 0.20

On Track
FYE2023 at 0.10

Number of Property Damages (PDs)12/yr

To Follow
Property Damages during
FYE2023: 9

Continue promoting campaigns as result of analysis
from Incidents and Assessments

One campaign per year

Done

Complete the Process Safety Roadmap

Complete by FYE2024

On Track

Reinforce the European Safety & Environmental
assessment program

12 European assessment per year

On Track
16

On Track
Water Intensity Redution > 30%

Bring the training for employees and contractors intoa digital platform

Complete Europe deployment by
FYE2024

To Follow
Expected by FYE 2025

Waste: Reduction rate of waste disposal intensity (vssales). Base year FYE2020

Reduction 11% in waste intensity vssales.

On Track
Waste Intensity Redution > 30%

Customer: Reinforcement of quality assurance andmanagement systems

Number of Product Complaints witheconomic impact higher 1 Mi JPY; ≤5/yr

To Follow
One Complaint with economic
impact higher 1 Mi JPY during
FYE2023

Logistics: Continue to take advantage of data driven
technologies and improve the efficiencies in our
logistics by right sizing our tank and cylinder bundle
size. Base year FYE2022

Reduction 6% producttransportation GHG intensity
improvement.

On Track
Transport Intensity Redution vslast year 2%

Customer: Satisfaction survey

As needed

To Follow
As needed

Compliance: Thorough compliance training

100% employee receiving Compliancetraining

To Follow
Successfully completed by 100%of target employees (2,272)>80% operation sites

Standards: Participate in the developing of HSEQ
Corporate Standards

Complete review NGE Standards

To Follow
We are part of NSHD Standards
Board

Compliance: Sustainable review of all potential
integrity cases

100% review

To Follow
100% review

Procurement: Incorporate environmental
management and the ESG (Environmental Socialand Governance) criteria procedures with all theparticipants in the value chain. To be included insupplier contracts

Suppliers covering 80% of spend
to be included in new SRM - Supply
Relationship Management system.
New ESG clauses incorporated inEuropean contract templates.

To Follow
New system (CLM) in place in 2
out of 5 regions, to be completed
in FY2024

Procurement: Improve CSR risk analysis prior to
supplier assessments or audits

Implement new system (iRisk) as part ofthe process for all safety critical, single
source and sole source suppliers.

To Follow
iRisk module to be implemented
in FYE2024 for all safety criticalsuppliers

Procurement: Improve supporting documentationon the coverage of sustainable procurement actions
throughout the company supplier base/operations

Incorporate new supplier Code of
Conduct to the documentation and
SRM process for targeted (80% spend)
supplier.

To Follow
New code of conduct in placeand documents sent to key
suppliers

Procurement: Improve information on reporting onsustainable procurement issues

Incorporate supplier driven initiatives
related to productivity sustainableactions and link them to new SRM
system.

To Follow
On target

To Follow>80% operation sites

PEOPLE

Diversity and Inclusion: Increase of female populationand its managerial and specialist participation

Employee engagement: Evaluation of employee
engagement. Improve Sustainable Engagement Index

Female 30.5%,
Managerial 28.5%≥85%

On Track
Total Female 27.9%; Famales
Manegarial ans Spec 30.4%

On Track
Sustainable Engagement rated at 88
in the last survey.

Community engagement: Coordinate social andcommunity initiatives in the areas were we havepresence. Base Year FYE2022

Increase people participation, funding
and # projects.
30% increase

To Follow> 50% people participation incommunity initiatives

Youth: Commitment of increasing the numberof positions for young local diverse talent in theorganisation

Increase the # of internships by 3%
per annum

On Track
40% increasse from FYE 2021

Back to index

RIR 1.19

ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE

Environmental Management System ISO 14001:
Improve participation of operational sites

21

STATUS APR 2023

Improve our RI rate. (Recordable Injuries per million
working hours).

On Track
Several projects underdevelopment

ENVIRONMENTAL

Water: Continue on reducing water usage intensity(vs sales) in all our operating plants. Reduction rate ofwater consumption intensity. Base year FYE2020

TARGET

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Productivity projects: promote productivity
generating Sustainable Development savings
cumulative FYE2022-FYE2026

NGE MIDTERM INITIATIVESSAFE OPERATION

CLIMATE CHANGE/INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGYReduction of GHG emissions: Reduction rate of total
CO2 emission (%) in absolute value (t) from FYE2019

SDG GOAL

22

2.
Working beyond
the present
By recognising the importance of longterm solutions, we are determined to go
beyond traditional practices by actively
addressing future challenges.

All of that, can only be achieved byprioritising safety above everythingelse, ensuring it remains our top
priority in all our operations.

To work beyond the present, we
proactively use advanced technologies
that help us develop sustainable
solutions tailored to our customers'changing needs.

Additionally, at Nippon Gases we arecommitted to promoting a culture ofpeople excellence and integrity byfollowing strong ethical values and acomprehensive Code of Conduct.

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23

24

Amidst a period of global political andsocioeconomic uncertainty, not only
has Nippon Gases survived – but thrived.
A consequence of this, however, isaffecting businesses across the world, andparticularly so in our related sectors. We
asked some of our Managing Directors –José Revuelta, MD Iberia, Raoul Giudici, MD
Italy, and Frank Rutten, MD BNF – about theeffects of inflation, current and upcoming
trends in the industry, and the economic
implications towards a greener future.

Raoul Giudici
MD Italy

Justin Corcho
Vice President andChief Financial Officer Europe

Christoph Laumen
MD Germany

Sigurd Haukeli
MD Northern Europe

José Revuelta
MD Iberia

MD BNF

25

Back to index

Frank Rutten

26

Inflation and interest rates are at high levels,
does it impact our business?
[JR] Both have a meaningful impact on the business. Consolidated Inflation,
as we have in IbeBoth have a meaningful impact on the business. Consolidated
Inflation, as we have in Iberia, with a subjacent 7% means that it’s embeddedin the cost stack and that it will not be easily removed. For our customers it’s aclear step down in their competitiveness when they export and this is leveraging
a lower demand because of higher prices. Furthermore, high interest rates are abad companion for the economy, they are limiting enterprise financing and new
projects. A clear tool from central banks to freeze the economy.
[RG] It does have an impact. As always, they can be either a risk or an opportunity.
Inflation puts our cost stack under pressure. But it also offers an opportunity
to review our pricing strategy and take productivity actions to enhance further
our competitiveness. Same about high interest rate: on one hand, it could hit
severely investments and slow down economy; but, on the other hand, it can also
be turned into an opportunity for us: many of the applications which we can offer
would allow our customers to play with OPEX and CAPEX and help them to be
more cost effective. I believe Nippon Gases can count on strong and professionalorganisation and it’s when tough times come that you can really make a difference.

Inflation has reached its peaklevels in the last 40 years, do you
think it will significantly impact
our cost structure?
[FR] Belgium, for Nippon Gases representing the major
turnover of the BNF region, had an average cost increase
between 15-20% compared to 10-12% in the neighbouring
countries (Germany/France/Netherlands). This brings thecompanies in Belgium into a dilemma: only partially increaseprices to remain competitive and give in on profitability, or
adjust prices to conform to the cost increase, potentiallylosing future market share. On top of this, as a result of theautomatic indexation system in Belgium, the gross wagesof employees in Belgian companies would increase by 16%
in 2022-2023. In neighbouring countries, wages are notexpected to increase by more than 10% over that period.
This cost impact has put a burden on potential investments
and production capacity in Belgium (with chemical
production estimated at 65% - last seen in the 80s).
[JR] Without a doubt, we were fortunate enough to be able
to pass through part of the cost increase from our different
suppliers to the market, including cost of power.
[RG] With such high inflation, we have been suffering cost
increases almost everywhere across the organisation.
However, cost management discipline has always been a
distinctive feature of Nippon Gases. I believe we have tomaintain our cost structure as flexible as possible so that,whenever this inflationary peak will be over, we follow thesame way and reduce our costs, so that we can avoid therisk of losing competitiveness.

Industrial natural gas demandhas dropped by 20% since lastsummer; did we see a similar
trend now?
[JR] The increase in Nippon Gases prices of past months
brought a decrease in demand, as many companies couldn’t
bear that level of cost in their production. They also started
to look for alternatives and some of them were successful
in that endeavor, in an irrecoverable way. At the sametime, a mild winter contributed to consumption decline.
Some recovery of the demand will be possible with ourcurrent prices, but considering that other alternatives havematerialised as an option, we will not reach former demand.
[FR] The recent relaxation in the natural gas market did
reduce gas prices to between 50 and 60 €/MWh in February
2023, but that is still about three times higher than normal
and three times higher than in the US. Again, this puts extra
pressure on our economy and companies evaluating toimport rather than to produce locally.

27[FR] As part of the Nippon Sanso Holdings Group strategy“Carbon neutral is to achieve a zero balance in CO2emissions. Achieving this requires transitioning from fossil
fuels to renewable energy sources. We help companies
globally make this transition a reality.” I can only applaud
this initiative and as Managing Director of Nippon Gases
BNF we are engaged to actively contribute to a more
greener economy. As such, we have committed to the
production of green hydrogen, solely powered by sun andwind. One of many projects we are working on to pursue a
carbon neutral world.
[JR] It has been a bold initiative and a decision madeduring the lock down, that all EU members supported.
In spite of this, there were many strategic items in therollout of the plan that were not deeply analysed and theschedule has not been realistic. Today, we are seeing how asubstantial part of the super-boosted H2 multiple projects
are on hold, as they were taking into consideration costs
that the state of the technology could not afford today.
Also, CO2 sequestration poses uncertainties related to costand CO2 destination. Despite all of the above, Nippon Gases
has been offering miscellaneous ‘’Green ‘’ viable solutions
helping our customers to improve their CO2 footprint.
[RG] This is going to be a long journey and it is still unclear
in which way markets will be reshaped by EU multi-billion
program. But, whatever direction the markets will take,this is going to be a great opportunity for us: Nippon
Gases can count on a variety of applications, products andservices, which can play an important role in this market
transformation. I believe we are given a unique opportunity
to put a milestone in the history of our company.

Impact of global macroeconomics on ourbusiness? Do we expect any impact from
China's GDP (5%) or the fact that the USA may
not enter in recession?
[JR] Whether we like it or not, China is becoming the global engine. Whilst 5%
growth compared with former years seems to be low, take a look at Europe! It
would appear that the inertia of the economy is coming back and China is largely
contributing to it. The USA has been super-performing in the last decade and their
independence from global NG and Oil has been basic. North America in good form
will continue being an essential sponsor for the EU economy.
[RG] Yes, we do. Europe, and some key geographies where we play in particular,such as Italy, have been exporting more and more to those countries - think about
food, beverages, fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals. We have been focusing on
those companies, with high export, in recent past to sustain our volumes. With
domestic demand not-so brilliant, global trading will keep making the difference in
FYE2024 and beyond.

Back to index[RG] We are monitoring natural gas very closely. It’s agood KPI which allows to track industrial production
trends. Moreover, as we all know, oxycombustion is a great
opportunity for Nippon Gases. For the time being, despite asignificant drop in natural gas price, we are not yet seeing
any sign of recovery. It will probably take some time. But, we
also have to be aware that end users have been looking foralternatives and will probably lean towards other solutions,either for partial or full replacement of natural gas use.

The EU Commission has
announced multi-billion euro
programs to boost the change toa greener economy, what is yourview about this?

28

2.1 Business model

2.1.1 Products Markets

Our core competency lies in our ability to provide safe and reliable supplies
of industrial and medical gases, and reflects our technological development,
production, supply and sales capabilities accumulated over the years since our
inception. These capabilities are pivotal in continuing to underpin sustainablegrowth in the years ahead.
We are proud to be proactive because we care for our employees, our families,
and our communities; it is only through honouring that philosophy that we will help
society as a whole: "making life better trhough gas technology".
The diagram below sets out the Nippon Gases' business and value creation model,
including types of assets used in our supply chain.

Bulk/Liquid

Package/Cylinders

Type ofgases

O2, H2, N2 and CO

O2, N2, Ar, CO2, He & H2

All industrial gases
Non-cryogenic

Endmarkets

Chemicals
Metal production
EnergyGlassPetrochemicals
Refineries

Manufacturing
Metal production
Chemicals & petrochemicals
EnergyElectronics
Food & Beverages
Healthcare

Manufacturing
Metal production
Chemicals &petrochemicals
EnergyFood & Beverages
Healthcare
Electronics

Volumes

Large (>50 tpd)

Medium (1-50 tpd)

Low (<1 tpd)

Delivery
distance

Up to 250 kms for pipeline
networks
Low delivery distance forstand-alone/individual
customer supply

Medium, c. 300 km

Low <100 km

Metals and Chemicals
Manufacturing
Developing new ways of improving
processes, meeting environmental
objectives and reducing production
costs. Our range of products, services
and equipment are focused on
optimising fuel consumption andreducing CO2, CO or NOx emissions.

Healthcare
Our medical gases and respiratory
therapy services contribute to thehealth of our society.

Water
Improving the quality of water throughour solutions – enabling drinking water,
pollution reduction in wastewater, or
improving the water quality once it
returns to its natural environment.

Welding and Cutting
Collaborating to reduce manufacturingcosts, increase productivity andimprove quality - maximising economic
performance and minimising
environmental impact.

Specialty gases
From research and development
to reaching full production in thepharmaceutical, laboratory andbiotechnology sector.

Food and beverages
Food safety and quality are the pillars ofsolutions capable of keeping food freshwithout the need for chemical additives.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

Onsite/At customer/By
pipeline

Industrial gases primarily include atmospheric gases (air gases), produced via air
separation, and other gases which are produced or obtained from various industries
and technologies. Our integrated business model incorporates various supply modes,
including onsite (at customer premises and via pipelines), bulk (liquid deliveries) andpackaged gases (via cylinders, cylinder bundles and small liquid containers).

Electronics
Hospitality
From supplies for dispensing
carbonated beverages tomolecular cooking.

We supply semiconductor specialty
gases used in the manufacturing
process of liquid crystal andsemiconductors, contributing to thedevelopment and dissemination of thehigh-tech industry.

Research Activities(University & Lab)
Our pure gases and mixtures are basics
for research, testing and analysis.

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2930

For years, Nippon Gases’ oxy-fuel combustion solutions
have helped energy-intensive consumers improve energy
efficiency in reducing fossil fuel consumption during theirproduction processes. The use of Hot Oxygen Burner (HOB)
technology and ScopeJet® Burners allows the use of fossilfree fuels, therefore having a direct impact on the reductionof CO2 emissions in the production of aluminium, cement or
metals, and many other products.
In other industries, such as glass production, ourthermochemical regeneration process provides acreative and environmentally-efficient solution, reducing
CO2 emissions by up to 40% when compared to classic
regenerative air furnaces, and 60% in comparison to classic
air recovery furnaces.
Nippon Gases has the experience and services needed tocontrol and improve the processes in wastewater treatment.
Our Mizu® solutions combine the use of pure oxygen withequipment that improves oxygen dissolution.
Regardless of the type of industry, any aerobic biologicaltreatment processes can be improved with the injectionof oxygen – from increasing the capacity of wastewater
treatment plants, to being able to treat more load (volume
and/or chemical oxygen demand), eliminating odors,
removing ammonia, and enabling seasonal intensive
industries to fulfil environmental requirements.

The philosophy that permeates Nippon Gases is to provide
solutions that actively contribute to the common objective of
making our planet cleaner and more sustainable.
Nippon Gases’ sustainable approach helps our customers
reduce emissions and waste, reuse materials, and increaseenergy efficiency and productivity. Our aim is to combine thesafe operation of our production plants with the importantdemand from the industry – securing reliable gas supply tosupport the economic recovery across all sectors.
The following services are also core activities:

A. Healthcare
At Nippon Gases we believe that the access to a universal
and high quality health system is essential in a sustainable
society. Nippon Gases Healthcare, our medical division,
contributes to the health of the population by producing
medical-grade gases and mixtures following European
pharmacopeia. Medical oxygen, nitrous oxide (N2O), breathing
mixtures and helium are just a few examples of the mostintensively used products in this sector.
Our innovative technologies are developed to complement
the aforementioned gas products. With life expectancy
increasing, homecare services are essential to guarantee thequality of life for our elderly population.
The first device for inhaled nitric oxide therapies, developedby Noxtec, has made it possible not only to monitor andmanage the therapy in constant doses as the patient's
respiratory flow changes, but also to improve the safe
management of the device through remote control systems
and automatic calibration.

31

Capturing emitted CO2 is key to achieving carbon neutrality,
and Nippon Gases is actively engaged in all of theseareas. We provide a variety of CO2 capture solutions to ourcustomers, proposing the most adequate recovery method
according to flue gas characteristics and volume.
As part of our circular economy approach, transforming
biogenic wastes into biogas via anaerobic digestion (AD)and upgrading it to biomethane has become an increasingly
viable initiative to reduce natural gas consumption. Nippon
Gases offers various solutions in this market, including acomplete solution to liquefy or compress the biomethaneand provide a green mobility solution to the vehicles of ourcustomers.

Water treatment remains a significant application when it
comes to sustainability. Our Mizu® O3 technology guarantees

As a consequence of the pandemic, our digitalization
strategy has significantly accelerated. Digitalization plays
a very significant role in sustainable development, as thedigital transformation of multiple sectors – especially energy,
water and transport, amongst others – are determining
factors in the management of climate change.
Our commitment to digitalization and innovation includes
products for the remote control and monitoring of processes,
and combustion analysis to improve efficiency.
Not only do we develop specific proprietary digitaltechnologies for different markets to help our clientsachieve their sustainability goals, but we are also enablers inadvancing the electronics industry through a stable supplyof high purity nitrogen and specialty electronics materials(EM’s) and gases, as well as total solutions, as the EU has
launched an initiative to achieve a 20% of world market share
manufacturing microchips. Our company is implementing
an expansion of production capacity in our electronics
gases plant in Oevel, Belgium, to support this objective
providing both reliable and high quality electronics gases andchemicals that are so essential for this industry.
We support our customers in this transformation through the
installation of special piping for high-purity specifications(essential in the electronics industry), as well as related
equipment including exhaust gas abatement systems andcylinder cabinets, among other high-tech elements.

C. Decarbonization and environmental initiatives
Europe has taken leadership in the world effort to reduce theglobal warming and climate change.
Nippon Gases is fully aligned with this European strategy andis focused on providing different solutions to our customers,
to support their own initiatives in reducing their GHG(Greenhouse gases).

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Nippon Gases and Noxtec Development have joined forces todevelop and strengthen a company dedicated to the design,
production and distribution of state-of-the-art medical
devices worldwide.

B. Digitalization

Furthermore, the use of CO2 in this industry provides
an efficient, safe and environmental solution, replacing
dangerous acids and contributing to the objective of
optimising natural resources – at a time when stable andpotable water supplies are an increasingly pressing topic.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

2.1.2 Service supplier

the quality of drinkable water, replacing chemical-based
solutions. This solution eliminates viruses and bacteria,
allowing the reuse of treated water and contributing to thecircular economy.

Oevel,
Belgium

32

Expanding into
Total Electronics
Todd Kuroiwa
Electronics Business Director

The EU Commission has
announced multi-billion euro
programmes to boost electronics
manufacturing in Europe, do you
see a change in the market?
It is the so-called “EU Chip Act”, which was announced
in February 2022. Following the announcement, wehave been increasing the number of new semiconductor
fabrication investments by global chip manufacturers,
as well as European-based manufacturers, to whom
we have an already-established relationship supplying
SSG (Semiconductor Specialty Gases). In addition to
private sector’s investment plan, most EU countries andinvestment agencies have been trying to get those newinvestments in their countries with whom we have beenclosely cooperating.
On the other hand, the “Dot-com bubble” happened at the
beginning of the year 2000, which triggered downsizing of
the electronics market in the EU. As a result, key materials
supply chains – including SSG for the electronics market
in EU – have been heavily relying on import from Asian
countries and North America.

33

Semiconductor chips are key devices for all Carbon neutral activities, e.g. tomaterialise the so-called “Smart City” or “Smart Society” via DX, IoT, and Power
management amongst others systems. Therefore, our client needs to be heavily
geared towards carbon neutrality; mainly led by our procurement and dedicatedsustainability team. I am always thinking as a partner of the electronics market, as
through our SSG products we are indirectly contributing carbon neutral solutions.

Is there any technological barrier
to entering the electronic gases
business?
No, I don’t think so, because at NSHD group we have beena key player in the global electronics market as an SSG
supplier since the 1970’s – in close collaboration with key
accounts. NSHD has SSG production plants in 6 countries(Japan, US, Korea, China, Malaysia, and Belgium) to supply
SSG to the global market. We also have the capabilities to bepotent manufacturers of SSG supply systems, purification,
abatement, and on-site installation management as totalsolution providers to the electronics market.
In addition to this, NSHD has electronics R&D centres inJapan and the USA in order to follow future technologicaldemands from the market. I am really confident in our future
electronics business in Europe, because 1) the market iscontinuously growing, 2) we have the capability to follow
increasing demand, and 3) we can leverage the NSHD group’s
extensive knowledge and technology. We are not only an SSG
supplier – we are the partner of the electronics market toprovide complete solutions.

Back to index

Now, market is looking for stable supply on key materials,
meaning more domestic products are welcomed. We had
set the European Electronics Business mid-term businessplan in 2019, anticipating the steadily increasing electronics
market in the EU. We also set our mission statement as “...
to better satisfy customer expectations and closely follow
the European Initiative on processors and semiconductor
technologies”. Thanks to the mid-term business plan, we
had already invested in SSG production expansion and thenew production plant in Oevel, Belgium, for supporting theincreasing market demand towards 2030.

Who in our clients' organisations needs to be
involved in carbon neutral planning?

ELECTRONICS

ELECTRONICS

As Nippon Gases advances in its goal towards a carbon neutral
world, comes increased demand for new business avenues that
implement more carbon neutral solutions. One such businessavenue has been Electronics. Todd Kuroiwa, Electronics BusinessDirector, explains the changing market landscape, how we plan tocapitalise on it and what it means for our carbon neutral solutions.

34

2.2 Stakeholders’ engagement
We engage with our stakeholders to create social value
through innovative gas solutions that increase industrial
productivity, enhance human well-being and contribute to amore sustainable future.
Our relationship with all stakeholders (employees, customers,
shareholders, suppliers, communities, industry associations,and government and regulatory bodies) is based on theoverarching need to ensure the sustainability of our businessin all its different aspects, including the impact of ouroperations on the community and the environment.

Our Sustainability Committee discusses our strategy with stakeholders whoare experts in different fields.

Customers––

All Nippon Gases’ activities
are ethical, transparent andin compliance with all legal
requirements.

–

Nippon Gases participates in
the preparation and updateof regulations through its
membership of industry
associations, which help tomaintain open dialogue with local,
regional and national authorities.

The key sustainability concerns of
our customers vary by business,but typically focus on how our
products and technologies canhelp them improve resources andenergy efficiency, and reduce theirenvironmental impact through the
reduction of GHG emissions.

Employees

Suppliers–

Nippon Gases is committed to asafe work environment where our
employees can grow and thrive.

––

We promote communications with
our employees for continuous
personal development and forsustainability initiatives.

Nippon Gases engages with
suppliers proactively in order topromote their environmental andsocial responsibility as well as
the governance bodies to ensurecompliance in accordance withcorporate ethics.

–

Nippon Gases promotes benefits
that reward performance andprovide opportunities for a healthy
work-life balance, and engages
employees in well-being activities.

–

Supplier periodic qualification
reviews offer an opportunity toevaluate supplier performance as
per Nippon Gases standards.

Shareholders

Communities–

The way to serve our customers
with excellence, develop andreward our employees, andsupport our communities, is tohave a profitable company withsatisfied shareholders.

––

NSHD represents and channels its
shareholders’ interest. Throughquarterly reviews we facilitate a
two-way channel to align interests.

–

We regularly report to NSHD
through quarterly NGEH Board
meetings, where a thoroughreview of the main business areas
is undertaken.

Nippon Gases is a good neighbour,
committed to community
engagement initiatives. See
chapter 4.5 (Community
Commitment).

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35–

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTIn FYE2023, our internal stakeholder engagement activities
focused – amongst other things – on our European employee
pulse survey. Dialogue with external stakeholders centred
on a number of important key issues, including sustainability
across our supply chain, our activities for climate protection
and Green Deal activities.

At Nippon Gases we approach
our customers with innovative
thinking and solutions to theirmost pressing operational
challenges. Finding a valuable
solution may become apartnership opportunity.

Governments, regulators andassociations36

2.3 Strategy
Industrial gases are, and will continue to be, an essential contributor in Europe’s
journey towards a more sustainable, carbon neutral society.

The strategy combines a global group, responsible for creating themost suitable solutions and the regional organisations, who arethen responsible for implementing them across the world into ourcustomers’ processes. This is a key element of the new strategy,
but so too are the technologies and innovation partners that will
be required to deliver against it. We proactively seek out the best
technology partners, whether through collaboration agreements tocapitalise on synergies or through mergers and acquisitions, where
we believe they bring additional value to our strategy.
–

Greening Combustion–

Hydrogen Solutions–

CO2 Capture and utilisation–

Circular Economy–

Digitalization
Eduardo Gil Elejoste
President of Nippon Gases
IOMA Annual Meeting – Sintra, Portugal October, 2022
(IOMA) International Oxygen Manufacturers Association

The Nippon Sanso Holdings Group (NSHD) aims to realisea sustainable society and global environment through theindustrial gases business. NSHD considers it our inherent
mission to maintain our global environment in a sustainable
manner for the future. In addition to this, the group will also
address various social issues by proposing solution-based
strategies through products and services that utilise its
technological capabilities.

1

37

Sustainability Management: Focusing on continued
reduction of greenhouse gases, reducing emission ofwaste products, and conserving water resources.

3

Exploring new businesses towards carbon neutrality,“Providing value through business”: Contribution to
the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in clientindustries, through environmental contribution
products and technology enhancement withstrategic partners.
Total Electronics: Enhancement of existing businesses
supplying the electronics industry (electronic materials
gas supply, construction and installation of gas supply
equipment and facilities) in response to growing
global demand.

4

Operational Excellence: “Proactive mutual
complementation and coordination”: Sharing,
expanding, and making the best use of individuals.

5

DX Initiatives: Advancing business models throughdigital data coordination, analysis, and use”: Creating
new business value.

Our growth will be balanced between investment projects, applications andtechnology opportunities, as well as new opportunities to explore that which wehave yet to.

Tax strategy
Nippon Gases’ approach to tax matters is completely aligned with the group ethics
and compliance philosophy. Its guiding principles can be summarised as follows:–

Strict compliance with local applicable laws and regulations.

–

Advisors’ guidance where complexity or uncertainty exists.

–

Business customers and suppliers’ alignment to ensure accuracy intransactional taxes.

–

Solid cooperation with local tax authorities.

Since the nature of Nippon Gases’ business is fundamentally local, we generate ourincome and pay our taxes in the 13 countries across Europe wherein we operate. In
the limited cross-border transactions that we conduct, Nippon Gases’ approach isalways to comply with OECD transfer pricing guiding principles, such as the Arm’s
Length principle.
Our tax contribution in each country is substantial and similar in scope, with a total
figure in Europe in the range of €260 million, and mainly includes Corporate andValue Added Tax but also other taxes (mainly Energy & Municipal). It is a significant
contribution across the continent.

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NSHD has set the main pillars for its development in a midterm management plan, titled ‘NS Vision 2026’, with the coreof the campaign and group slogan being ‘Enabling the Future’.
The strategy of the mid-term management plan is structured
across the group as a whole with five fields of focus, andthrough select business strategies pertaining to our four
regional industrial gas operations (Japan, US, Asia & Oceania,
and Europe) and the Thermos business.

2

Respect for Human Rights, Safety and Security Operation and Corporate Ethics
remanding as basic preconditions for the business of NSHD.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

So, the strategy is based upon five foundational pillars:38

2.4 Corporate governance
Proactive. Innovative. Collaborative. Making life better
through gas technology. Nippon Gases’ philosophy andmission is simple and clear.
We aim to create social value through innovative gas solutions
that increase industrial productivity, enhance human wellbeign and contribute to a more sustainable future.
A pillar within our core values is sustainability, and ourcommitment and responsibility to this cause is embodied
in the Nippon Gases Code of Conduct. The Nippon Gases
Code of Conduct is designed to respond to the expectationsof customers and our society at large, and represents thestandard of conduct in which all Nippon Gases employees are
expected to meet through their business endeavours.

Nippon Gases aligns sustainability reporting with current andemerging disclosure standards to ensure the group discloses
relevant and meaningful data on sustainability performance.
This includes compliance with obligations under EU Directive
2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting and its transpositionin Spain. The NSHD group voluntarily aligns reporting with
the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures(TCFD) guidance, the Sustainability Accounting Standards
Board (SASB), and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This
report has been prepared in reference to GRI standards: Core
option. Criteria for choosing specific GRI standards are basedon compliance with Spanish Law 11/2018 and material issues.
In cases where alignment was not possible, other standardsaligned to our industry guidance or internal frameworks
were used.

Relationship with parent
company

2.4.1 Governance structure
The governance structure of Nippon Gases is designed to ensure that the company operates in atransparent, accountable, ethical and responsible manner while delivering value to its shareholders.
Consequently, sustainability initiatives across all operating companies and support functions arecoordinated at a group level and implemented autonomously in each region, under the responsibility of
the local companies.

39

NGEH’s Board of Directors grants
continuous alignment with its parent
company; it reviews the company'splans, budgets, and objectives,and ensures compliance with laws,
regulations and internal policies andthat both the shareholders and otherstakeholders’ interests are protected.

Decision-making management
Nippon Gases’ business activity
requires deep knowledge of themarkets in which the company is

The Board of Directors, who
are responsible for defining thecorrect level where different typesof decisions must be made anddelegating appropriately, makesure that the decisions taken arealigned with company goals, that all
stakeholders are informed, and thatthe management team is aligned andaccountable for prompt andefficient execution.
This is done through the approval ofrules and policies which are designed
to guarantee appropriate checks andcontrols, to ensure that decisions aretaken after careful consideration of
all relevant aspects and that they are
ethical and comply with all rules
and laws.
Strategic decisions are reserved for
the Board of Directors, who have theauthority to resolve transactions above
a certain threshold, including thoseregarding M&A and investments. The
definition of the level of authority
to approve decisions within Nippon
Gases below the threshold reserved
for the Board of Directors, is done
through the ATA (Authority to Approve)system. Through the same system,
clear powers for making key decisions
are conferred upon regional generalmanagers and functional executive
teams within Nippon Gases.
To grant a proper evaluation of any
decision and assure that the samecan bring value to all the stakeholders
involved, the ATA system requires
the input from different functions,and defines the necessary reportinglines, to allow the Board to monitor
the results of business activities andbe timely informed of any relevant
issue. The objective of the ATA Process
is to achieve seamless business
operation while ensuring that businessdecisions of a certain magnitude areappropriately escalated.

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The role of providing oversight and direction for sustainability programs at a group level is played by
Nippon Gases Euro-Holding’s (NGEH) Board of Directors, who are committed to implementing thesustainability guidelines of its parent company and to define the main areas of focus – considered thepillars of our ESG strategy – as well as the policies, control systems and processes necessary to ensure
the company vision is embraced by everyone within the organisation. In addition to this, Nippon Gases
has established various committees to ensure effective governance, risk management and sustainability
implementation – one of them being the Sustainability Committee.

NSHD fully supports and cooperates
with Nippon Gases in accordance with
its Group Management Regulations.
On a day-to-day basis, NGEH functions
independently with autonomous
management, financial, sales and othercorporate responsibilities.
Four NSHD executives have been
appointed to the Board of Directorsof NGEH, thus assuring the sole
shareholder’s direct supervision of thecompany’s management.

operating, and is imperative thatbusiness judgements, decisionmaking and oversight are based on
expert understanding derived from theexperience of working closely within
the industry.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTIn line with our philosophy, vision and values, we set thenecessary guidelines and policies, define goals and targets
on material issues as well as the governance structure, thesustainability performance indicators and the managementof communication and stakeholder engagement plans ensuring that sustainability issues are integrated into our risk
management systems.

We believe that good governance practices help to achieve
long-term sustainability goals. Nippon Gases is in factcommitted to upholding strong corporate governanceprinciples and practices, which are essential to maintaining
the trust of its stakeholders and achieving sustainablebusiness growth.

40

2.4.2 Highest governance body

1984

Joined Nippon Sanso Corp.

1984

1999

Director of Technology, Messer Nippon
Sanso GmbH & Co.KG

Joined Nippon Sanso Corp. The Thermos
Company USA

1991

General Manager, Corporate
Communications, Taiyo Nippon Sanso
Corporation2013

Deputy General Manager, Taiyo Nippon
Sanso Corporation

2014

Corporate Planning & Global Operations,Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation2018

Corporate Officer, Executive General
Manager, Global Operations, Taiyo Nippon
Sanso Corporation

2021

Current Senior Executive Officer, Group
Corporate Planning, Nippon Sanso
Holdings Corporation

1988

Compensation & Benefits Specialist
Belgium, Holland, Germany, Praxair NV

2001

HR Manager Benelux & Germany, Praxair NV

2005 Vice President, Linde Nippon Sanso GmbH& Co.KG

Nippon Gases Euro-Holding Board of Directors
The NGEH Board of Directors, whose members are appointed by the sole shareholder, is responsible
for making decisions regarding management policies and key matters related to business execution,
which include formulating key management indicators and medium to long-term strategies, as well as
supervising the execution of business activities.

2008 General Manager, Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp.
Electronics Marketing
2015

Senior Vice President, Matheson Tri-Gas
Inc. Electronics

2017

Vice President, Taiyo Nippon Sanso (China)
Investment Co., Ltd. for Total Electronics

2019

Director Integration, Nippon Gases
Euro-Holding S.L.U.

Todd Kuroiwa

Member of the Board

The Board has oversight of key aspects of the governance structure in areas including director
independence, appropriate board committees, board effectiveness, outreach to the parent company
and alignment with parent company goals and long-term strategy, and adherence to a comprehensive
sustainability program.

Tsutomu Moroishi
Member of the Board

2020 Electronic Business Director, Nippon
Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U.

The Board of Directors implements the company policies, in accordance with the principles of the Codeof Conduct, with a focus on our commitment to diversity and inclusion, safety, health, the environment,
human rights, corporate citizenship, and the prevention of bribery and corruption.
Non-financial issues are a key component of Nippon Gases’ values, culture and performance
expectations. For this reason, we have established non-financial goals in the areas of safety, compliance,sustainability, human resources, productivity, strategy and integration.

1981

The NGEH Board of Directors’ composition is the following:

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT2008 Senior Executive Officer and General
Manager of General Affairs Division

Yujiro Ichihara

Member of the Board

2012

Managing Director and General Manager
of General Affairs Division
Senior Managing Director and General
Manager of Corporate Administration
Division

2013

Executive Vice President, Director,
and General Manager of Corporate
Administration Division

2014

Representative Director, President CEO

Eduardo Gil Elejoste
Chairman of the Board

Chairman of the Board

1996

Subordinate directly to General Manager ofElectronics Division and General Manager
of Business Strategy Promotion section,
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation

Director Business Development
responsible for Europe, Praxair España S.L.

2014

Managing Director, Nissan Tanaka
Corporation

2000 Director Marketing responsible for Europe,
Praxair Euroholding S.L.

2016

Senior Managing Director, Nissan Tanaka
Corporation

2004 CEO, Germany, Praxair Euroholding S.L.

2017

President and representative, Nissan
Tanaka Corporation

2006 CEO, Germany and Benelux, Praxair
Euroholding S.L.

2016

CEO, Praxair Portugal S.A. President,
Praxair Euroholding S.L.

2018

Chairman and President, TNSC Euroholding S.L.U. (now Nippon Gases EuroHolding S.L.U.)

2019

Director TNSC, Chairman and President
Nippon Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U.
1999

Italian Legal Counsel, Rivoira S.p.A.

2013

Italian Legal and Compliance Director,
from 2014 responsible also for legal andcompliance matters for Scandinavia,
Praxair Scandinavia
Italian Legal Compliance and Quality
Director, Rivoira S.p.A.

Justin Corcho
MatersCertified Accountant, Arthur Andersen,
Rotterdam, Netherlands

2002

Senior Auditor, Deloitte & Touche BV
Rotterdam, Netherlands

2005Manager Global IFRS and Offering
Services, Deloitte SL Madrid Spain

2017

2011

Senior Manager Financial Accounting
Valuation and Securitisation group,
Deloitte LLP New York, US

2020 Additional responsibilities as Sustainability
Champion for Italy, Nippon Gases Italia S.r.l.

2014

Director Internal Audit, South/Central
America and Europe, White Martins Gases
Industrials Ltda (Praxair, Inc.) Rio deJaneiro, Brazil

2014

Financial Analyst and Subsidiary Controller,
Praxair, Inc.

Vice President Finance & Operations
Excellence, Praxair Surface
Technologies, Inc.

2017

Director Merger, Integration & Divestiture,
Praxair Inc. Danbury, US

2017

Vice President Finance, Praxair
Euroholding S.L.

2018

2018

Chief Financial Officer, Nippon Gases
Euro-Holding S.L.U.

Financial Controller, M&A and Special
Projects Director, Nippon Gases EuroHolding S.L.U. Madrid, Spain

2020

2020

Current Executive Officer & Chief
Financial Officer, NSHD

Current Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, Nippon Gases EuroHolding S.L.U. Madrid, Spain

2023

Interim CEO Nippon Gases Deutschland
GmbH

Member of the Board

Laura Zanotti

Member of the Board
from 10th March 2022

2022 Legal and Compliance Director, Nippon
Gases Euro-Holding S.L.U. Madrid, Spain

Back to index

Internal Auditor, Praxair, Inc.

1999

2005 Director of Accounting & Operations
Controller, Praxair, Inc.

HR Director Europe & Member of theBoard, Nippon Gases Euro-Holding S.L.

2001

1996

2004 Director Volume and Revenue Analysis,
Praxair, Inc.

2021

Current Representative Director,
President CEO, Nippon Sanso Corporation

Finance Director, Praxair Surface
Technologies, Inc.

2002 North Region Controller, Praxair, Inc.

Member of the Board

2008 HR Director Europe, Praxair Euroholding
S.L.

2021

2009

Finance Manager, Praxair, Inc.

Wim de Raedt

2020 Director, Executive Vice President of the
Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Aide to
the president)

Certified Public Accountant, Lumsden &McCormick, LLP

2001

41

Director Marketing responsible for Spain
and Portugal, Argon S.A.

2010

1993

2000 Senior Financial Analyst, Praxair, Inc.

Member of the Board

1992

Member of the Board

2020 Current Director NSHD, Chairman andPresident Nippon Gases Euro-Holding
S.L.U.

2022 Current Special Advisor, NSHD

Alan David Draper

Joined Argon S.A.

2008 CEO, Praxair España S.L.

2020 Representative Director,
President CEO, NSHD
2021

1981

2006 General Manager of Semiconductor Gas
Section of Electronics Division, Taiyo
Nippon Sanso Corporation2005 HR Director Germany & Benelux, Praxair
Deutschland Holding GmbH & Co Kg

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

Joined the Nippon Sanso Corporation2005 Executive Officer, Deputy General
Manager of Business Planning Division
and General Affairs Division, Taiyo Nippon
Sanso Corporation2010

2004 HR Director Germany, Praxair Deutschland
Holding GmbH & Co Kg

2005 Deputy General Manager of Semiconductor
Gas Section of Electronics Division, Taiyo
Nippon Sanso Corporation

Toshihiko Hamada
1974

Joined the Nippon Sanso Corporation

2002 Executive Vice President responsible
for Specialty Gas Technology, Matheson
Tri-Gas, Inc.

42

2.4.3 Committees

2.4.4 Governance performance

The European Business Team
(EBT)  

FYE2023 performance
The European economy has been slowly recovering fromthe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with very negative
consequences impacting our business. During 2022,
extremely inflated power prices have challenged our businessand the company has conscientiously worked with customers
and suppliers to manage the situation and reduce the impact
to all stakeholders.

As established by the NGEH Boardof Directors, the European Business
Team (EBT) meets, under theleadership of the European President,
at least four times per year - once after
every quarter, and often a fifth time forbudgeting purposes and when there isa strategic plan review or for any otherimportant specific purpose.

Nippon Gases has done a great job undertaking pricing
actions, enforcing surcharges, and negotiating solid contracts
to affect these headwinds, however, we also noted that our
suppliers are experiencing the same conditions and we areundergoing pressure largely on our distribution costs andfixed costs. Our operating cash flow and working capital have
improved significantly year-on-year and compared to preCovid levels, providing us with strong cash flow generation.

The EBT (mainly Regional Managing
Directors and functional European
Directors) reviews safety, legal andcompliance matters, sustainability
initiatives and SDG status, businessresults, business forecasts, investment
proposals, risks and opportunities,
HR matters and other issues requiring
attention at any given time.

During the last fiscal year, the Ukraine war had a major
impact on Europe as natural gasflows from Russia and prices
were highly affected, resulting in extreme high energy prices.
Such pricing actions pose an adverse effect on the economy
and, potentially, on Nippon Gases.

The Compliance Review Board (CRB),
under the leadership of the Chief
Compliance Officer (CCO), meets every
quarter and as required. All managing
directors report on their local CRB
meetings and the CCO on all othercompliance-related issues, including
incidents/potential cases, precautions
taken and training processes.
The members of the European CRB
are the President of Nippon Gases,
the Managing Directors of the local
businesses, and the European Directors
for Finance, HR, Legal and Operations.
The CRB identifies and assesses
risks unique to Nippon Gases, verifies
measures aimed at reducing these risks,and reports on risks that have manifested
as issues. The committee also
periodically verifies the appropriatenessof risk- management systems throughrisk-reduction activities.

establishing sustainable strategy,
indicators and defining ESG goals
and targets.
–

Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee, under
the leadership of the European
President and managed by the
Sustainability Director, is formed by the
Nippon Gases representatives of thefunctional leaders and meets quarterly.
The Sustainability Committee is
responsible for:
Reviewing and making
recommendations on strategy andcommitments regarding Nippon
Gases’ sustainable development–

Coordinating with the NSHD CSO(Chief Sustainability Officer) when

Besides our company financial performance, in the settingof annual performance-based variable compensation
targets and goals, the NGEH Board determined that selectedstrategic and non-financial factors will be considered criticalto measuring our business success.
Based on management assessment of the degree ofachievement in each goal, and considering their relative
importance to Nippon Gases’ long-term success, in April 2023
the NGEH Board determined that Nippon Gases’ performancewith respect to non-financial goals was favourable andawarded a positive adjustment to the variable compensation
award determined by the financial goals.

–

Monitoring the performance ofNippon Gases’ Sustainability
KPIs related to SDGs, as wellas compliance, safety, quality,
supply chain, human resources,
environmental, energy andcommunity initiatives.
Promoting and coordinating the
publication of the annual Nippon
Gases Sustainability Report.

Capex Committee
The Capex Committee, formed by theEuropean President, the CFO, theOperations Director, the Electronics
Director, the Engineering Director andother European directors as needed,

meets monthly to review the approvalof investment projects presented by
the regional businesses.

Safety and Environmental
Committees
The European Safety andEnvironmental Committees, under
the leadership of the HSE Director,
meet every quarter. Members ofthese committees are all Safety andEnvironmental Heads of the different
European regions, and the HSEQ/
Sustainability Director.
The committees are responsible forthe development and implementationof the European Safety andEnvironmental Plans. In addition,
incidents are discussed, and corrective
measures are agreed and initiated.

Chivasso,
Italy

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43–

Sustainability underpins our business strategy and isfundamental to our long-term growth. Nippon Gases iscommitted to minimising its environmental impact andimproving its social impact, whilst executing on group
strategy, and delivering best practices in both programs
and processes.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

Compliance Review Board (CRB)

Nippon Gases’ cash flow, liquidity, and balance sheet remainstrong. We demonstrated excellent working capital during
this fiscal year, mainly driven by strong collections andpayment terms on our services.

44

2.5 Risk management
Nippon Gases’ Board of Directors has overall responsibility for ensuring
the appropriate risk management framework is adhered to; including thedetermination of the nature and extent of risk it is willing to take to achieve
its strategic objectives. The Board has oversight of the group’s operations toensure that internal controls are in place and operate effectively. Management is
responsible for the effective operation of the internal controls and execution of theagreed risk mitigation plans. However, all personnel at Nippon Gases should feel
responsible for, and be empowered to take ownership of, risk management within
their function and for their level of responsibility.

Delegation of authority

Employees and contractors

Through the ATA Process, the regional general managers andfunctional executive teams within Nippon Gases are given
the authority to act within their authorised limits. They are
responsable for:Every Nippon Gases staff member is responsible for effective
management of risk, including the identification of potential
risks. Management is responsible for the development of risk
mitigation plans and the implementation of risk reduction
strategies. Risk management processes should be integrated
with other planning processes and management activities.

–

The implementation and coordination of risk
management.

–

The management of all risk factors within the strategic,
operational and financial framework to mitigate and to
reduce risks.

–

Providing timely and accurate information about therisks that the company faces, as well as steps taken to
ensure their effectiveness.

–

The coordination of information flow and documentation
relating to the risk management.

Managers are accountable for strategic risk management
within areas under their control, including the promotion andtraining of the risk management process to staff.
It is the responsibility of all Nippon Gases employees andcontractors to:–Report any breaches of policies, laws or regulations totheir supervisor.

–

Report to their supervisor any perceived risks that may
not be covered by existing risk management practices
and policies.

NGEH Board of Directors
European Business TeamNGE Geographical andFunctional Executive Teams
WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

Employees and Contractors

2.5.1 Roles and responsibilities
FYE 2023 performance

Hürth,
Germany

Nippon Gases has established a business-focused corporate governance system
in which certain key management members are included in the ‘Authorisation To
Approve’ (ATA) process.

Nippon Gases Euro-Holding Board of Directors
The role of the NGEH Board is to represent the shareholder and to promote andprotect the interests of the company. The Board is specifically responsible forestablishing the delegated limits of authority to the geographical and functional
executive teams and attending to matters reserved for board decision-making.
These limits are set out in the ATA Process.
The Board has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that:
1
2

4

45

There are appropriate policies in place to manage risk and maintain internal
controls, and that this policy allows businesses managers to operate
appropriately within those boundaries.
A regular programme of audits is undertaken to test the adequacy of andcompliance with prescribed policies.
Proper remedial action is undertaken to address areas of weakness. On anannual basis, the NGEH Board of Directors reports the outcome of its risk
assessment analysis to the executive board of NSHD.

The group has an approved Risk Management Policy in place.
This policy sets the framework for a comprehensive risk
management process and methodology, ensuring a robust
identification and assessment of the risks facing the group,
including emerging risks. Enterprise risks are assessedand plotted on an enterprise risk map (with individual risk
maps produced for each region and relevant function). Thissystem ensures that the appropriate business practices are
reinforcing internal control by clarifying decision-making
authority and business processes, among other issues.

–

Risks to the quality of our products and services.

–

Environmental risks.

–

Health and safety risks to our employees and to ourprocesses (this review was conducted within theframework of the Seveso regulation and the national
HSE regulations).

We have also established Compliance and Safety Risk
Assessment, and Management Committees, with the aim ofreinforcing compliance and ensuring the effectiveness of ourinternal control system.

The Nippon Gases Management System is supported by the
information documented in manuals in which we can find thedevelopment of activities (procedures) and the documentsthat report the results encountered (records).

In addition to our annual business risk assessment, at Nippon
Gases, we have completed a three-point risk analysis which
covers:Manuals and standards
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3

The group risk appetite and tolerance is clearly articulated.

2.5.2 Internal framework

46

The Nippon Gases Board of Directors discusses risk andconsiders the risk environment as part of wider Board
discussions, including a review of the assessment of Nippon
Gases’ performance against its risk appetite, scenarios forassessment of viability and the outputs from the viability
modelling. All risks are assessed for likelihood and impact
against the group ́s business plan and strategy.

2.5.3 Risk management model
The Nippon Gases risk management model can be summarised as follows:

Goals of the risk assessment are to:EuropeanBusiness
Team

1

5

Identify risk

Monitor/ Review

4

Assess risk:
Potential impact
Likelihood

Plan response strategy:
Avoidance
Reduction
Transfer
AcceptanceThis is a bottom-up survey of potential risks, and it
specifically addresses a range of human rights risks such as
employee safety, welfare and working conditions. Employee
safety and welfare are part of our guiding principles andare always considered in Nippon Gases’ risk assessment,
since substantial management resources are allocated tothis area. The results of these surveys are presented to
the European Business Team, and potential risks related to
fraud and corruption are an explicit focus. Afterwards, at a
European level, a summary is made of the key risks, which
are subsequently reported to the parent company.
Key controls and mitigations are documented, including
appropriate response plans. Where risk treatments requiretime to implement, short-term mitigations are assessed
and the timeline to risk mitigation and consequent risk
acceptance discussed and agreed. Every principal risk has
clear Management Committee oversight. As part of therisk management framework, potential emerging risks andlonger-term threats are considered to identify new trends,
competitor actions, regulations, governments’ interventions,or business disruptors that could impact the group’s businessstrategy and plans. These emerging risks are monitored
within the overall risk framework as ‘on watch’ until they are
re-assessed to be no longer a potential threat to the businessor where an assessment of the risk impact over the next twoto three years can be made, and appropriate mitigations canbe put in place.

–

Link growth, risk and return.

–

Enhance risk response decisions.

–

Minimise operational surprises and losses.

–

Identify and manage cross-enterprise risks.

–

Provide integrated responses to multiple risks.

–

Include all possible strategic and operational risks.

–Continue to build risk ownership culture andorganisational capabilities around identification andevaluation of risks.

–

Establish a regular cadence of risk management
activities and updates.

The steps of planning and implementing a response
strategy are determined by the individual regional and/or functional leaders in conjunction with the European
management team. The monitoring performance isgenerally a local/functional responsibility, whereby the key
topics are also actively monitored at the European level.

2.5.4 Risk identification
In order to identify risks and assess
their likelihood and potential impact,
Nippon Gases performs an annual
business risk assessment aimed attaking a comprehensive look at the risks
faced as a company. These surveys areprepared by the managing directors ofthe different regions and the functional
leaders, and result in a risk map for
Nippon Gases, highlighting priority
issues. Both strategic and internal
operational risks as well as risks in the
Nippon Gases value chain are evaluated.
This is a bottom-up survey of potential
risks, and it specifically addresses a
range of human rights risks such as
employee safety, welfare and working
conditions. Employee safety and welfare

are part of our guiding principles andare always considered in Nippon Gases’
risk assessment, since substantial
management resources are allocatedto this area. The results of thesesurveys are presented to the European
Business Team, and potential risks
related to fraud and corruption are
an explicit focus. Afterwards, at a
European level, a summary is made of
the key risks, which are subsequently
reported to the parent company.
Key controls and mitigations are
documented, including appropriate
response plans. Where risk treatments
require time to implement, shortterm mitigations are assessed
and the timeline to risk mitigationand consequent risk acceptancediscussed and agreed. Every
principal risk has clear Management
Committee oversight. As part of therisk management framework, potential
emerging risks and longer-term threats
are considered to identify new trends,
competitor actions, regulations,
governments’ interventions, or businessdisruptors that could impact the group’sbusiness strategy and plans. Theseemerging risks are monitored within theoverall risk framework as ‘on watch’ until
they are re-assessed to be no longer
a potential threat to the business orwhere an assessment of the risk impact
over the next two to three years can bemade, and appropriate mitigations canbe put in place.

Back to index

In order to identify risks and assess
their likelihood and potential
impact, Nippon Gases performs anannual business risk assessment
aimed at taking a comprehensive
look at the risks faced as acompany. These surveys areprepared by the managing directorsof the different regions and thefunctional leaders, and resultin a risk map for Nippon Gases,
highlighting priority issues. Bothstrategic and internal operationalrisks as well as risks in the Nippon
Gases value chain are evaluated.

47

Implementrisk response3

Align risk appetite/tolerance and strategy.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

2

–

48

2.5.5 Climate risk
Climate risk is an important element that Nippon Gases evaluates as part of its
annual risk assessment. As mentioned above, the development and use of lowcarbon technologies and renewables energies are at the core of our long-term
strategic evaluation of business risks and opportunities.
At the cornerstone of the global strategy against Climate Change, we will finddecarbonization. This path to net zero emissions will impact our clients and we
expect that the major changes will occur beyond 2030.
As part of NSHD’s support of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial
Disclosures (TCFD) requirements, Nippon Gases performed a medium (2030) to
long-term (2030-2050) financial information scenario analysis, with the overalloutcome shared and evaluated with NSHD management. This assessment wasused as an important input factor for setting the European medium-term (2026)
non-financial environmental KPI’s. The assessment evaluated both the estimatedpossibility and the estimated magnitude of each topic on a three-point scale,whereby an indication was also given to the overall importance of each topic.
Malm,
Norway–Strong management of fixed cost and procurement (strongly monitor cost
increases).

–

Timely reaction to developments in supply and distribution chains.

–

Pricing actions to offset the impact of increasing inflation and power prices.

–

Continue to manage those matters within our control and monitor thedevelopment of those outside of our control.

–

Receivable and cash flow management.

–

Cyber-security awareness activities.

Strong management of fixed cost andprocurement

Manage those matters within our control andmonitor others

Strongly monitor areas of cost increases and look for ways
to avoid them. Further strengthen the overall procurement
function and implement productivity initiatives to bring thecost base down.

Continue to manage our business while keeping a strong
eye on the matters outside of our control. It is difficult to
influence (geo)political tensions, but being aware of thetendencies we are able to react to any expected changes inworldwide supply chains and other areas of importance toour business.

Timely reaction to developments in supply anddistribution chains
Through having close contact with our suppliers andcustomers, we were able to react in a timely fashion to any
developments in the supply and distribution chains andthereby minimise supply interruptions for our customers.

Pricing actions to offset the impact of increasing
inflation and power prices  

49

Monitoring of outstanding receivables and client financial
positions together with overall strong cash flow management.

Cyber-security awareness activities
Cyber-security activities were further strengthened with afocus on the creation of awareness and basic abilities that
help to better distinguish suspicious cyber-security threats.

2.6.1 Internal framework
Our commitment to ethics and compliance is an essential
component of our overall ESG strategy, which aims to create
long-term value for all stakeholders, including customers,
employees, and the wider community.
Nippon Gases has established policies, procedures, andpractices that ensure the company operates in an ethicaland lawful manner. Each employee, manager and director of
Nippon Gases as individuals, as well as the group as a whole,strive to be ethical in all business endeavours, following andapplying the Code of Conduct.
Our Code of Conduct outlines the standards of behaviour
expected, summarising our core compliance values andprinciples. The Code of Conduct states our commitments
to compliance and includes guidelines for ethicaldecision-making, conflicts of interest, bribery, corruption,
confidentiality and respect for human rights. The Code of
Conduct is fundamental in promoting compliance culture
towards our business partners and stakeholders too, as
evidence of our understanding of what it means to be a goodneighbour in the community.

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Increased inflation, including power prices, has an important
impact on our cost base. Through contractual pass-throughclauses, temporary surcharges and specific price increases,
these temporary and long-term additional costs arerecovered.

Receivable and cash flow management

2.6 Ethics & compliance

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

Actions taken in FYE2023

50

The Code of Conduct, available in different European
languages in both print and digital versions, also explains
what the reporting channels are for any potential
compliance violation.

understood by all employees. Nippon Gases’ Code of Conduct
is supplemented by policies on specific topics, that are part of
Nippon Gases’ compliance program and on which compulsory
trainings are organised, at minimum, every two years.

2.6.3 Prevention of money laundering

In fact, to achieve its goals of business integrity, Nippon
Gases actively encourages employees to report any
suspicions: they can anonymously (at their choice)report violations through several channels, both internal(management, HR or legal department, compliancechampions) and external (a dedicated hotline and the e-mailaddress compliance@nippongases.com).

The mandatory training is focused on the following modules:

Due to the nature of our business and the relationship with business partners,
the risk of money laundering activities is not significant. To maintain sensitivity
regarding this matter, the finance department sends out regular alerts.

All reports and related discussions are treated with theutmost confidentiality and with defined completion times.
In any case, we make sure that the persons involved do
not receive any unfavourable treatment and are protectedagainst retaliation. In this regard, a specific policy related toreporting and investigating possible compliance violations isin place.
Every year, a Code of Conduct recertification process iscompleted, to ensure the Code of Conduct is known and fully–

Complying with Competition Law.

–

Conflict of interest and antibribery.

–E-mail management and document management
including retention of documents.

–

Data protection–

Human rights

A thorough review of all compliance matters, including thedefined compliance metrics, takes place every quarter
through the local and European Compliance Review
Boards’ meetings.

Nippon Gases is also committed to ensuring fair competition at all levels of the production and supply chain.
Nippon Gases firmly believes that new business opportunities should be obtained solely on the basis of
the products and services offered, in compliance with all antitrust and fair competition laws. To this end,
we are committed to safeguarding competition, and avoiding the exchange of confidential corporate
information with other market competitors.
To ensure compliance in this area, Nippon Gases has developed a detailed policy and guidelines,
conducts regular training, and broadcasts messages to remind employees of the importance of correctcompetitive behaviour. The guidelines mainly deal with who is allowed to communicate with competitors,
on which topics, and how contacts with competitors have to be reported and reviewed.

Nippon Gases supports the spirit andmeaning of the Universal Declarationof Human Rights, the United Nations
Global Compact, and the International
Labour Organisation’s Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work, promoting respect for humanrights in the workplace and the creationof adequate working environments.
With regards to this, Nippon Gases has
published a Human Rights policy and astatement in accordance with the UK’s
2015 Modern Slavery Act. We consider
it essential to create and maintain arespectful and fair work environment,
and to promote the respect of humanrights in our supply chain – through our
procurement procedures that require
suppliers' qualification processes
including specific checks in this regard
and, in some cases, the obtainmentof an undertaking from the suppliers
to abide by Nippon Gases Human

Rights policy or confirmation of acommitment to human rights via theirown policies.
Our suppliers must confirm theiracceptance of our Code of Conduct
and they they report their human rights
policies to us. All this data is tracked by
an IT system and suppliers are audited
periodically.
NGE has tools to both identify and act
upon actual and potential human rights
risks for workers in its operations.
The procedures on its supply chains
and the services it uses also allows to
reduce the risk of any Human Rights
violation.

to our respect of human rights has
been confirmed by the Chairman of
the Nippon Gases Board of Directors,
who has engaged to meet fundamental
responsibilities in four areas: humanrights, labour, environment and anticorruption.
This commitment is a clear sign ofNippon Gases’ resolution to continue
to make human rights principles
an integral part of its businessstrategy, day-to-day operations andorganisational culture.

In January 2022, Nippon Gases was
accepted as a participant of the United
Nations Global Compact and commits
to align operations and strategy with
their 10 principles. The commitment

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENT

2.6.2 Fair competition, anti-corruption and bribery

2.6.4 Respect for human rights

2.6.5 Extraordinary compliance initiatives

Furthermore, to avoid any corruption and/or bribery cases, Nippon Gases has clear rules and protocols on
making and accepting gifts, entertainment and sponsoring, setting clearly defined values.

During this financial year we have conducted our mandatory bi-annual compliance training on the modules andtopics above mentioned – 100% of the target employees population completed these trainings.
We have also organised an extended training on Social Media usage, that has involved more than 2,700 employees.
During FYE2023, the decision has been made to extend the training and recertification of our Code of Conduct
to all of our employees. We are extremely proud for having been able to achieve this ambitious goal.
The promotion of our compliance program has also been done through the organisation of numerous training
sessions on different topics, both locally and at a European level. An overall number of 93 trainings has beenrolled out throughout the year. Additionally, we regularly send compliance messages to our employees, mainly
through our company intranet, as a general and precautionary measure to raise awareness.
The output of our compliance program for FYE2023 are as follows:
Confirmed incidents of ethics/corruption and/or anti-trust issues: 0–

Public legal cases regarding corruption and/or anti-trust matters: 0–

Reports of human rights violations: 0–

Confirmed cases of bullying/harassment: 0–% of employees who have received training on the code of compliance: 100% of Nippon Gases
Europe employees.

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51

–

52

2.7 Customers

Average days of resolution of closed complaints
FY20232.7.1 Internal framework
Nippon Gases’ managerial teams maintain their commitment
to the safety, quality and environmental management
systems already implemented, defining policies that arecommunicated to all personnel and ensuring to which they
are understood and adhered.
Our main purpose is to provide a stable supply of quality
products and services according to the needs of ourcustomers – ensuring the specified quality requirements,
optimisation of production costs and meeting agreed
upon timelines.

–

Management focus on customers and stakeholders.

–

Excellence of people and operations.

–Continuous improvement.

–

Commitment of employees.

–

Compliance with standards.

–

Communication.

All the quality incident reports are verified by the quality
department for their final approval.
Quality management monitors, periodically, how theincidents were managed, the trend of the different type ofthe reported problems and complaints, its seriousness andrecurrence in order to consider taking additional actions.

FY2021
FY2020FY2019FY2018
0

20

40

60

80

100

% Product out of spec/total complaints
FY2023
FY2022
FY2021
FY2020FY2019FY20182.7.2 Customer relationships
Our aforementioned
management systems (safety,
quality and environmental)
have established different
communication channels in orderto get continuous feedback from
customers. These channels
help to exhibit customers’
requirements or complaints, aswell as to implement an efficientadministrative flow for the correctfunctioning of the business.
Customer complaints management

0%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

% Complaint reports investigated andclosed out within 90 days of the incident
FY2023
FY2022
FY2021
FY2020FY2019FY2018
0%

50%

100%

FYE2018

FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

2.98%

5.45%

5.54%

4.63%

5.53%

3.80%

Average days of resolution of closed
complaints

90

62

55

39

30

71

% Complaint reports investigatedand closed out within 90 days of theincident

61%

63%

60%

81%

90%

73%

% Product out of spec/total
complaints

Back to index

At Nippon Gases, we utilise a European information systemthat allows for the reporting and management of quality
problems – from received customer complaints, or detectedinternal/suppliers’ non-conformities of products, services
or processes.

53

Any Nippon Gases employee who either receives a comment,complaint or claim from a customer by any means ofcommunication, or who detects an internal or supplier
non-conformance, reports and registers it in the European
information system as a quality incident. Incidents indicate
what occurred, when, where and who the actors were, as
well as the identification of the product, site, business area
and application. This also includes an initial classification of
the problem – communicated in advance to the interested
parties of the organisation – for its appropriate management,
together with a study as to what could’ve caused the
problem, and actions to solve and avoid repetition.

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTAt Nippon Gases, the way we do business is wholly governed
by our Quality Principles of Business Conduct, which refer tothe following main areas:

FY202254

2.8 Supply chain
At Nippon Gases, we view our
supplier base as an extension of
our business. We are committed
to working with suppliers whoshare our adherence to operating
responsibly.

Responsible procurement is a key aspect of our businessvalues and it is how we ensure the reliability and longevity of
our ability to operate.
Our supplier base provides us with distinct catalogues ofequipment and services that enable Nippon Gases’ efficientand effective production and distribution of products. Our
extensive and interconnected supply chain is critical to
the success of our business and includes manufacturing
companies, carriers, distributors, and service providers.

2.8.1 Supply chain procedures

Our evaluation of new vendors is attained by market reference
checks and in some cases, reinforced by these methods:
1

Historical: Former suppliers with quality historical rate.

2

References: From other NSHD areas.

3

Audit: Direct inspection.

4

Samples/proof of concept/pilot: Directly tested by the
impacted businesses.

Historically, there have been very few re-evaluations due tothe extremely small number of critical non-conformities wehave experienced.
Nippon Gases, has a system through which they receive
feedback by means of customer satisfaction surveys,
respective to each operational country. These surveys aremanaged by each of the countries’ quality and customer
service departments respectively, using questionnaires
to better target groups of customers depending on theinformation needs regarding customer perception andmarket trends.
All our products are labelled according to EU 1272/2008
Classifications, Labelling and Packaging, which brought
the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) into force in Europe.
Safety Data Sheets are provided for all our products.
As a result of our risk assessment, sales to a customer orsales of a product for a specific application may be approved
or denied accordingly.

Sustainable supply chain management means engaging
with suppliers proactively to promote increased Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) and clean technologies; we arecommitted to operating responsibly in line with our values.
55

Supplier non-conformity management process
A non-conformance report implies that a product or service
did not meet one or more requirements from Nippon Gases.
These requirements can be defined by our customers, a
regulatory body, or as part of our internal procedures – inevery case, Nippon Gases employees report and ensure
any non-conformities are registered within the European
incidents database. This system captures what is happening
when products and services are received at one of our sites,or at a customer location.
As we continue to improve the use of our new incident
reporting tool, we have made a step change in our internal
processes to include new incidents in addition to product orservice specific defects, such as administrative and supply
chain-related issues, enabling our team to improve other areasof the business to better manage our end-to-end process.
As part of the incident management system, nonconformities related to supplier problems are co-managed
by the procurement departments to improve the behavior
and control of the products and services received from them.
Supplier non-conformities are also classified into three
distinct categories:
1

Internal: If they occur "inside the fence" before the productleaves the factory or as the product/service is received.

2

External: Which means they were detected at thecustomer's site.

3

Safety-related non-conformities: Which are separated
and closely followed.

Nippon Gases continues to provide economical andinnovative solutions in four key areas – waste, water,energy, and fuel reduction – simultaneously promoting thedevelopment and use of low-carbon technologies as much as
possible.

Product safety

We are constantly striving to improve our processes;
reducing our plants’ energy costs (KWh) whilst working withpartners who help us decrease our air separation plant costs
by investing in designing highly efficient components andequipment, such as compressors, turbines, and intercoolers(these are just a few examples).

The safety of customers when using our products isparamount to the way we conduct business, and the Nippon
Gases HSE manual includes a chapter that sets out allnecessary requirements regarding product safety, covering
the following areas:

Furthermore, we are looking at distribution software
suppliers with the capacity to assist in the reduction of fuelconsumption, by reducing our tonne/km cost on an ongoingbasis through the utilisation of state-of-the-art demand
forecasting and routing algorithms.

–

New product risk assessments.

–

Product design safety management.

–

Product hazard communications.

Selecting energy providers to find the best balance inrenewable energy sourcing, helps us to comply with the‘European Green Deal 2030’ and ‘complete carbon neutrality
by 2050’ commitments.

All our products are labelled according to EU 1272/2008
Classifications, Labelling and Packaging, which brought
the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) into force in Europe.
Safety Data Sheets are also provided for all our products.
As a result of our risk assessment, sales to a customer orsale of a product for a specific application may be approved
or denied accordingly.

2.8.2 Responsible supply chain

We perform supplier audits to review their performance as
we continue to expand key suppliers’ scope. Nippon Gases is
implementing a new supplier portal to better understand thestatus of key initiatives, helping us to gain deeper insights as
to where each initiative stands, and opening effective lines
of communication with the people responsible for executing
these initiatives in a bidirectional, effectual way. This
improves our performance in all key supply chain functional
areas, including those related to ESG (Environmental, Socialand Governance). These recurrent assessments confirm thecorrections of the non-conformities, thus improving overall
supplier performance.

We set ambitious standards for how we operate, and we
expect our supplier partners to do the same. We choose towork with suppliers who provide a safe workplace and comply
with all local regulations, who share our commitment to
responsible use and the protection of the natural environment
through conservation and sustainable practices, who protect
and advance human rights, and who collaborate with us toachieve continued mutual remarkable results. The frameworkfor supply chain activities is defined in the Nippon Gases
procurement policy.
Across Europe, we utilise common selection criteria that’s
related to supplier requirements, as well as our commitment
to environmental stewardship. This commitment not only
improves our own environmental impact, but our vision as awhole also encourages us to focus on our key stakeholders– those who strive to shape an environment where we both
encourage and support long-term responsible solutionsin the market, by incorporating additional benefits to ourbusiness partnerships, as shown below:–

Innovation in the supply chain.

–More sustainable products.

–

Reduced risk of legal non-compliance.

–

Attracting more environmentally-aware customers.

–

Improved productivity and efficiency.

–

Inclusion of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance)
criteria in procurement procedures.

Lillo, Belgium

Back to index

Supply chain management

Considerable progress has been made in integrating our key
productivity initiatives – linked to sustainable development
projects – incorporated into our plants, our business, and oursystems. In turn, this will continue to increase our capability
to execute and manage our supply chain operation more
effectively, and expand its impact.

The results of the surveys are internally evaluated andcommunicated to the interested departments in chargeof the necessary actions, to correct or improve relevant
products and services, according to customer perception.

2.8.3 Supply chain innovation

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTThe most substantial positive impact on the environment
comes when suppliers work on extending their commitment
to responsible business practices, by integrating fair working
conditions and sustainable practices throughout the supply
chain; promoting increased corporate social responsibility.

Nippon Gases has, in each country, a system through which
we receive feedback by means of customer satisfaction
surveys. These surveys are managed by dedicated teamsin the quality and marketing departments specific toeach country, using questionnaires for a target group of
customers depending on the information needs regarding
customer perception and market trends.

56

3.
Towards a
carbon neutral
world
As the need to combat climate change
intensifies, urgent actions are required
to mitigate its negative effects on people
and our environment.
The industrial gases industry plays anessential role in the journey towards acarbon neutral world, and as a key player
within the industry, at Nippon Gases weplace this goal at the top of our priorities.
Nippon Gases believes in adopting an
innovative, responsible and sustainablebusiness acumen which stays true to ourcommitment to customers, suppliers,
employees, and the communities inwhich we operate.
Through ensuring our own
accountability in sustainable
practices, and utilising our extensive
knowledge alongside advancements indigitalization, we aim to continue doing
our part towards a sustainable society
and carbon neutral world.

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57

58

WORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTWORKING BEYOND THE PRESENTThe launch of ‘Carbon neutral
world’, Nippon Sanso HoldingsGroup’s first global initiative,
saw Nippon Gases shift towards
more carbon neutral solutions
and industries; but this wasn’t
the only evolution within thebusiness. Joaquín GonzálezBlas Sánchez, Director Energy &Sustainability, José Ramón Calvo,
Marketing Director Europe, José
Luis Chesa, Director ExternalCommunications Europe, andCesar Callejo, CIO, discussbreaching the industry withcarbon neutrality, and utilising
digital transformation to disrupt
the status quo.

César Callejo
Chief Information Officer

José Ramón Calvo
Marketing Director Europe

José Luis Chesa
Director ExternalCommunications Europe

Director Energy & Sustainability

59

Back to index

Joaquín González-Blas Sánchez

60What is the role ofcommunications in transmitting
the significance of carbon
neutrality?

How are our clients involved in
the carbon neutral path?
[JGB] Sustainability is now widely known as the next
major challenge since the abrupt change to digital, which
disrupted usual business proceedings across the globe. For
the environment and society, that’s a very good thing. But itmeans that organisations must be ready for the change.
Top management not only sets targets, provides resources,and designs incentives for employees to promotesustainability initiatives, but also strongly influences
organisational culture and company-wide decision-making
processes through their commitment and leadership.

initiative’s image and external strategy. By coordinating
and implementing a global effort across all the Group’s
companies (including MATHESON, Taiyo Nippon Sanso
Corporation and Nippon Sanso Southeast Asia & Oceania),
communications proved – and still proves – to be a central
tool in building rapport and credibility.

Nippon Gases is the European forefront of Nippon Sanso
Holdings Group’s (NSHD) Carbon neutral world project – thegroup’s first global initiative – and one of the primary roles ofexternal communications is to raise awareness and educate
stakeholders about the importance of carbon neutrality.
Through press releases, public events, social media, and theCarbon neutral world website, we effectively communicate
our commitment to reducing carbon emissions, and thepositive impact it has for our clients and the environment.

Furthermore, through sharing carbon reduction strategies,
progress, and achievements, Nippon Gases demonstrates
transparency and authenticity. By providing evidenceof our carbon neutrality efforts, we can gain the trust ofcustomers and investors who seek to align themselveswith environmentally responsible organisations, andby providing clear and compelling messaging, we canhighlight how carbon neutrality aligns with their values
and demonstrates our commitment to combating climatechange.

Communications is pivotal in portraying a united global
image for the entire NSHD Group, with Nippon Gases’
External Communications team having orchestrated the

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Today, most companies aim to decarbonize by 2050; it is along journey, and we are taking our first steps. Companies
are allowed to adopt independent reporting methodologies;
therefore, sharing best practices with our clients during thislearning phase will aid the process.

[JLC] Communications plays a crucial role in transmitting
the significance of carbon neutrality for a sustainablebusiness such as ours. It serves as a means to engage andinform both internal and external stakeholders; including
customers, investors, regulatory bodies, the general public
and our own employees.

How many different
approaches are there tocarbon neutrality?
[JRC] In the industrial gases market, carbon neutrality canbe achieved in a number of ways. One approach is the use ofrenewable energy sources to power industrial gas production
processes. By replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources
like solar or wind energy, carbon emissions associatedwith energy consumption can be significantly reduced oreliminated.
Utilising carbon capture and storage technologies isanother strategy. In order to avoid their discharge into theenvironment, carbon dioxide emissions from industrial gas
production plants are captured and stored underground.
Furthermore, the market for industrial gases can assist
minimise or even completely eliminate greenhouse gas
emissions through the use of low-carbon technologies andprocedures like electrolysis or hydrogen fuel cells. These
technologies make it possible to produce gases without
using fossil fuels, which helps to offset carbon emissions.

What is the role of IT in digital transformation?
[CC] Although this is tied to the digital maturity of the company, generally speaking, Information
Technology still plays a leading role in most of organisations.
Technology evolution and the rapid pace of change requires a continuous identification and review ofexisting and emerging technologies, where Information Technology departments are, in general, more
exposed.
On the other hand, the more an organisation has matured in the digital arena, the more the businessplays a lead role in it. Looking at Nippon Gases, I’ve seen a big change in the past years, where nowadays
most of the units and functions are focused and considering new technologies as an enabler to optimise
and improve business performance. This demonstrates the increased maturity of the company and therecognition of digital technologies as a key element in the overall business strategy.

61

Back to index[JGB] IT solutions come in handy across all aspects of the business, with digital transformation
increasing process efficiency – with one example being sustainability reporting. Currently, sustainability
reporting has no set format, it is based on standards, but new EU regulations will define the content andformat more precisely in the future. These rules are always evolving and leaves some portions unknown.
As soon as the legal framework is defined, we will launch the automation and centralise the collection
and tracking of data across our organisation. IT solutions ensure data quality and validate data
through consistency checks that broadly involve disclosure of a company's environmental, social, andgovernance (ESG) goals and communicating the company's progress and efforts to reach those goals.
Alongside ESG initiatives, sustainability reporting includes financial elements in which IT intervention
proves invaluable.

62

How do you measure the success of adigital transformation project?
[CC] Considering the wide range of technologies introduced in the company,
there’s no unique metric that allows you to specifically measure success.
Some technologies are easier to measure, such as the implementation of a new
network technology or the introduction of a new collaborative platform, where you
see a quick and direct impact - bandwidth increase and performance in the caseof network, or increase in the usage of the application and mitigation of businessdisruption – as we saw during the pandemic in the case of Microsoft Teams.
When it comes to Business Applications, success criteria can become more
complex, as depending on the technology introduced, criteria can be quantitative,
qualitative or a mix of both.

[JRC] Future carbon neutrality goals will be importantbecause of the pressing need to combat climate change
and its negative effects. Although the goals may seemfar off, they provide a crucial roadmap and timetable forgovernments and organisations as they move towards asustainable and low-carbon economy.
Since greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide
emissions, are the main cause of climate change, there iscurrently a lot of attention being paid to carbon neutrality.
It is essential to keep global warming far below 2 degrees
Celsius, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, in order tolessen these effects.
[JLC] Carbon neutrality targets provide a clear andmeasurable goal that captures public attention and helps
raise awareness about the pressing need to address

climate change. By setting ambitious targets, governments
and organisations can engage citizens, businesses,
and communities in undertaking sustainable practices,
encouraging behavioural changes and mobilising collective
action.
Effective communication is essential not only forsustaining collaboration in achieving these targets but
also for enhancing the visibility of the subject to external
stakeholders. This, in turn, enables us to advocate for morerobust climate action, promote increased collaboration
with other industries, and accelerate the global adoptionof sustainable practices. By effectively communicating
our efforts and progress, we can establish our leadership
position, build credibility, and inspire others to join the causeof combating climate change.

If we move to other technologies, especially those focused on people (e.g. a new
Intranet), where the main goal is to increase collaboration, employee engagement,
etc. the success criteria is defined as a combination of quantitative (normallyusage) and qualitative, based on feedback from the organisation.

How does an organisation establish GHG
emission reduction targets?

ENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHERENABLING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

Examples of quantitative success criteria of recent technologies would be the newtechnology on truck routing optimisation, where the key performance indicator(KPI) is defined as a specific percentage of distribution cost, or a technology inthe procurement area, where the indicator is based on a specific percentage ofreduction in spend.

It seems that a lot of carbon neutrality targets are still
far down the road (2030, 2050, etc.). Why is this such a
relevant subject now?

[JGB] Organisations usually adopt a systematic approach when setting goals
for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To measure and comprehend
their current emissions rate and impact, they first carry out a GHG inventory.
This inventory includes Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions), Scope 2 emissions(indirect emissions from purchased electricity), and occasionally Scope 3
emissions (indirect emissions from the value chain).
Then they set reduction targets in line with their sustainability goals. These
objectives could be absolute (achieving a particular emissions reduction) or
intensity-based (emissions reduction per unit of output), or they may be deadlinedriven; such as setting a goal to reduce spending by a certain percentage by acertain year.
Emissions are regularly monitored, reported, and verified to help track goals
and pinpoint areas for improvement. Organisations may modify their aims whenconditions change to reflect shifting priorities, technology improvements, andstakeholder expectations.

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6364

3.1 Climate change

CO2

CH4

Nippon Gases overtly aware that global warming and climate change are someof the greater challenges of our society. We aligned with the targets of the Paris
Agreement and, as a European-based branch, the Green Deal (with the fit for 55
targets and regulations integrated in our operations).
Our interactions with the Earth’s climate are focused on:–

Waste
generated inoperation

Reducing the direct and indirect Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of the
products and services we supply.

–

e3
op
Sc recti
Ind

Contributing to avoid the GHG emissions of our clients through our proprietary
technology and products.

N2O

e2
op t
c
S rec
i
Ind

HFC S

PFC S

SF6

Purchased electricity,stream, heating &cooling for own use

Processingof sold
products

Purchased
goods andserviceSco
Ind pe 3
irect

LeasedassetsUse of soldproducts

Fuel and energy
related activities

Franchises

LeasedassetsFor years, we have been implementing
initiatives focused on the threemain areas that impact our GHG
emissions: energy consumption at
our production plants, emissions fromour transportation fleet, and GHG
emissions related to the utilisation of
our products.
We are following the Scope 1 and Scope
2 categories, and Scope 3 according
to the GHG Protocol Corporate Value
Chain Accounting and ReportingStandard for the calculation andreporting of emissions.
Scope 1 relates to the direct emissions
generated by the facilities andequipment, mostly by burning fuelssuch as natural gas, and diesel for ourtransportation.

Scope 2 emissions are the indirectemissions that occur as a result of theconsumption of third-party energy,
such as electric energy and steam.
Scope 3 encompasses all indirectemissions (not included in scope 2)that occur in the value chain of thereporting company, including both
upstream and downstream emissions.
During FYE2023, scope 2 increased
due to emission factors from the
suppliers, as the high price of natural
gas has increased the utilisation of coalfor power generation. In addition, someregions reduced the redemption of GOs
as the cost was 30 times higher thanthe previous year.

Indirect emissions from electricity
consumption are calculated ‘marketbased’, meaning that the specificemission factor of each power supplierand GO redemption are considered.
As a consequence, if a supplier does
not provide its emissions factor, thecountry residual mix is used as default.
Nippon Gases accounts for 100%of GHG emissions over which it has
financial control. It does not accountfor GHG emissions from operations
in which it owns equity but does
not have financial control over. This
criteria is applied throughout the NSHD
organisation as a whole, from thebaseline year to current data.

Nippon Gases Europe Emissions
CO2e% vs FYE2023 (SCOPE 1 + 2)100%

CO2e emissions in thousand tonnes

90%
80%

FYE2020

FYE2021

Scope 1

63.80

67.46

84.60

63.47

Scope 2

1,360.38

1,037.68

810.17854.14

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%

Europe Emissions
CO2e tonnes(Scope 1 + 2)

20%
10%
0

FYE2021

FYE2022

Nippon Gases Europe Emissions CO2e
tonnes (scope 1+2)

65

FYE2023
Target FYE2026

Scope 3

1,424.18

1,105.13

894.77917.61NA

1,474.96

1,505.06

1,318.89

BusinesstravelTransportationand distribution
Investments

Capitalgoods
Transportationand distribution
Company
vehiclesScope 3 Calculations

Company
facilities

FYE2022End-of-life
treatment ofsold products

Thousand tonnes CO2e

Category 1

Purchased goods and services

187.516

Category 2

Capital goods

86.991Category 3

Fuel and energy related

45.895

Category 4

Upstream transportation

NA

Category 5

Waste generated in operations

0.066

Category 6

Business travel

NA

Category 7

Employee commuting

NA

Category 8

Upstream leased assets

NA

Category 9

Downstream transportation and distribution

Category 10

Processing of sold products

Category 11

Use of sold products

Category 12

End-of-life treatment of sold products

Category 13

Downstream leased assets

Category 14

Franchises

NA

Category 15

Investments

NA

Total

57.095NA
888.291NA
53.032

1,318.89

Back to index

FYE2020

FYE2022 FYE2023

Employeecommuting

e1
op
Sc ct
e
Dir

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

3.1.1 Greenhouse Gas emissions

66

Natural gas-burning emissions

Greening combustion processes

The main contributor for direct emissions in our facilities are the emissions resulting from burning natural
gas in our HYCO and ASU facilities as a heat source. Energy saving initiatives have led to a reduction ofemissions in the recent years, and we expect that in a few years the availability of biomethane will lead to a
substantial reduction of these emissions.

Beyond reasonable doubt, the single largest share of CO2
emissions is related to the combustion of fossil fuels. Our
technology provides our customers with a more efficientsolution, reducing fossil fuel consumption and enabling theuse of alternative, fossil-free fuels. Each customer is uniqueand we provide solutions that start with a simulation process
and end with a tailor-made solution that combines speciallydesigned burners, gas control skids and the tracking of main
parameters that enable customised reports according tocustomer requirements.

Emissions related to electrical consumption
Electrical systems is the most effective sector on the path to decarbonization, securing Power Procurementagreements from renewable generators and the redemption of Guarantees of Origin are the best way to
reduce emissions. Additionally, during this fiscal year we started multiple self-generation projects; all of them
implementing mounted rooftop photovoltaic solar panels that further aid in reducing emissions.

Emissions related to transport
Transport trucks and ships are mostly equipped with engines burning fossil fuels. The increasing productionof synthetic carbon-free fuels and biofuel will lead the utilisation of blends with less specific emissions. In thelong term, hydrogen and electrification will also play a significant role in decarbonization.

Digitalisation–

Using either the MiruGas® or SansoScan® platforms
contributes to the optimisation of combustion processes.
In this way, carbon emissions are reduced, helping ourcustomers to meet their environmental requirements whilst
keeping their production costs competitive.

Contribution from alternative refrigerants for lowtemperature application, such as R448A, R449A andR452A, which are substitutes for high-GWP gases such as
R404A and R507.

Onsite Plants

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Through our highly specialised wastewater treatment team,
we contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions by replacing
mineral acid with CO2 recovered from waste streams.

Tonnes CO2e:

Emissions Avoidance
Customers

Nippon Gases
GHG emissions

1,418,700

929.26745,000

As an intensive energy user at our production plants,
efficiency has a direct impact on GHG emissions. Our efforts
are based on productivity programmes that contribute to
reducing waste, improving plant performance, optimisingenergy consumption and minimising product losses
during the different production steps and unscheduled
plant shutdowns. We have a robust programme promoting
productivity initiatives that is part of our business plan andhas a set quarterly review and follow-up procedure.
As previously described, product transportation is a big
contributor to GHG emissions. To mitigate this, we have
put in place specific programmes that help to optimisetransportation by adapting our transport to customer
patterns and avoiding unnecessary km driven; reducing fuelconsumption per unit of delivered product.
To reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, we are replacing
diesel vehicles for natural gas-fueled alternatives on a caseby-case basis. These alternative fuel sources mainly consist of
biomethane, derived from the upgrading of biogas produced
through the anaerobic digestion (AD) of biogenic wastes.

Thanks to our solutions, millions of cubic metres ofwastewater have been treated and either released to water
sources or recycled, always fulfilling environmental standards.
In light of this, the valorisation process continues: sludge
from wastewater treatment plants, organic waste fromthe food industry, and waste landfills through an AD
process transform the waste in biogas that, after an
upgrading process, produces both biomethane and ‘BioCO2’.
Biomethane can replace fossil fuels in mobility applications
either as BioLNG or BioCNG, can be injected into the grid,or used as a source of green/low-carbon hydrogen using an
onsite generator.

244,000

Our specialised teams provide the most suitable technology
to upgrade biogas and propose to our customers the bestvalorisation solution for biomethane products.

18,900
Steel making (blast furnace)
Steel making (electric furnace)
Ar Welding

The utilisation of waste streams from fertilisers andhydrogen plants to produce CO2 is also a clear example of thecircular economy. Through a cryogenic process, the CO2 iscaptured and purified to be used in multiple applications.

Back to index

410,800

Highly efficient oxygen dissolving technology reduces
electrical energy when compared with traditional
oxygenation methods, like aerators, in biological water
treatment plants. Furthermore, this technology provides
more flexibility and efficiency, allowing seasonal peaks ofhighly contaminated water.

Onsite customer units permit the reduction of the producttransportation, and consequently, the emissions from trucks.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Circular economy: Transforming wastes invaluable products

Following NSHD guidance, the avoided emissions calculation islimited to steel manufacturing, welding, and new refrigerants.
The reason to exclude other applications is the large range ofthe specific savings from one customer to another.

Refrigerant gases continues to be a shifting landscape as
environmental compliance evolves, and Nippon Gases has
introduced a range of new products and initiatives in thisarea, including:
The introduction of new low-GWP (Global Warming
Potential) refrigerants reduced the environmental
impact of greenhouse-effect gases.

Through the development of specially designed burners
that can be mixed with fossil fuels, we can drastically reduce
CO2 emissions. In the case of green hydrogen, our burners
provide a flexible alternative that guarantees optimum
combustion conditions according to the available renewable
power fluctuations.

Helping customers to reduce GHG emissions through oursolutions and technology is central to our overall strategy inachieving carbon neutrality. Nippon Gases’ commitment to
the reduction of GHG emissions does not stop at the gateof our plants – the goal is to achieve, and exceed, customer
avoided emissions when compared with the company
emissions according to Scopes 1 and 2.

New refrigerants–

Hydrogen in combustion

3.1.2 Carbon neutrality

At Dormagen, the CO2 waste stream from a fertiliser plantis chemically converted to CO and delivered to an adjacentchemical complex to manufacture new products.

Refrigerants Low GWP

67

68

3.2 Environment management
For us, a harmonious relationship between people, society
and the planet best describes our working culture – it’s how
we strive to work today, and every day.

Internal framework
In its European Health, Safety and Environmental Standards
Library, Nippon Gases devotes a full section to its policies
in this vital area, including: environmental management
responsibilities, the environmental management system,
environmental key performance indicators (KPIs), as well
as taking on board emerging regulations and basic training
for our employees. This is the foundational framework for
Nippon Gases’ environmental activities.

All our environmental andenergy-conscious efforts aim toincrease eco-efficiency, which
entails the basic requirement
for every job and workplace toprevent pollution and reduce
waste.
To achieve this, the Environmental Guiding Principles of
Nippon Gases demand that management on every level leads
Nippon Gases along an ethical pathway that increasingly
benefits society, the economy and the environment, whilst
adhering to the following principles:–

To lead our companies in an ethical way that increasingly
benefits society, the economy, and the environment.

–

To design and develop products that can be
manufactured, transported, used, and disposed of or
recycled safely.

production, we actively monitor and minimise any and allenvironmental risks. Additionally, all legal requirements
and internal standards to mitigate environmental risks arefollowed.
Our main opportunities are in the reduction of energy
consumption, water and waste, as well as improvements intransport optimisation, where Nippon Gases also participatesin and sponsors many initiatives promoting low-carbon
activity.

Environmental Management System (EMS)
Nippon Gases has established an Environmental
Management System (EMS) to continually improve its
environmental performance and to meet regulatory
requirements whilst minimising its environmental impact.
This comprises:

Environmental compliance is monitored on a country level,with the local HSE organisation performing HSE assessmentsthat review compliance with permits. (In chapter 4.4 the HSE
assessment program is described).
Nippon Gases’ employees are actively involved in the different
working groups and councils at the European Industrial

HSE assessments

Environmental assessments are performed on facilities
which might have a major impact on the environment,
checking the compliance of the assessed facilities according
to internal standards and regulatory requirements. No
serious breaches were detected. Sites such as small
warehouses or logistics centres are not included in theenvironmental assessments program. In addition to these
European assessments, the local HSE organisations perform
additional environmental audits, on top of the regular audits
from the external ISO 14001 certification body.

FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

13

15

9

14

–

Nippon Gases' Environmental Policy.

–

European Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)management system, applicable to all operations andaligned with ISO 14001.

–

Implementation of ISO 14001 in the main operational
locations – current 74% implementation.

–

Employee training based on job functions.

What is Nippon Gases’ environmental impact?

–

Risk assessment processes for both processes andproducts.

There are several areas in which the company’s current activities could impact the environment.

–

Fulfilment of regulatory requirements.

–

HSE assessments conducted by our HSE
assessment team.

The process of air separation and of filling cylinders are both environmentally friendly processes; themain raw material is ambient air, and Scope 1 emissions are minor. Waste generation is also minimal andthe water within the ASU is only used for cooling purposes, with no external contaminants introduced into
the water stream, and mainly recirculated in a semi-closed loop operation.

–

Environmental performance review on a national andEuropean level.

The main emissions of note are related to the use of electrical energy in our plants and fuel for the
distribution of our products with trucks (for energy analysis see Energy management, chapter 3.3).

–

Internal reporting and review on a monthly basis.

–

External reporting on environmental performancethrough our Sustainability Report.

The focus of Nippon Gases is to continue improving its existing facilities, with new installations always
engineered with the best available technique (BAT) to minimise emissions.

Biodiversity

To work with customers, haulers, suppliers, distributors
and contractors to foster the safe and secure use,transport and disposal of chemicals, and to provide
hazard and risk information that can be accessed andapplied in their operations and products.

Most of our production sites are located in industrial areas, so the impact of our activity on thebiodiversity is not significant.

–To design and operate our facilities in a safe, reliable andenvironmentally sound manner.

For all major capital projects, we evaluate their environmental impact to preserve the ecological health ofthe place or region.

–

To promote pollution prevention, minimisation of waste,and conservation of energy and other critical resourcesat every stage of our products the lifecycle of our
products.

Next year, we will develop a strategy to understand the impact of our activity on biodiversity and the path
to reduce it if there is any significant impact.

–

The major projects under development are related to CO2 recovery from biogenic origins, which will allow
for the replacement of volumes from fossil fuel origins.

Back to index

A world of risks and opportunities
At Nippon Gases, we drive actions that reduce the impact
on the global environment and prevent pollution, while
compliying with local regulations. Due to the nature of our69

In every region there is a Health, Safety, and Environment(HSE) organisation in which a dedicated environmental expert
deals with all specific environmental issues. In addition tothis, our country environmental leaders, the European HSE
and our Sustainability Director meet once per quarter at theEuropean Environmental leaders meeting, facilitating further
development of Nippon Gases’ Environmental Management
System (EMS) to be coordinated at the highest level.

Gases Association (EIGA), which oversees the maintenanceand adherence of environmental regulations. In the countries
where a national gas association exists, Nippon Gases is also
actively involved. In FYE2023, no significant fines or nonmonetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental
laws and/or regulations were received.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDAll our environmental and energy-conscious efforts increase
eco-efficiency – preventing pollution and reducing waste area basic requirement for every job and workplace.

Environmental compliance

Gijón, Spain70

3.3 Energy management

The products of the ASU are mostly in their gaseous phase. These products could be compressed anddistributed by a pipeline system to our network of customers, which provides the lowest energy supply
mode. 72% of our ASU molecules are supplied by pipeline to our end customers, therefore avoiding theadditional processes of liquefaction and transport.

Our efforts to contribute to the prevention of global
warming are through the optimisation of energy and water
consumption at our production facilities, the reduction intransport of our products, and by selecting energy providers
that promote renewable energy sources and, therefore, set
us on the path to a carbon neutral industry.

–

Energy consumption overview.

–

Air separation process to produce the air gases.

Alternatively, these gas products can be liquefied by means of a liquefier system, with a pure nitrogenprimary circuit that transfers the required cold to the air gases, which are then stored at cryogenic
temperatures in their liquid state.

–

HyCO units. Production of H2 (hydrogen) and CO(carbon monoxide).

These cryogenic liquid products are transported by our insulated trailers to our end customers. Thissecondary process has the additional energy usage of fuels used in the transportation.

–

CO2 liquefaction and purification process.

At Nippon Gases, energy is one key resource in the
manufacture of our products and hence, is also at the centreof our initiatives to optimise its utilisation as we bid to combat
climate change by helping to mitigate global warming.

–

CO2 shipping. A unique Nippon Gases transportation mode.

–

Productivity through cost reduction projects. Describing
how Nippon Gases maintains its facilities at their optimum
operation mode.

In this section we will describe the main processes throughwhich we manufacture our products, how they are delivered
to the end customer, and our various initiatives to optimise
energy management in these activities:–

Liquid products transport optimisation. Transport is thesecond-largest source of GHG emissions.

–

Energy Management strategy.

All of the above processes are subject to optimisation and, therefore, we are taking steps to reduce theenergy consumed at our production facilities, by continuously analysing the efficiency of the processes
and promoting energy-saving measures, and striving to increase the efficiency of product transport.

For the production of Nippon Gases’ core products, the air gases (oxygen, nitrogen and argon) as they are known, theproduction of hydrogen and CO (carbon monoxide) and the liquefaction and purification of CO2, the main resource is electricity.

ASU efficiency

FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023100%

104.2%

103.1%

100.8%

100.7%

CO2 emissions attributable to the use of electricity used for this purpose account for 89% of total Nippon Gases CO2 emissions.
MWh/ Ton O2eqv ASU vs FYE2019

Total electric energy consumed by Nippon Gases in all Europe entities in FYE 2022: 2,594 GWh.

EnergyEuropeEnergyElectric GWh
FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

2,795

2,679

2,531

2,792

2,594

EuropeThermal Energy Terajoules*
FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

1,174

1,211

1,030

1,349

945

(*) Thermal energy: Natural Gas + SteamAir separation units (ASUs) produce oxygen, nitrogen and argon by separating
atmospheric air into its constituent gases.
Air is first compressed, and then cooled almost to the point where the gasliquefies, after which it is ready for the distillation column. Here it is separated into
its major components using a thermal distillation process which obtains the basic
components: nitrogen, oxygen and argon.

Purifier unit
(Removal of CO2
and water)

Distillation
column

Cold
box

Argon

Waste gas
GaseousoxygenAir inletAir
compressor

Atmospheric air(Raw material)

Ambient temperature

Cryogenic
temperature

The most prevalent process still
today is via the SMR (steam methane
reformer), which produces H2 and CO.
The main raw material is natural gas,and electricity and water are at a muchsmaller scale. Natural gas, composed
mainly of methane (CH4), together withsteam reacts inside a furnace withcatalyst-filled tubes. A synthesis gas(syngas) composed mainly of hydrogenand carbon monoxide is produced. A
secondary reaction step produces thesyngas, composed mainly of hydrogenand carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen production throughelectrolysis is based on the
dissociation of water molecules (H2O)
using electricity, to extract hydrogenand oxygen molecules. When theelectricity used for the electrolysis
is from a renewable origin, the H2
produced is considered carbon-free.
Another mode of H2 production is by
purifying a by-product from otherindustries, such as chlorine production.
In this case, the energy resources areminor and so too is its carbon footprint.
In all the above modes, the hydrogenis purified and pressurised in gaseous
form and delivered to end customers
mostly transported via tube trailers.

CO2 liquefaction andpurification process
The atmospheric gases - oxygen,nitrogen and argon - are present in the
air we breathe. The source is unlimited
and is available wherever we need tocapture and use it. In comparison, thesources of the ‘process gases’ such ascarbon dioxide (CO2) are limited to thelocation and availability of the sources.
The main source for the CO2 that
we process and sell is a by-productof another industry. In Europe, thelargest source is agricultural fertiliser
production (ammonia producers),
followed by bioethanol production and
the SMR process.
CO2 plants take a raw gas stream
from the source plant, which is thencompressed, purified and liquefied
before it can be delivered to ourcustomers. As a practical consequence,
the required CO2 purification andliquefaction facilities are locatedclose to the raw gas source and the
distribution network plays an importantrole in delivering to customers.
In FYE2023, the consumption of energy
per produced unit by our CO2 facilities
improved slightly versus the previous
year. This excess of consumption was
due to the shortage of CO2 raw gas
supply at the sources due to the natural
gas high price, running in less efficientmode.
The actual molecules of CO2 thatare marketed do not constitute any
additional ‘carbon footprint value’ and,in our report, are considered in the
Scope 3 boundary. Under the terms of
the European Union Emissions Trading
Scheme (EU ETS), carbon dioxide isalways counted as part of the emissions
from the source plant – for example, thefertilisers production plants.

Back to index

Liquefied nitrogen and oxygen

GaseousnitrogenAtmospheric
air

HyCO units: Production of H2(hydrogen) and CO (carbon
monoxide).
There are several technologies to
produce hydrogen, and the current
market demand is to focus on thosewith a lower carbon footprint impact.

Air separation process

Main heatexchanger

In FYE 2023, theconsumption of energy
per produced unit
by our air separation
facilities improved
versus last year,
although the operation
at partial load does not
improve efficiency.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDFor smaller applications or when the quality of the product requires a very unique specification, theproduct can be delivered to the customer in cylinders containing compressed gas.

Efficiency MWh/Eq O2 Tonne vs FYE2019

Energy consumption overview

71

One alternative to optimise the supply to our end customers is investing in a dedicated onsite unit
which would match the capacity and quality required by the customer’s process. Most of these units run
unmanned, remotely controlled by a Remote Operation Centre (ROC). In this case, the energy otherwise
devoted to transport is saved.

72

CO2 liquefaction
efficiency

FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

MWh/ Ton CO2 vsFYE2019100%

102.3%

101.9%

106.4%

105.9%

NorwaySwedenDenmark
IrelandUK

As the CO2 source plants are remotein relation to some markets, it isnecessary to transport relatively
large quantities of liquid CO2 to
those markets to balance production
capacity with market demand.
Nippon Gases owns and operates afleet of three CO2 tanker ships. Eachship can deliver a cargo of between
1,200 and 1,800 tonnes of liquid CO2 pertrip. This unique mode of distribution
ensures a more reliable supply of CO2
to our customers.

km driven in Europe for all products

FYE2019

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Europe

95.4

94.9

86.6

89.7

84.7

% Bulk km

57%

59%

60%

62%

63%

% Pag Km

27%

26%

27%

27%

27%

% HomeCare km

17%

15%

12%

11%

10%

Km/Ton Liq vs FYE2019

100.0%

102.4%

101.0%

99.7%

104.3%

Km/Ton Liq vs FYE2019 Excl CO2

100.0%

103.1%

100.7%

97.8%

97.0%

Km/Cyl vs FYE2019

100.0%

100.3%

103.0%

98.9%

95.7%

The Netherlands
Belgium

Back-up to
S. Europe

CO2 shipping

on s
i

te p
rod
uct
ion

Germany

Francecus
tom
er

CO2 terminals
Routes

gas
pro
du

ctio
n

pla
n

t

n
tio
sta

Productivity: Cost reduction
projects

Transport of liquid products optimisation
When it comes to the transport of air gases molecules
produced at our main air separation facilities, 62%
is distributed by pipeline, while the remaining 28% is
distributed in liquid mode to end customers.

These deliveries are performed based on customer orders,and also by utilising forecasts of customer requirements
based on telemetry installed at customer tanks. A proper
analysis of customer consumption forecasts provides a dual

optimisation opportunity, to both maximise the delivered
volumes and minimise the mileage.
The average milage per ton of bulk product supplied has
decreased for second year, without Liquid CO2.
The ratio milage for bulk transportation was impacted by
the CO2 crisis. The curtailment of ammonia plants due to thepeak natural gas prices has limited the sources for CO2. As aresult it was needed to deliver the CO2 form longer distances
to the Clients.

Nippon Gases is further focusing its
Cost Reduction Programme to reducethe consumption of natural resources,
such as fuels, water and energy, inparticular at air separation facilities,
by replacing ASU components withnew high-efficiency upgrades andoptimising end-to-end facility processcontrol to better reflect market
demands.
We have established a CostReduction Group as a sub-sectionof our productivity programme
across the European business. The
Cost-Reduction Group promotes
optimisation in bulk production byidentifying processes subject toimprovement, defining the solution,and facilitating the execution ofprojects which result in a more
efficient use of our natural resources

We also have focused on our
packaged business by working inareas such as:

In FYE2023 wedeveloped 136 cost
reduction projects
with a CAPEX
close to €3 million
that accounted a
reduction of 17,800
tonnes of CO2eq.

–

Improving our processes byautomation where machines,
equipment and people havestrong interaction such as
product sorting inspection
and picking together with its
plant movement. New layouts
already designed.

–

Moving from push to pull system
via better plant schedulingsolutions.

–

Optimisation of our distribution
process by better inventory
management.

Back to index

The transport of these liquid products, plus the additionalliquid CO2, is performed daily by trucks which drive circa 54
million km/year.

73

dist
ribu
tor

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

CO2 liquefaction plants

74

Energy management strategy
Energy management is performed
at a country level, due to specificnational regulations and existing
market environments, with the aim ofadapting energy supply contracts toour customers’ consumption profiles,
while optimising the efficiency of ourmanufacturing processes.

35% renewableenergy which
improved from 34%
last year.
The intensity of greenhouse gas
emissions from electricity generationin Europe was 442.66 gr/European
Attribute Mix (EAM) 2021: Associationof Issuing Bodies, while the average
emission of Nippon Gases was 325
gr/kWh. The GHG intensity of Nippon

Gases electricity consumption is 27%
below the European benchmark.
ISO 50001 certification recognises theutilisation of an energy management
system at a site. Today 25 sites holdthe certification, basically located inGermany, Norway, Sweden and Spain.
The strategy is to increase this number,
although is some countries there are
specific requirements (external energy
audits) that may delay the process.

3.4 Water management
In the production of industrial gases water is a pivotal
resource, required for functions such as cooling equipment(such as gas compressors), amongst other tasks.
Replenishing the water for this purpose constitutes the bulkof our water consumption. Currently, 100% of Nippon Gases’
main consumer sites are covered by water management
programs which allows for the tracking and monitoring ofwater system parameters.
The most intense users of water are the Air Separation Units(ASUs). In these units there are several types of coolingsystems, and 78% have semi-open water recirculating systems– which require water withdrawal to replenish losses from
evaporation and blowdown to the sewer.

Due to the strong relationship between water withdrawal,
consumption, and discharge, following the GRI 303
recommendation, Nippon Gases is to report on all three
topic-specific disclosures.

As per Global Reporting Initiative GRI-303 - Water and Effluents
Water withdrawal

Sum of all water drawn from surface water, groundwater, seawater, or a third-party for any use over thecourse of the reporting period.

Water Consumption

Sum of all water that has been withdrawn and incorporated into products, used in the production ofcrops or generated as waste, has evaporated, transpired, or been consumed by humans or livestock, oris polluted to the point of being unusable by other users, and is therefore not released back to surface
water, groundwater, seawater, or a third-party over the course of the reporting period.

Water Discharge

Sum of effluents, used water, and unused water released to surface water, groundwater, seawater, or athird-party, for which the organisation has no further use, over the course of the reporting period.

Process gas
cold

Process
gas hot

Year

Condenser

Water
withdrawal
Waterdischarge

Once-throughsystemWater
consumption = 0

Drift

Evaporation

Water
withdrawal

Cooling towersystemWater
consumption =Water withdrawal

Warm water
Air

Upward air flow
Water with concentrated
Blowdown

FYE2023

Water Withdrawal Mi m3

27.89

27.60

25.14

Water Discharge Mi m3

23.78

23.31

20.88

Water Consumption Mi m

4.10

4.29

4.26

Dissolved solids

Heat
exchanger
Pump
Cool water
RecirculationYear

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Water
Consumption

%

%

%

%

ASU

86%

86%

86%

87%

HYCO

2%

1%

2%

1%

CO2

12%

12%

12%

12%

Around 87% of the Nippon Gases water consumption goes to
the ASUs, which separate the components of atmospheric air(oxygen, nitrogen, argon).

Back to index

Air

FYE2021 FYE2022

In FYE2023, Nippon Gases’ water consumption amounted to
4 million m³ from various sources. 21% came from freshwater
sources, such as rivers and lakes, 9% came from groundwells, 25% from municipal supply, and the remaining 45%
from third-party supply; mainly industrial recycled water.

Water body75

A small percentage of ASUs have a once-through system
where the water is pumped into our facility, cools theprocess, and returns back to the source at higher
temperature without consumption and without alteration to
the chemistry or pollution of the water. The once-throughsystems are available when the production facility is locatedinside a large industrial area that serves the water as a utility,
or as in some cases, when the plant is located in areas withvery high water availability. In all cases, the “once-through” isalways considered to have zero environmental impact due to
its zero consumption and pollution.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Energy providers allow the option topurchase a Guarantee of Origin (GO)certificate, allowing our facilities tomanufacture gases by using certified
renewable energy. Nippon Gases has
started a strategy to increase its usageof renewable energy through these
GO certificates as well as dedicatedcontracts for renewable energy, also
knowns as PPA's (Power Purchase
Agreements), allowing the end-user(customer) to benefit from a ‘green’
origin product.

The total electrical energy consumed
by ASUs in FYE2023 - 2,594 GWh – isthe result of the energy supplier mix
portfolio, with an improved renewableenergy share due to the acquisition of
GO certificates. The current ratio ofrenewable energy is:

76

0.32

Ground
water

0.91

Fresh
surface water

1.13

City water

1.93

Third party
supply water

4.29

Focus on water stress locations

Water
Consumption

Nippon Gases has incorporated new, distinct efficiency
analysis into its water management processes, specificallyof the Very High Stress water locations as defined by theWorld Resource Institute (WRI) and its Aqueduct Atlas.
This allows us to identify those locations as per their water
stress parameter, which indicates the ratio of total water
withdrawals to available renewable surface and groundwatersupplies – where we have placed focus on facilities under
Very High Stress water locations.

tower
3.09 Coolingevaporation
tower
1.20 Cooling
blowdown

Year
Total Water Consumption Mi m3

Water back into the original source,
without causing pollution or changing
the water’s main physical-chemical
characteristics.

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

4.52

4.10

4.29

4.26

City water

24%

25%

26%

25%

Third Party water

40%

39%

45%

45%

Fresh Surface water

29%

28%

21%

21%

Ground water

7%

8%

8%

9%

Consumption Destination
Cooling tower evaporation

69%

70%

72%

72%

Cooling tower blowdown

31%

30%

28%

28%

Discharges into air and water
Due to the nature of our processes as an industrial gases
business, discharges into the air and water are limited. ASUs
utilise the water for refrigeration purposes and the circuits
are separated from the process. As a consequence, noprocess pollutants are incorporated into the water circuits,
nor in the discharge streams.

Reused water consumption
Most of the water entering the cooling circuit of our
production facilities does so through a semi-open circuit,
where it is recirculated and cooled to provide refrigeration
for the equipment. The circuit comprises approximately 2%of the cooling water flow, while the remaining 98% is recycledwithin the system. Water consumption solely accounts
for the makeup of the cooling system's flow. Of the water
consumed, 72% evaporates into the atmosphere, while theremaining 28% is discharged into the sewer. The blowdownof the cooling system is necessary to uphold the desired
levels of chemical concentration in accordance with process
limits.
The blowdown from these semi-open water circuits (cooling
towers) is mostly piped back into a controlled sewer that will,
at a later stage, perform treatment to allow the water to berecycled.

77

As water is a limited environmental resource – critical to thehealth and sustainability of our planet – and is integral to theoperational functionality of Nippon Gases’ facilities, we strive
to be exceptional stewards.

The water cycle showcases the ratio of water consumption
to the cooling tower vs water blowdown. The higher theconcentration of the cycle alludes to more optimal use of
the water. Also, the consumption per m3 per MWh consumed
indicates the optimisation ratio; the less the better.

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Withdrawal

0.85

0.76

0.72

0.78

Discharge

0.44

0.34

0.29

0.36

Cycles

1.96

2.24

2.49

2.19

Water intensity. Consumption vs sales.
Base year FYE2020
Following the Mid-term plan, here is the result of the SDG(Sustainable Development Goal) of reducing water intensity:

Year

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Water
Consumption
Mi m3

4.52

4.10

4.29

4.26

Water
Intensity %

100%

96%

81%

68%

The absolute water consumption in FYE2023 has decreased
as the load range of the facility was lower than previous year.
Although the efficiency ratios (m3/MWh) were higher.
Another area of action is the reuse of water that is not valid
for human use. The most common alternative is industrial
recycled water, where those contaminant levels render it
unsuitable for drinking, but mean it can be used for industrial
cooling services.
Water KPI’s include the following:Year

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Cycles

3.27

3.33

3.57

3.55

Water m3/
MWh

1.59

1.53

1.47

1.64

# circuits

26

27

29

27

Warrenpoint,
IrelandBack to index

Water management within the value chain

Nippon Gases optimises water consumption through closemonitoring of the cooling water circuit parameters andadjusting water treatment accordingly, in order to minimise
the discarding of water to the sewer and thereby optimisingwater usage. Our main purpose is to minimise the usage ofan incredibly valuable resource, such as municipal water, andfresh, surface and ground waters.

Very High Stress
Locations
Consumption Mi
m3 waterVery High Stress waterlocations map

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLDTOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Consumption Sources

As a result, total water
consumption (the net between
net withdrawal and discharge)
across all Very High Stresslocations has been reduced by
10,000 m3 (-2%).

78

3.5 Raw material usage
During the past year, most of the raw materials used by Nippon
Gases in their nitrogen, oxygen, argon and carbon dioxide production
processes were considered renewables; notably air and water.
Nippon Gases divides the waste stream into three partial streams:

3.6 Other Emissions
Waste

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Waste total intonnes

2,390

3,018

3,109

1

Waste that is generated by our suppliers during the production of
our main input materials

Waste on landfill
in tonnes

99

120

88

2

Waste that is generated in the manufacture of our products at
our plants% on landfill

4.1 %

4.0 %

2.9%

3

Packaging waste from the delivery of our products to ourcustomers.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Waste intensity. Waste total vs sales . Base year
FYE2020
Following the Mid-term plan, here are our results for the
SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) of reducing the waste
intensity:

FYE2020 FYE2021

FYE2022 FYE2023

Waste Total
tonnes

2,654

2,390

3,030

3,109

Revenue Mi €

1.4

1.3

1.6

1.9

Waste intensity

100%

96%

97%

85%

Natural gas is used mainly as a process gas in HYCO plants
and as a means of regeneration energy in our ASUs. The
resulting NOx emissions are calculated based on an average
EPA emission factor of natural gas.

The decreased emissions during
FYE2023 are due to a lower
workload on our HyCO facilities.
It still totals to a very low amountof emissions.
Noise and light pollution
Nippon Gases assures that its light pollution does not haveany material impact on outdoor areas. In terms of noise
pollution, our operational permits are based on national andlocal regulations which covers the impact of our facilities.

TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL WORLD

Hazardous waste is comprised by some processmaterials, such as oils and residues from scrubbers in SSG(Semiconductor Specialty Gases) filling plants. A small
percentage of the hazardous waste generated by Nippon
Gases ends up in landfill (6.2%).

At Nippon Gases we use ODS as refrigerants in our coolingsystems. In addition to this, Nippon Gases fills some of theseproducts (purchased from third parties) for later marketing.
The emissions of these processes are also closely monitored,
and which have decreased in FYE2023 due to change in the
production process.

NOx emissions

The main supplied materials used at our production facilities are electricity, ambient air or process gases like CO2. The
environmental aspect of the use of electrical energy is described in chapter 3.3, and the supply of raw gas CO2 to our facilities
does not generate any additional waste at our suppliers. The waste generated at our plants is mainly non-hazardous, such as
metal, plastic, paper, wood and domestic waste.

Last year, there was an increasein the total amount of waste,
although due to various oneoff effects. These included,
among other things, various
reconstruction projects thatgenerated an insignificant
amount of construction waste.

Ozone-Depleting Substances (ODS) and Global
Warming Potential (GWP) compounds

Nippon Gases produces very little packaged waste. The maindelivery modes of our products are:
A. Delivery by pipeline
B. Delivery as bulk liquid

The small decrease in either the
total amount of hazardous wasteor the amount of hazardous
waste in landfill is related tosome one-off effects.

C. Delivery as packaged gas in cylinders
Both pipeline deliveries and the delivery of liquid products totanks installed by customers, do not generate any waste.
Nippon Gases uses gas cylinders made from steel oraluminium for the distribution of packaged gases, operatinga ‘closed-loop’ business model for reusable and refillable
gas cylinders. Every refillable gas cylinder is designed andintended to contain gas throughout its lifetime, and to berepeatedly refilled.

Back to index

The refillable gas cylinder is an industrial package that is kept
in continued use with an economic lifespan of more than 25
years. Each time cylinders are returned for refilling, there
are standard procedures to check if they are suitable forcontinued use. The cylinder only enters the waste stream if it
fails its periodic inspection – with the gas cylinder being fully
recyclable at the end of its lifetime.
With this sustainable business model concept, Nippon Gases
makes a major contribution to avoiding waste.
79

80

4.
Empoweredby people
At Nippon Gases, we emphasise
facilitating an environment that values
and embraces all of our employees as
individuals.
Being empowered by people, we area great company because we have agreat team, and it is due to the uniqueperspectives and talents of our highly
qualified and experience workforce that
we have been able to see such successduring the last fiscal year.

At the heart of our business, we
strive to foster a culture that grants
equal opportunities and createsa collaborative atmosphere – toengage better with our customers,
suppliers, employees, shareholders
and communities, allowing us to findthe best possible way to perform oursocial corporate responsibility.

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81

82

The entire Nippon Gases
organisation has given its best in
the difficult times we have justencountered. Laura Zanotti, Legal& Compliance Director, together
with Wim de Raedt, CHRO, Rainer
Wysotzki, Director HSEQ Europe,
and José María Martínez-Gallo,
Operations Director Europe, sharewith us how the organisation – fromits dedication to sustainability
to progression in operations – isempowered by people.

Laura Zanotti
Legal & Compliance Director

Rainer Wysotzki
Director HSEQ Europe

Wim de Raedt
CHRO

Operations Director Europe

83

Back to index

José María Martínez-Gallo84

Does the proposed Corporate
Sustainability Due Diligence
Directive (CSDDD) impact ouroperations?
[RW] We assume that, on the one hand, whilst otherinformation might be required than the one we currently
publish in the Sustainability Report (SR), on the other
hand, an even higher standard will be applied to thedetermination of the figures. Even now, the data wepublish in the SR is based, as accurately as possible, on
measurements and certificates. However, some figures arealso estimated because there are no concrete measured
values. One example is the determination of household
waste quantities. In many communities, this is done by
local municipal waste collection services. In most cases,
however, there is no weighing of the waste quantities. The
waste collection service only empties a container of y-litre
size every x-weeks. Therefore the weight is estimated withthe help of some key figures.

Can you summarise our environmental footprint?
Excluding GHG emissions, what are the key challenges?
[RW] Due to the business model of manufacturing industrial gases, our environmental footprint is very
low compared to other businesses.
Our main feedstock is ambient air, which we separate into its main components in air separation units.
After use in our customers' processes, residual components are released back into the environment.
There is no air or soil pollution from this process, and water – as a valuable resource – is used only forcooling purposes in our plants. The vast majority of our air separation units have a closed loop system,
where only the evaporation volumes from the cooling towers are replaced. Water is never used as aprocess medium nor as a solvent.
For our gaseous product delivery, classic gas cylinders are used as packaging. They are constantly
refilled and reused in a closed system, de facto for several decades. At the end of their service life, thegas cylinders, which are made of either steel or aluminium, are melted down and returned to the raw
materials cycle.

Work life balance, expectationsof the new generation

What impact could robotics
have in sustainability?

[WdR] They are changing, clearly. The new upcoming
generation of employees gives much more importance tothe work life balance – already during hiring interviews theyclearly state what their expectations are. It is a candidate
hiring market for the moment, and it is not expected
to change in the coming years. Remote working, top IT
tools, good healthcare benefits, and extended vacation
periods are high on their agenda. These initiatives work incompanies like ours, that have a solid trust environment.
From the other side, we also need to mention that the
new generation is strongly result-oriented and will work tocomplete any assigned task in the foreseen deadlines.

[JMMG] There are two main areas where we are focusing
our efforts in developing our people to further obtainknowledge and disseminate it throughout the organisation:
robotics and data science. Many companies have been
trying to figure out how to utilise robots to improve theirprocesses, increasing efficiency, helping combat climatechange and to make manufacturing more sustainable. A
clear example to date are our dry ice plants through theautomisation of dry ice slicing and stacking, and containers
cleaning. We expect future developments in areas suchas package plants sorting/picking and automated guided
vehicle implementation in our dry ice and package plants
to move dry ice containers and cylinder pallets. All these
implementations will enhance our operations to be safer,
gain ergonomics for the operators and reduce carbon
footprint by reducing energy consumption.

How do we infuse company
values into our people practice?
[WdR] Implementing company values in our people
practices has to come from the top. Continuous drive to
make these values visible will bring results and is apparent
even before hiring. In our job searches, recruitment
materials are focused on the company values, so thatthe candidates can easily familiarise with them. During
employment, communication plays a key role in thisprocess, where we focus on including a link to our values
having in all our communication efforts.
[LZ] Leaders play a fundamental role in infusing company
values into our people practice. It is with their actions
that they demonstrate every day their dedication towards
compliance and ethics. In our Group, training also plays
an important role and is considered fundamental toensure that the company values are clearly understoodand embraced. Our compliance programme includes
mandatory training with regards to Nippon Gases’ Code of
Conduct, that is organised every year and involves 100%of our employees – as well as biannual training on Fair
Competition, Conflict of Interest and Antibribery, Email andDocument Management, Data Protection, and Respect for
Human Rights.

Do you think data science will
have a significant impact?
[JMMG] We are convinced the future of sustainability
relies on creating practical, data-driven initiatives that
focus specifically on data gathering, management,
searching for correlations and, from there, creating
algorithms to describe business models for all business
units in operations. If we are able to lead those initiatives,
we will be better positioned to increase our efficiency
and have a better chance of meeting environmental,social and corporate governance (ESG) targets and theincreasing regulatory requirements as we move forward.
Clear examples of this are the models already built tomanage the energy efficiency of our air separation
units – the core of our business. Currently working in CO2planning optimisation, Bulk & PAG supply chain and PAG
production scheduling decision models, all of these willlead to effective energy and fuel optimisation within ouroperations.

The biggest challenges I see are in the area of plastic waste.
Dry ice slices used to cool food and ensure the integrity of the cool chain are often wrapped in protective
plastic film for food safety reasons. This is where most of our plastic waste is generated. It is often
not possible to avoid the packaging as such, but to improve the situation we are currently working
on developing more environmentally friendly alternatives, e.g. packaging made from renewable raw
materials or at least the use of recycled plastic.

What do diversity and inclusiveness in theworkplace mean?

85[JMMG] In Operations, our main focus is surrounding
a four-pillar strategy. The first step is People, always.
The on-going development plan for upskilling our teamwith machine learning decision models will guarantee
success in the other three pillars: Technology, Processes,
and Data. Fostering automation by the robotisation andimplementation of automated guided vehicles is theTechnological goal. When it comes to Processes, theproject revolves around deploying best-in-class solutions
that enable ASUs’ plant and equipment modelling. Last but
not least, we have Data. Its usage and application in big
data analytics, data mining, or machine learning solutions
are invaluable to core Operations processes.

What do you think is the link
between compliance andsustainable development?
[LZ] Compliance is essential for businesses to ensure
safety, integrity, and ethical behaviour across alllevels of an organisation. A culture of compliance not
only reduces or eliminates the risk of sanctions andreputational damage, but also promotes virtuous andsustainable business development. Indeed, the promotionof a corporate culture based on the values of honesty,transparency, integrity and fairness helps to consolidate
ethical principles, improve relations with customers andinvestors, and harmonise employee behaviour, making thecompany more competitive in the market in the long term.
Having a culture of compliance means that every employee
understands the rules and embraces their part in ensuringthat they are followed.

Back to index[WdR] In general, diversity and inclusivity in the workplace refer to facilitating an environment thatvalues and embraces individuals' differences - race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, anddisabilities, among other attributes. It entails fostering a culture where every individual feels equallyrespected, heard, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives and talents. For Nippon
Gases, diversity and inclusivity are fundamental to grant equal opportunities and create a collaborative
atmosphere that values the strengths and contributions of all its employees.

How do you see the future in
operations other than safety,
which is the number one priority?

864.1 Human capital

1. Attract and engage the best possible talent
In a year in which several industries have needed to increase
their staff, attracting the best talent has continued to be our
mission. After having digitalized our processes and building
a unique candidate experience, we are now working to makethe most out of them. This year, we launched a European
taskforce that, under the same umbrella, started working
to support hiring managers and candidates throughout therecruitment journey. Especially relevant for this year, we have
implemented a new digital onboarding process for new hires.
In one single site they will find everything they need for theirfirst days in the company.

"Growing our people to grow our business" is the motto that has motivated the HR
department since we became Nippon Gases in 2018. Each year, every initiative welaunch is done so with this goal in mind – whether it relates to talent management
or to compensation and benefits.

4.1.1 Internal framework

2. Retain the workforce
Outlined below is the HR strategy for Nippon Gases, where
great traction has been gained in supporting the businessto be more successful. The main focus of our improvements
remained on digitalizing our systems, developing our people
in-house, attracting the best talent and improving work-lifebalance.

Attract andengage the best
possible talent

5

Promotediversity

6

Retainthe workforce

Promote community
engagement

Develop and improve
leadership andtechnical skills

7

Having a good directcommunication style

We continued training our managers in the GOL II program,a 9 month leadership path that every manager in theorganisation will go through. For the first time, we held theinternational session, a reward and learning experience for aselect and international group of employees who have done
the complete path. Participants were chosen based on the
success of the productivity projects they had been working
on during the last year, which were part of their learning
experience. As a result of the efforts of all managers going
through this learning program, we are expecting more than
€1 million in productivity savings for the company.
Our development efforts have strongly increased in the lastyear and employees are fully aware of it. As a result, in the
Employee Engagement survey the satisfaction with theTalent Management category has grown from 60% to 70% in
only 2 years.
Needless to say, our safety, compliance and phishing training
programs remain as important as ever.

4. Develop a high-performance culture
4

87

8

Working on getting
a good work-lifebalance

The first action has been engaging employees throughout
the entire organisation. In a tremendous communication
effort, 30 breakfasts were held with the attendance ofover 400 employees during the week of celebration ofInternational Women’s Day. The very honest and live
conversations are helping to develop the new roadmap.
Furthermore, this year we launched a new edition of femalesponsoring, in which professional women from different
departments and regions are sponsored by European
executive team members. The program also includes othernetworking, visibility and development actions.

The PDP process (Personal Development Plan) remains
the key contributor for developing our high-performance
culture. The combination of individual goals and an individual
development plan, managed both by the employee and the
manager, creates a win-win situation for both parties.
The PDP is the basis of many other HR programs, likesuccession planning and talent identification. Both exercises

6. Promote community engagement
Many NGE volunteers participated again last year in several
community engagement initiatives, 81 projects wereorganised or supported by our employees. The majority ofour projects were again in the area of educational support,
health and social outreach. Many projects are those thathave been supported for several years already, outlining agood relationship with organisers, but also amongst ouremployees.

7. Direct communication style
Internal communications is increasingly becoming astrategic player for the organisation. All across Europe,
internal communication teams are strengthened andgrowing, supported by the leadership teams that rely on
them. We really value effective channels of communication
with employees and we are focusing our efforts into thismission. In order to keep improving our communication
strategy, the European Internal Communications teams
went through three monthly upskilling sessions in different
locations of our company. Facilitating teamwork and sharing
best practices is an effective way in maintaining thatconversation with employees.

8. Work-life balance
Several new initiatives to improve work-life balance were
initiated in the different regions. All the initiatives werewelcomed by our employees and their families. Hybrid
working in all our regions is a well-established tool for our
employees to find a good work-life balance.
Parental leaves taken by male employees have increased
during FYE2023. Two years ago, the number of male andfemale leaves was almost the same. During the last year,
male parental leaves were 50% higher than female leaves;this aligned with the company gender ratio.

Back to index

Develop ahigh-performance
culture that continuallychallenges employees

Increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion is at the core of
Nippon Gases’ strategy. Hand-in-hand with our professional
female network, WING, we reanalysed our gender diversity
strategy and are implementing a joint roadmap in threefocus areas: building now for the future, development andcommunication.

3. Develop and improve leadershipand technical skills
The well-established leadership program, Growing Our
Leadership (GOL), grew this fiscal year with the path opening
for more of our junior employees. We held two sessions withgreat success; engaging over 40 employees in a learning
experience aimed to increase their business knowledge,
situational adaptability and drive for results, among othercompetencies.

2

3

Although we have seen a surge in the voluntary turnover
during the last fiscal year, our figures are going backdownwards now. Even at the peak of the graph, our turnover
figures were at a low rate when compared to the generalmarket. This low turnover is thanks to our high focus on theretention of our employees – shown through several bonus
schemes, long-term incentives, and benefits (in the pension
and healthcare areas). A yearly review of these plans ensures
we stay on track with the market. Hybrid working is also
embedded as a benefit in our organisation, with high interestfor it from our eligible employees ´.

5. Promote diversity

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

1Parental leaves taken by male employees have increased
during FYE2023. Two years ago, the number of male andfemale leaves was almost the same. During the last year,
male parental leaves were 50% higher than female leaves;this aligned with the company gender ratio.

allow us to identify the employees and managers with highest
growth potential in the organisation so we can give them theright tools to speed up their growth.

88

4.1.2 HeadcountThe diverse and talented group of Nippon Gases employees
have sought to achieve the same mission and values for many
years. In order to reach these goals, Nippon Gases relies on
a diverse group of people from different countries, genders
and in different stages of their life and career.
Next to the measurable diversity (as allowed by GDPR),
Nippon Gases has proven to be a friendly home for anyone,
no matter their background or personal lifestyle. With thisphilosophy, Nippon Gases also complies – in all regions –with the relevant legislation on the employment of disabledindividuals, resulting in more than 61 disabled individuals
employed.

During FYE2023, we saw a strong
trend of growth in attracting
young people as trainees orinterns across all businessregions. We firmly believe thatby doing this, we are able toattract excellent young talent for
the future. During FYE2023, we
employed 68 trainees, of whom 6
were hired permanently.

Nippon Gases’ compensation for employees is based on
several pillars, starting with a correct base salary. Thesebase salaries are cross-analysed against the standard market
salaries based on a well-established, globally-recognised
methodology. The comparison is done per country and per
job level to ensure the base salaries are competitive from a
local point of view. Each year, a revision of the market datais performed to ensure that the salaries of our employees
remain in line with the market.
Other factors influencing the base salaries are statutory
increases, performance, promotions and experience.
Alongside base salaries, we also try to create a healthy mix
between fixed and variable compensation. In this way, ouremployees are rewarded according to both their performanceand the company’s results. The mix between fixed andvariable depends on the impact that the function has on
the results. Nippon Gases also offers benefits packages
which are locally-orientated, based on several factors, suchas social security coverage, collective labour agreements,
tenure and level/grade. These are largely focused on
pensions (to promote financial welfare for the long-term) andmedical care plans (to ensure physical and mental healthprovision). Elements such as gender, part time/full-timestatus, or age are never considered to determine any
benefit eligibility.
Finally, Nippon Gases will always comply with local legal
obligations and respect collective bargained agreements.
Striving for gender equality in every single area of thecompany is a strong commitment that Nippon Gases
has made. Under the same employment conditions, we
can say that there is no discrimination based on gender
existing in NGE. Due to our historical data from hiring
records and low turnover, we still have a raw gender
pay gap. However, when analysing the data from a moreregional point of view, improvements were made in almost
all countries. Because we have chosen to proactively
tackle this issue, we take every opportunity to reduce thisgender pay gap. Working on a master action plan on how
to close the gender pay gap in NGE is one of the key goalsof the compensation team for FYE2024.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Headcount continued to grow, but at a lower pace than lastyears’, amounting to 3,186 individuals. Additional hirings weremade in almost all regions due to business growth, adoptionof new projects, and the stabilisation for cost and legal
obligations in all regions of our European business.

4.1.4 Compensation

4.1.3 Employee turnover
Nippon Gases uses a stable methodology to calculate turnover, and provide consistent comparison data
year-on-year. This rate is based on all terminations (voluntary, involuntary and retirement) during the 12
previous months, divided by the headcount figure of the last month.

89

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Year-on-year the turnover remained largely below the average in the European Union (EU). Although we
did see a peak in turnover in the middle of the FYE2023, as there was also a dip towards the end of the
fiscal year. In the coming years, due to the ageing demographic of our workforce (retirement), we foresee
future increases in our overall turnover.

90

1Strengthening the teams

A committed HR department has a direct impact on the employees’ engagement. This year we have put the focus in upskillingthe HR employees from all the regions, especially in the recruitment area (which is of highest relevance for us). With two
intensive workshops dedicated to talent attraction, we are now working towards standardising our processes to increase
efficiency whilst reducing time, using our digital tools as a base. Continuous knowledge experience and best practices areshared among the teams, and action plans are identified and executed.
This way of working is extended to other areas of the HR department, in which the standardisation of processes allows us to
improve teamwork and build a consistent experience for the employees – no matter where they are located.

2

Building growth experiences for employees

We invest highly in our employees and they are valuing these
efforts in a positive light. In the 2020 Engagement survey,
the Talent Management category was rated by employeeswith a 60% of satisfaction rate. Whereas in the most recent
Employee Engagement survey held in December 2022, thesatisfaction rate with this category raised to 70%.
This has been possible thanks to the consistency incultivating learning culture within our organisation.

Isolated actions, however, do not change cultures. The
grounds are established through our PDP process; based insupporting their development and to avoid looking solely atpast performance. This PDP is interconnected to other HR
processes, proving its relevance and utility for employees. It
is the pillar to identify the talent who possess biggest growth

4.1.5 Equality of opportunity
The long history of our company, low turnover and thelabour market of the industrial sector, make it difficult fullyrecognise gender equality. We do not see this as a barrier;rather a motivation to prove we can be a catalyst of change.
Equal opportunities and diversity are part of our Code of
Ethics and one of our three main principles together with
Safety and Compliance. We work hard in every one of our
HR processes to make sure that we are giving the same
opportunities to employees no matter their gender, sexual
orientation, race, religion or any other non-objective criteria.
With regards to gender, we closely follow up on arepresentative distribution of promotions, development
opportunities, internal visibility and others. In order tocounteract the circumstances surrounding our company

from HR we also launch different initiatives, such as a
new version of our female sponsoring program to give
professional women more visibility and networking
opportunities, putting emphasis on attracting female
talent for STEM careers by offering professional internshipopportunities in the industrial sector, extending the Code of
Conduct certification to all employees in the organisation
with focus on equality, annual training on Human Rights,
and the promotion of the employee networks WING and
Equals; addressed to promote gender equality and a safe
environment for the LGBTQ+ community. These networks
are growing every year in terms of number of participants.
Especially in the case of WING, the HR department has given
the network broadened responsibilities to move towards amore diverse organisation.

As a culture of learning and growth is behind our processes,
we identify talent every 2 years. We have come to theconclusion that yearly exercises can only add stress tothe organisation and even frustration to participants, as
significant growth can only happen on a medium-term basis.
We give the right support through visibility, networking anddevelopment.
Our learning culture is extended to everyone in theorganisation with open NG Talks about technical andleadership topics, the monthly email called Konnichiwa for
Leaders with interviews on relevant areas and updates on oursafety and financial status, suggested learning paths open to
every employee in the organisation and many other actions
that, when combined, foster the growth culture that started
this section: Growing our people to grow our business.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

One of the key pillars involved is the Growing Our Leadership(GOL) learning paths, designed for talent in individual
contributor roles and managers.

potential at a certain moment, allowing us to provide themwith the right tools to explore that growth.

4.1.6 Talent

The focus this year has been on the people. Only by being close to our employees and providing learning and growthexperiences can we be a world-class HR department. This focus has gone in two directions:
91

Back to index

Any company aiming for a world-class HR department needs the right leadership, culture, tools and processes. In the caseof Nippon Gases, the strong support we receive from leaders in the organisation permeates the working culture. Over thelast years we have been dedicating more efforts in taking our digitalized tools and processes to the next level to improvethe employee and candidate experience. We will continue working towards building a better experience for the future, as we
continuously revisit our processes in collaboration with our business partners.

924.2 Communication
Internal communications

Internal communication is increasingly becoming a strategic
player for the organisation. All
across Europe internal communication teams are growing, supported by the leadership teams
that rely on them.

teamwork and best practices sharing. Having a highly skilled
and prepared internal communication team is the best way tokeep that conversation with employees.

Renewal of our internal communication channels
During this year we have gone through a renewal of ourinternal channels. Even if these channels were being
effective tools, we are looking always for keeping innovation
at the same standards that in the rest of the organisation.
Some of these renewed channels are:
The new intranet has increased with better
functionalities aimed to support better employees andhave information more accessible.

–

Our Konnichiwa for leaders with monthly financial
and safety updates of the business, an interview witha relevant leader and suggested trainings has beentransformed into a very successful podcast.

–

TV screens in production sites are being installed in
more regions extending our communications to moresites and taking it to every level.

–

Our NG Talks, already consolidated in the company, havean improved preparation and include now suggested
prework and postwork. Leaders of the organisation thatshare their learning in these online sessions go through apublic speaking training as a preparation.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

During these sessions the team has worked in implementing
a common way of working that will allow to increase theSupporting the businessAs a key player for the organisation, we have supported
the business in several relevant campaigns and throughcontinuous efforts. The most highlighted ones are thoseaddressed to improve our safety, culture, diversity andcybersecurity culture. We prepare continuous campaigns
understanding the real needs and how communication canhelp in changing behaviors, so among all of us we build thesafe, compliant, diverse and technology safe culture we
expect.

Employee Engagement Survey

2022 survey, the category talent management comparable
to professional development is at 69%. In only 2 years theincrease has been incredible, as well as the efforts put by all
employees to continue growing in the organisation.

A

In the last years we have done great efforts in the employee
development, and this has clearly been perceived by
employees. In the 2020 Employee Survey, the category
professional development had a 60% favorable rating. In the
93

Digital–

In line with our sustainability strategy, and in tandemwith our digitalization initiatives, we have been working
on the definition of a valued-added service for ourcustomers that will allow them to calculate their carbon
footprint, thereby increasing awareness of the criticallyof climate action.

Focused on optimising and improving users’ digital
experience, and providing relevant content across a varietyof online channels, through the following business actions:–

Increasing collaboration and communication between
External Communications teams across all European
regions, oriented towards a united digital marketing
front to progress forwards together. To help us achieve
this goal, new tools and procedures were introduced
to standardise work flow; Hootsuite for social media
management, Brandwatch for brand monitoring, andDoorway for digital business cards.

–

Building and continued maintenance and improvementof the first interactive tools on our websites, such as
the digital gas finder. Designed to retain attention andadd value to users through an interactive experiencethat also increases likelihood to convert. Started
construction for 3 more regions.

–Improvements in monitoring metrics through a
migration to Google Analytics 4.0, allowing for better
identification and mitigation of possible issues with UX,
web performance, and acquisition/retention of leads.

–

Developed a comprehensive strategy that focusedon increasing our visibility through the creation ofvaluable content to build a strong community across our
networks. With a third-party tool to help us boost ourpresence in social media channels, content was shared
more effectively, being able to analyse its performance
to better understand our audience’s preferences. With
more than 1,000 posts across 24 accounts, our efforts
resulted in an average engagement of 7%; a significant
improvement from previous periods.

–

Our collaborative approach, based on digitalization, hashelped us to create a more cohesive communication
strategy, building a stronger brand presence in theEuropean market. To boost this presence, our efforts
in organic media (commented above) were also
accompanied by paid media campaigns to support ourconventional channels. This combined strategy has been
supporting the business in reaching our targets andgenerating more leads in alignment with local market
needs.

B

Sustainable

Sustainability has become ingrained into our company
ethos throughout the last fiscal year, and thus become thecornerstone of our content, messages, and actions. Focusing
on 3 parallel lines of work at different scopes – internal,
external and global:

Back to index

The best rated category is safety with 93%, the second one
Diversity and the third one Sustainable Engagement with
88% of favorable ratings.

Continued full support to the sustainability committee,
with complete collaboration, helps to boost andreinforce internal actions. Furthermore, a new process
for the creation and dissemination of the annual
Sustainability Report (SR) have been established, in theform of an email marketing beta test (resulting in a 21%
year-on-year increase of SR downloads for 2021 and2022) and new Sustainability Report web page; including
a digital, condensed version of the report. Within thedissemination actions, a new full social media coverage
focused on the success stories included in the report
was carried out.

Throughout the last fiscal year,
Nippon Gases’ External Communications team has continued toenable the company as a digitalsustainable business.

At the end of 2022, 64% of employees completed the
Employee Survey we run together with Mitsubishi ChemicalGroup, our mother company with the support of the external
consultant Willis Towers Watson.
Compared to previous Pulse Survey 2021, and to our
Employee Engagement Survey 2020, the positive trend isclear: 88% of employees rated the company’s Sustainable
Engagement favorably, the main indicator about employee
satisfaction. We have gone up from the 86% obtained in2020. This sets us at the same level as the high performing
companies, like we have been in the last years.

–

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLE–

Upskilling and increased teamwork
We really value keeping alive the conversation with
employees and are putting all our efforts into this mission.
In order to keep improving, restlessly, our communication
strategy, the European Internal Communications teams
went through three monthly upskilling sessions in different
locations of our company.

External communications

94

–

The External Communications team led allcommunication efforts for the global Carbon neutral
world project, allowing us to solidify the global brand of
the NSHD group, but also overcome new challenges.
These challenges span 3 main areas:––

C

Awareness: Naturally, with the launch of the
new global web, comes the need for brandawareness. Through the joint effort of organic
social media/SEO and paid media (Google Ads),
the CNW garnered a respectable amount of user
impressions; enough to warrant a more targeted
approach throughout the second half of the fiscal
year. By the end of FYE2023, the website boasted ahuge presence mainly across Europe and Asia. The
Google Ads SEM campaigns are being continuously
monitored and optimised to stay in check withaudience habits and behaviours.
Engagement: In order to keep current users
engaged – and to help reel in new potential leads– the content of, not only the CNW, but the project
as a whole must be continually adding value toconsumers. Therefore, the site takes advantage
of an integrated blog (sharing news from allcooperating companies) and sharing interactive
success stories as customer testimonials, aswell as coordinated content actions across social
media, to keep our audience informed and retain
attention. Furthermore, a quarterly newsletter isbeing designed to be sent to our lead list, to aid in
finalising conversions and provide extra content asvalue added via email marketing.
Business

Business support is a key function of the department, with
our support being counted upon for a variety of business
operations:––

To further support our business and our brand, we give
support to the creation of the trademarks portfolio:
PureSan®, Switch&Work®, WeTrack by Nippon Gases®,
MiniCyl® and support for UK trademarks registration(outside the EU).

–

Media management/New plants: Providing support
in the logistics, production of content (including
professional photo shooting and timelapse) and social
media promotion of the new plants in Malm and Oevel.

–

Nippon Gases is a main player in the external
communications working group of the European
Industrial Gas Association (EIGA), hence providing
support in communications, branding and events
strategy.

–

The External Communications team at Nippon
Gases Euro-Holding aims to provide support to all 13
subsidiary regional companies, which involves a highamount of logistical and organisational efforts. To
optimise this, this fiscal year marked the official launchof the EU Comm Hub. This initiative allows for theExternal Communications teams of our main business
operational regions (BNF, Northern Europe, Italy,
Iberia, Germany and Euro-Holding), to meet in-person
every quarter – facilitating the complete collaborationin strategy, decision-making, campaigns, and to findsolutions to pain points. This is the foundation for a
unified European communications team, allowing us toprogress as a cohesive unit, together, with our digitalcommunication efforts.

–

4.3 Work-life balance
Work-Life balance remains high on the agenda of NGE.
We see supporting a healthy work life balance in our company
as win-win situation for the employee and the company:

Employee

Employer

Better time management

Better staff retention

Personal growth

Increased productivity

Better focus

Higher employee engagement

Higher engagement

Strong brand reputation & more
applicantsPersonal health & well-being

Brand awareness and media presence is one of ourmain focuses, with a large part due to collaboration andtestimonials with suppliers and partners: SAP, Zycys,
Oracle, AT&T, Nova, to projects announcements andrelevant articles our press center has over 170 entries.

Increased morale
Reduced absenteeism

Initiatives launched by the regions
In all regions, we encourage our employees to achieve a good balance between
work and life.
Our dedication to employee wellbeing is exemplified through various measures. We
prioritise health and fitness promotion, offering fitness programmes that include
access to gyms, nutritional guidance and physiotherapy services. In addition, we
host webinars focused on health, safety and wellness, ensuring our employees haveaccess to valuable resources and knowledge.
To foster a healthy work environment, our offices offer nutritious food options,encouraging employees to make healthy choices.
In addition, in some regions, we go a step further by organising special initiatives,
such as School Free Days.
These efforts underline our commitment to work-life balance and support a
positive workplace culture while promoting sustainability.

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95

Being a business facilitator means supporting theorganisation in current markets, but also in defining
new lines of business. An example of this is the newstrategy for the electronics market, where our activities
included, not only the planning of the strategy, but also
the elaboration of a complete communications roadmap
to facilitate the entry of our brand into this sector.

Tradeshows and Events: Present at, participatedin or sponsored many events throughout the year,
maintaining a high profile within the industry as aproactive member of our community (both businessrelated and societal). These include: gasworld webinars& CO2 Summit sponsorship, Industria Conectada 4.0,
FormNext, Hydrogen Summit by Financial Times, andthe KEICHO awards, to name a few.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE–

Creation: The development and launching of
the Carbon neutral world (CNW) website – anambitious project that portrays NSHD’s joint
global front on sustainability. Ensuring that eachcooperating company has its brand represented,
the CNW website is the bridge between our global
sustainable efforts and the consumer. Consistingof professionally-made original content (video
and static), an intuitive layout and interactive
experience – in English and Japanese – it promotes
our carbon neutral solutions and successstories whilst simultaneously adding value to theconsumer.

–96

4.4 H&S management
In addition to the protection of our environment, theprotection of our employees is also of outstanding
importance for Nippon Gases.
We comply with all relevant regulations, and strive tomaintain and improve our performance year-on-year in theareas of occupational safety, process safety, environmental
protection, quality, food safety and medical product safety.
We foster the achievement of significant improvements
through effective management practices and economicallyjustifiable applications of technology.

We employ an extensive range of health and safety measures,
starting with our safety principles. Based on these, we
regularly conduct safety assessments and structured
training whilst simultaneously promoting the importance ofsafety at every level. For example, every meeting starts with asafety topic, and each year we undertake a Safety Excellence
Journey.

Nippon Gases has taken a series of measures to prevent
work-related injuries and fatalities.

To emphasise the significance of this approach, the themeof our 2021 Safety Excellence Journey was ‘Safety First:
Everyday, Everywhere’. All employees participate in theAssessments

The quality of our products and services, the health and safety of our employees and contractors, theprotection of the environment, as well as the continual quest to improve our energy-related services
always have been – and will remain – our highest priority. This aspiration is an essential part of ourculture, and is reflected in our vision, mission, guiding principles and core values.

A more specific example is the extensive internal HSE
regulations, compliance with which is regularly checked via
HSE assessments.
If potential for improvement is found, either special
measures and safety campaigns are launched, or the internal
HSE standards are revised.
In total, the European assessment organisation organisation
audited 16 fuctional units over the past year to checkcompliance with internal standards. The senior managementof the respective countries and the European Business Team
received the results of these assessments, which did not
uncover any significant safety issues.

FYE2020

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Number of Health and Safety European Assessments

13

9

14

16

Number of Health and Safety European Assessments operational sites

-

9

8

13

Number of Environment European Assessments

4

8

7

11

The Nippon Gases philosophy demonstrates our commitment to being a leader in safety performance in
the industrial gases industry.
During our day-to-day business we are always striving for zero accidents and zero injuries for our
employees and contractors, maintaining the safe operation of our plants, providing safe products to ourcustomers, and being a good neighbour within our local community.

––

Designing and developing
products that can be safely
manufactured, transported,
used and disposed of or recycled
without posing unacceptable risks
to people or the environment.

accordance with the Seveso III
Directive on Major Accidents.
–

The safe operation of our
production facilities.

–

A continuous improvement of
our safety management and its
corresponding reporting, withregard to our goal of the absolute
prevention of accidents, injuries,

Maintaining a safety management
system to prevent major accidents
and mitigate their effects on
people and the environment, inpersonal and environmental
damage through our processes,
products and services.
––

The safe transport of our products
to end customers in compliancewith all relevant regulations.
Inclusion of all contractors,
including hauliers, in thecomprehensive Nippon Gases H&S
management culture.

All employees and contractors are therefore committed to work and act safely in a result-oriented
manner to comply with our six safety principles. All of our efforts to increase safety for our employees,
products, processes and services are a fundamental requirement for every job and every workplace.
The Safety Management System is described in the European HSE Management Manual, acomprehensive set of standards which applies to 100% of our European locations.
This system integrates internal policies and governmental regulations. In general, our internal policies
are stricter than governmental regulations. The main elements of the Health and Safety Management
system are:Nippon Gases Product Safety andQuality Policy.

–

Employee training based on thejob functions.

–Internal reporting and review on amonthly basis.

–

Nippon Gases Occupational Safety
and Health/Industrial Safety andDisaster Prevention Policy.

–

Risk assessment processes forprocess safety, worker safety,
product and transportation safety.

––

HSE standard manual.

–

EHS assessments conducted by
our national and international EHS
assessment team.

External reporting on safety
performance through our
Sustainability Report and report
to various stakeholders (EIGA, forexample).

FY20234

7

FY2022
FY2021
FY2020Extensive safety training, job safety analysis, risk
assessments or Europe-wide minimum requirements for PPE
are further measures that we adhere to that help prevent
accidents.
Any recorded accident or illness that results in one or moreday(s) away from work as a result of a work-related accident
or exposure is recorded as Lost Time Injury (LTI). Any workrelated injury which requires a medical treatment is recorded
as medical treatment case (MTC). Both are KPIs are foundwithin HSE.
In addition to this, our policy states that all incidents and nearmisses must be reported and investigated. They are reviewed
at a European level, on a monthly basis.

Serious incidents are discussed monthly at the business
review meeting and are also reviewed in detail during ameeting with the European President.
Moreover, Health & Safety and Environmental KPIs and metrics
linked to the annual Personnel Development Plan (PDP) andsalary reviews are set at all functional levels.
Work injury-related absenteeism is managed by both line
management and human resources, reported to senior
management on a monthly basis – broken into trends to show
areas of opportunity. Every case is investigated in detailaccording to internal standards.

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–

8

11

For this reason, we assign the highest priority to raising awareness and developing a better
understanding from within our organisation in the following ways:

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Safety Excellence Journey, during which events were held at
the sites. Each event was led by a member of management
and included presentations, videos, and group discussions.

It is important to us to systematically record near misses,
analyse them and take appropriate remedial action. This
allows for preemptive measures to be implemented,
eliminating risks before they lead to an accident andemployee injury.

Together, we are ‘The Gas
Professionals’ and we all have thesame goal – 'Making life better
through gas technology'.

97

Our commitment to safety is integral, hence we apply thispremise to all our products - development, design anddistribution - as well as human and environmental control.

98

Number of Recordable Injuries (RIRs)
Recordable
injuries

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Number ofRecordable
Injuries

3

8

5

5

Recordable
Injuries rate (permill whs)

1.07

1.43

0.90

1.04

Fleet safety
Although the transportation of our liquid products and thevast majority of the transport of gas cylinders and dry ice
throughout Europe is handled by contracted hauliers, fleet
safety is an important issue for Nippon Gases. This is shown,on the one hand, by the fact that a separate chapter in the
HSE management is dedicated to this topic, but also by
special measures that have been implemented.

An extensive training program, to which the carriers arecontractually obliged, is implemented. All bulk productvehicles are also equipped with a Safety On-Board Computer(OBC). This OBC monitors the driver’s behaviour, withresults sent directly to the haulier who then evaluates andundertakes any and all appropriate measures. The number ofserious traffic accidents involving product transport vehicles
has been massively reduced through continuous work in thisprogram.

The campaign consisted of an extraordinary meetingwith the aim of increasing hazard recognition amongst
our contractors and the refocus of our safety principles“All incidents can be prevented” (1st principle) but mostimportantly "You are responsible for your own safety" (3rdprinciple).
In the first step, meetings were held with all drivers/
contractor representatives. During the second step, ourmanagement spoke to all drivers and contractors to explain
the situation, raise safety awareness and receive feedback
from each contractor employee.

The number of initiatives developed during the last fiscal
year reached its historical peak after the reduction sufferedduring the pandemic. As a consequence, the funds dedicatedby the company to such initiatives increased by more than
100% compared to last year (€293,000).
This fiscal year, a large portion of Nippon Gases employees
have participated in the 81 initiatives implemented, across
10 countries, contributing to stronger engagement with our
stakeholders. The company remains fully supportive towards
community engagement initiatives, as they are one of thebest teambuilding activities available. It allows employees
to interact, engage, and bond with each other whilst also
contributing towards a worthwhile cause. The common
thread is that when teams work together to support a goodcause and achieve a common goal, they attain a stronger
sense of connection with between themselves, theirorganisation, and their community.
The initiatives are mainly focused on community support,
but also environmental protection, education, and health andwellness are increasing their share.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Furthermore, every High Severity Product Vehicle Accident(HSPVA) is investigated and reviewed by Nippon Gases andthe haulier concerned. High Severity classification is given
when the vehicle has to be towed away or personnel injury
has occurred.

Several contractor-RIs occurred in the third quarter. To
counteract this development, a Contractor Safety Campaign
was launched in December.

4.5 Community commitment

Number of High Severity Product Vehicle
With regard to accidents, the preventable HSPVA - High
Severity Product Vehicle Accidents, has decreased
significantly, from 7 to 4.

Number of Contractor-RI

Contractor safety is as
important as employee safety
for Nippon Gases.
In FYE2023 contractor-RIs, which are mainly related todrivers, increased in comparison with the previous year andis mainly related to slip-trip and fall incidents.

Contractors Recordable injuries
FYE2022

FYE2023

Number ofRecordable injuries

10

12

15

Recordable injury
rate (per mill whs)

5.0

5.5

6.4

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99

FYE2021100

4.6 Success stories

Healing Harmonies
Nippon Gases Healthcare and OXIMESA have joined forces with the NGO'Música en Vena' to create "Healing Harmonies", an initiative dedicated tobringing the uplifting power of music to hospitals and community healthcenters. Over the past few months, a series of 20 concerts have beenorganised in various hospitals where Nippon Gases supplies medical gases
and home respiratory therapies, including units such as oncology, dialysis,
ICU, and pulmonology.

PeopleFostering education and sustainability

IberiaItaly

Nippon Gases Refrigerants is dedicated to promoting education andsustainability in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. Their
active participation in the Academy Tour 2023, organised by Beijer Ref
Italy, highlights their commitment to empowering professionals withknowledge and fostering sustainable practices.
During the tour held in Torino, Milano, Brescia, and Padova, Nippon Gases
Refrigerants emphasised key topics such as the new F-gas Regulations,
low-GWP HFO A2L refrigerants, and safety considerations with flammable
refrigerants. By engaging industry experts and professionals, thecompany actively contributes to enhancing understanding and awarenessin these crucial areas.

Talented artists from diverse backgrounds have shared their artistry,
spreading joy not only to patients but also to their relatives and healthcare
workers. These concerts create an environment where illness can beconfronted with a positive spirit and emotional support. The healing
nature of music is widely recognised, and Nippon Gases is committed
to continuing and expanding these initiatives across the country in the
coming years.

Inspiring the next generation of engineers

Northern Europe

Nippon Gases UK & Ireland has partnered with Primary Engineer, a notfor-profit educational organisation, to bring engineering and a love of
STEM into the classroom with their Vehicle Program.

Nippon Gases Refrigerants believes that education plays a vital role indriving sustainable practices. By equipping individuals with the latest
industry insights, they empower them to make informed decisions andembrace environmentally friendly technologies.
EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Primary Engineer’s vision is that girls and boys, from a very early age, willaspire to become designers and makers – the engineers of the future.
They have developed a project-based learning approach to education,
including practical math’s and science, creative problem-solving, andliteracy.
As part of the program, Nippon Gases has partnered with ten Aberdeen
schools and ten Immingham schools. Our engineers have provided handson training to teachers so that they can confidently deliver an engineering
project in their classrooms.

United for refugees support
In April 5, 2022, Nippon Gases Germany initiatied a donation campaign
among its employees to support the aid organisation "Help e.V." which
focuses on providing crucial assistance to refugees from Ukraine in
Moldova who are in need.

Germany

Our support does not end there; our mentors are on hand to collaborate
with the teachers in their classrooms when delivering the engineering
curriculum and we have pledged to provide the schools with vehicle kits
for the next three years.

Help e.V. ensures the distribution of vital aid supplies and offers essential
medical and psychological care to the refugees through its network of
dedicated partners.
Nippon Gases Germany's employees responded generously to the callfor donations. In June, the collective efforts resulted in a remarkable
contribution of €5,650. Half of this amount was graciously donated by
the employees, and Nippon Gases Germany matched their donations,effectively doubling the impact.
The partnership with Help e.V. demonstrates their dedication to providing
essential support and compassion to refugees, fostering hope andresilience in challenging times.

Nippon Gases took on March the Month for
Prostate Cancer UK
Ten colleagues from across Nippon Gases UK & Ireland boosted their daily
step count by taking on Prostate Cancer UK’s virtual fundraising challenge
March the Month.
Everyone within the team aimed to walk 11,000 steps daily to raise money
for this incredible men’s health charity. The 11,000 steps represent the
11,000 dads, partners, brothers, grandads and mates who die yearly fromprostate cancer.

They also walked a combined 3,633,392 steps, equivalent to 1,442.6 miles(2,321.6 km) or from our head office in Immingham to Nezla, Algeria in astraight line. This amazing effort placed them second on the team fitness
leader board.

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Through the kind donations of friends, family and colleagues the teamsmashed their target of £1,200 raising an incredible £2,665 which was
doubled by the company to £5,330, making them the top team fundraisers.

101

Northern Europe

102The growing impact of Warmste Week

BNF

Boosting efficiency

Germany

Recognising the decline in machine efficiency over time despite regular
maintenance, Nippon Gases Germany took proactive measures to enhanceenergy performance at their production plants. Significant upgrades
were implemented, resulting in notable energy savings and improved
operational efficiency.

The ‘Warmste Week’ is a national solidarity action organised by Studio
Brussel (radio station) and supported by VRT (TV station) in the Flemish
part of Belgium. It started in 2006 and it has grown year after year. In
the entire of Flanders people set up small and large-scale actions.
The highlight of the action is a 6 day radio show (24/7) the week before
Christmas.

At the largest production site in Hürth, the outdated electric motor of theliquefaction circuit for gaseous nitrogen and oxygen was replaced with amodern 12 MW drive. This upgrade achieved a remarkable 4% reduction
in energy consumption while maintaining the same production output,
demonstrating the company's commitment to maximising efficiency
throughout the plant's life cycle.

In 2022 the central theme was ‘poverty’ €5,081,675 were collected during
the ‘Warmste Week’ and distributed to the 270 non-profit organisations/projects selected by the DWW fund.
By organising different actions across different plants of Belgium, anamount of €4,028 was collected. This was raised via actions as: sale ofchocolates, hotdogs, pancakes, Christmas cards, but also by organisinga spaghetti day and cheese & wine evening. The amount was doubled by
Nippon Gases Belgium.

Simultaneously, the Dormagen site underwent a comprehensive
modernisation and optimisation of its cooling water pumps. Throughstrategic phased replacements during ongoing operations, the energy
requirement of the cooling water system was reduced by an impressive
290 kWh per hour, ensuring a reliable supply while minimising energy
consumption.

Since 2022 Nippon Gases Belgium has 3 ambassadors that coordinate thedifferent actions: Tracy Sarkodie, Filip Van Baelen and Pina De Beck. They
also had the honor to hand over the cheque of €8,056 during the final weekof the action.
Preparations for the edition of 2023 have already started. The ambassadors
are bursting with ideas to set up actions linked to the new theme ‘ Be able tobe who you are’. Perfect theme to involve network of Equals.

Recognising the detrimental impact of excessive nutrients in rivers, lakes,
and eutrophicated reservoirs caused by human activities, Nippon Gases
has developed a groundbreaking oxygenation application. This innovative
solution aims to combat the negative effects and accelerate the recovery
of aquatic ecosystems.

Earth
Optimising energy efficiency
Nippon Gases Belgium has successfully transitioned its entire company
car fleet to plug-in or electric vehicles, establishing itself as a pioneer in
Belgium. This significant change aligns with the company's commitment
to reducing its ecological impact and promoting sustainable practices.
Since June 2022, the installation of loading poles has been underway toenable convenient charging for the electric vehicles, further supporting
the transition. Notably, 16% of the company's cars are already plug-in
hybrids, while 34% are fully electric. The number of electric cars within the
fleet continues to rise steadily.
Recognising the importance of environmental responsibility, theBelgian government has mandated that that electric vehicles have amore beneficial regulation for taxation as of July 2023 while minimising
environmental impact. Nippon Gases Belgium's proactive approach
positions the company to comply with this regulation seamlessly.
Inspired by this initiative, both the Netherlands and France have also
embarked on their journeys towards sustainable fleets. They have begun
the process of transitioning to plug-in hybrids and electric cars, following
in the footsteps of Nippon Gases Belgium.
The enthusiastic response from employees, who appreciate the positive
impact on the environment, highlights the successful mind shift towards
electric driving.

BNF

A successful pilot test was conducted in La Isleta port, situated in the
Mar Menor, a saltwater lagoon that has suffered severe damage due tohuman activity over the past decades. The results of the experiment werepromising, demonstrating the effectiveness of supplying pure oxygen
in increasing the water's dissolved oxygen (DO) levels by an average of
13%. Notably, this oxygenation process significantly improved water andsediment quality parameters without any adverse effects.
The long-term benefits of this oxygenation technique in eutrophicatedenvironments are remarkable. By promoting sustainability andcontributing to the recovery of the aquatic ecosystem, Nippon Gases'
oxygenation application plays a vital role in restoring balance to theaffected natural habitats.
Through their commitment to environmental stewardship and innovative
solutions, Nippon Gases is leading the way in revitalising nature andfostering a more sustainable future for our precious ecosystems.

Portugal reforestation

IberiaThe reforestation action, initially planned for the 26th of November, waspostponed due to the rain forecast to the 28th of January 2023, a cold but
sunny day, bringing together more than 65 employees and their families
from Porto and Lisbon, to create the second Nippon Gases forest, thistime in Vieira de Leiria with around 1,000 tree species native to the area.

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This action helped reforest land destroyed by fire, enhance thebiodiversity of plant and animal local species, and most importantly,
helped compensate for several tons of CO2 emissions.
Nippon Gases recognises that forests play an important role in our efforts
to combat climate change. The company is committed to guaranteeing
the development of this new forest during the years ahead, and replanting any trees that may have dried up or not evolved adequately.

103

IberiaEMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Reviving nature

104

Long-term agreement on green CO2

Northern Europe

Nippon Gases Danmark A/S and Bioman ApS have entered into a long-term
agreement on bio-based CO2 from Bioman's new plants in Horsens andHerning. The agreement means that Nippon Gases will recover the green
CO2 produced at Bioman.

Effective solutions in the Port of Antwerp"Liquid green CO2 is a unique and climate-friendly product. Throughthis agreement, users of CO2 in Denmark can gain access to an
environmentally friendly product." says Henrik Bie, General Manager at
Bioman.

For one customer, the implementation of Mizu Sub technology enabled
them to maintain their production levels while ensuring efficient water
treatment. The other customer benefited from the use of Mizu ISO
technology, resulting in significant cost reductions for external water
waste treatment. Moreover, both customers experienced enhanced
stability in the water treatment process.

"Nippon Gases has a strong commitment to sustainability, and ourannual sustainability report includes a target to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 35% in the period 2019-2029. Therefore, it is important tochoose partners and invest in projects that contribute to the reduction ofemissions and the green shift", says Hans-Ulrik Jernert, CEO of Nippon
Gases Denmark.

Nippon Gases BNF's hybrid solution demonstrates their commitment tosustainable water management and customer satisfaction. By increasing
capacity and optimising treatment processes, they enable businesses
to operate efficiently while minimising environmental impact. This
successful endeavor highlights the company's expertise in delivering
effective solutions for water waste treatment.

Nippon Gases Denmark is the country's largest supplier of CO2 forcommercial use and has customers in several areas, including
refrigeration, water treatment, dry ice, carbonated beverages.

Setting a new standard

Germany

Nippon Gases Deutschland has become the first European gas company
to receive EU medical device certification for medical carbon dioxide.
This certification, granted in accordance with the EU Medical Device
Regulation (MDR), solidifies Nippon Gases Germany's commitment toexcellence in the healthcare sector.

A commitment with resilient roots
Through a partnership with Treedom, the world's first platform enabling
to plant trees remotely and follow the story of the project they will givelife to, Nippon Gases Italia has launched a transformative initiative. The
project entails planting 500 trees annually for five years across Cameroon,
Tanzania, Ecuador, Guatemala, Madagascar, and Kenya. These trees will
absorb 110.82t of CO2 in 10 years, delivering environmental, economic, andsocial benefits to their caretakers.
While this project aims to foster customer loyalty, its primary focus lies
in making a positive impact on the environment and local communities,
promoting sustainability in profound ways. By planting trees withinagroforestry systems, integrated with crops vital to local livelihoods, theproject supports developing nations.

Following a rigorous three-day audit on MDR and ISO 13485 conductedby the esteemed Notified Body TÜV Süd in March 2023, Nippon Gases
Germany successfully met the stringent requirements to attain thisprestigious certification.
The EU medical device certification reinforces the company dedication
to providing reliable and compliant medical carbon dioxide, meeting the
evolving needs of the healthcare community.

Nippon Gases leads the change in CO2 reduction
and recycling

Germany

As global demand for aluminium increases, the industry faces thechallenge of its energy-intensive production and substantial CO2
emissions from recycling. To combat this, primary aluminium producers
and recyclers are actively pursuing sustainable decarbonization
strategies.
Nippon Gases Deutschland is playing a vital role in supporting a prominent
global manufacturer of primary aluminum and aluminium products on its
journey to becoming a leading recycler. By introducing oxygen/fuel burnersystems as an alternative to air burners, coupled with natural gas, Nippon
Gases is driving the transformation towards greener manufacturing
practices.
With extensive expertise, Nippon Gases aims to achieve up to a 30%
reduction in CO2 emissions and decrease reliance on natural gas,
positively impacting the overall carbon footprint. Starting with theconversion of one melting furnace, this collaborative effort paves the way
for further global implementation, marking a significant milestone in the
pursuit of a sustainable aluminium industry.

Back to index

Trees are invaluable allies in combating climate change, producing oxygen,
and absorbing CO2. They enhance air quality, lower temperatures, provide
refuge and nourishment for diverse species, promote biodiversity, andcombat soil erosion through their roots. By planting the right tree inthe right place for the right purpose, Nippon Gases Italia contributes toachieving 10 of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) by 2030. This project exemplifies their unwavering commitment
to a sustainable and thriving future for all positively impacting the overall
carbon footprint. Starting with the conversion of one melting furnace,
this collaborative effort paves the way for further global implementation,
marking a significant milestone in the pursuit of a sustainable aluminium
industry environmental sustainability but also fosters the transition
towards a greener and more sustainable agribusiness industry.

Italy

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

BNF

Nippon Gases BNF has successfully expanded the water treatment
capacity for two customers in the Port of Antwerp by nearly 50% using an
innovative hybrid solution. By combining oxygen with the existing aeration
system, the company achieved remarkable results.

Green CO2 is climate-neutral CO2 captured from biological material, fromthe established cycle. CO2 capture is part of biogas production, which isbased on the raw materials animal manure, deep litter and food waste.
Green CO2 from Bioman is a by-product in the production of biomethane,
and Bioman will isolate, purify and liquefy the CO2 as part of the biogas
production.

105

Customer106

4.7 Awards
Sustainable supermarket refrigeration

Italy

Nestled in San Giovanni, Persiceto, MD Discount Store has become thefirst supermarket in Italy to embrace Honeywell Solstice® L40X (R-455A),
revolutionising refrigeration practices. Solstice L40X is projected to savethe store approximately €260,000 in lifetime costs and reduce lifetime
emissions by 25%* compared to carbon dioxide refrigerants, for that
store alone.

EIGA Awards 2022
During the Annual General Meeting of the European Industrial Gases
Association (EIGA), Nippon Gases received four top awards for its
outstanding safety and environmental performance during 2022.

*Results are based on data input from MD and specific analyses using Honeywell’s Eco-

Europe

The company was delighted to secure the awards in the following
categories:

Efficiency model, which has been independently validated by Cemafroid.

Selected for its energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness, Solstice L40X
is a low global warming potential (GWP), hydrofluoroolefin (HFO)-blend
solution designed for commercial refrigeration in small-to-medium sized
supermarkets. The refrigerant's low-GWP of 146 ensures compliance with
the European Union Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation.

Company 2022 Award for Category 1 members:
Recognised for our exceptional safety performance, which
demonstrates our commitment to employee well-being in all
subsidiaries.
Working Group Award 2022:

Italy

Nippon Gases Italia has embarked on an inspiring journey towards agreener future. Partnering with AizoOn and CIRIAF, the company seizeda remarkable opportunity, securing funding from the European Union
under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). This visionary
project falls under Mission 2, "Green Revolution and Ecological Transition",
Component 2, "Renewable Energy, Hydrogen, Sustainable Mobility", andInvestment 3.5, "Hydrogen Research and Development", promoted by the
Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Road Safety Award 2022 (Nippon Gases Belgium)
Celebrating our achievement of the lowest avoidable accident frequency
rate for road vehicles in the cylinder transport category (less than 2
million km per year).

With a resolute focus on advancing knowledge and applications ofhydrogen, the project, aptly named HEHS (High Efficiency Hydrogen
Storage), aims to revolutionise hydrogen storage technology. This
innovative solution holds the potential to transform the production,
storage, and distribution of hydrogen, unlocking endless possibilities forderivatives and electrofuels. This significant funding, totaling €2,600,000,
propels Nippon Gases Italia to the forefront of sustainable innovation,
driving a brighter and cleaner future for all.

Safety performance recognised by LTI Awards

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

Pioneering a sustainable future

Recognising the outstanding leadership, impact and results of the
Ad-Hoc 20.1 Centenary Group, chaired by Jose Luis Chesa, Director ofExternal Communications for Europe, in developing EIGA's centenary
brand, communication plan and raising the association's overall image.

EuropeNippon Gases is rightly proud of its exceptionally good safety performance,
which is evidenced by the number of sites across Europe that have been
without Lost Time Incidents (LTI) for so many years.
Overall, Nippon Gases has 12 Nippon Gases locations across Europe that
achieved bronze, silver and gold medals, showcasing their accident-freerecords spanning 5, 10, 15, 25 and even 35 years.

A sustainable concept for super cooling fresh fish fortransport
SuperGreen uses dry ice (CO2) as a method for cooling fresh fish and otherfoods under transport. This method of supercooling ensures with dry ice
provides a safe and robust cold chain for up to 96 hours.
SalMar, one of the largest fish farming companies in Norway and a longterm customer of Nippon Gases, has implemented SuperGreen in theirproduction lines at their brand new facility at Senja. The start-up will be in
two steps. Step one is onsite dry ice production with manual dosing. Step
two will be automatic dosing of dry ice directly into the fish boxes.

107- Pamplona, Spain- Anagni, Italy- Villaverde, Spain- Sant'Ambrogio Valpolicella, Italy- Rjukan, Norway- Avilés, Spain- Hounslow, UK- Barcelona, Spain- Dillingen, Germany- Gijón Enclave, Spain- Bopfingen, Germany

Back to index

SuperGreen is an important sustainability initiative from Nippon Gases
that will allow the products of our customers to retain a higher quality andextend the shelf life of the product. The technology can also be used forinternal storage, during local distribution and on all road and air transport.

North EU

- Novara, Italy

108

Europe
Gold Medal for Corporate Social Responsibility,from Ecovadis
Nippon Gases awarded an EcoVadis Gold Medal for its performance inCorporate Social Responsibility.

IberiaRecognition beyond industry
Nippon Gases has been recognised by customers in Europe for its
exceptional support and for exceeding expectations through collaborative
efforts.

The gold status reached by Nippon Gases places the company in the top 2%of companies performance in four key areas: Environment, Ethics, Humanand Labour Rights and Sustainable Procurement.

2022

The recognition of Nippon Gases’ performance is the result of the company's
commitment to take actions that have a positive impact in areas suchas climate change, employee health and safety - Nippon Gases' number 1priority - inclusion and diversity as well as other aspects such as ethics andhuman rights.

Iniciativas Bioenergéticas

Nippon Gases quickly refilled the liquid nitrogen tank, guaranteeing
safety by ensuring the continued inert state of its processes andminimising damage. Iniciativas Bioenergéticas is grateful for the
dedication of the workers of the Nippon Gases departments and thedrivers who resolved the situation.
Spanish Asociation Against Cancer
Nippon Gases received acknowledgement from the Spanish Asociation
Against Cancer for their contribution towards the breast cancer
campaign. Their support during the money raise campaign will fund therehabilitation and physiotherapy of 15 women affected by breast cancer.

Italy
Safety Performance, Recognised by ASSOGASTECNICI
Nippon Gases Italy has been awarded the prize for the best overall
safety results among all the members of the Italian Gas Association,
Assogastecnici.

EMPOWERED BY PEOPLEEMPOWERED BY PEOPLE

The company expressed its gratitude to Nippon Gases for its quick
response and availability as a supplier following an unintentional
explosion at its Biodiesel Production Facility in La Rioja.

Furthermore, awards were also granted to two production units.
–

1st prize to our San Salvo facility for achieving 35 consecutive years
without accidents–

5th prize to our Melito facility for achieving 5 consecutive years without
accidents.

TeknicNippon Gases Iberia is recognised and appreciated by Teknic for
their collaboration in the MiruGas® service for monitoring wastewater
treatment plants. The advanced NitroPro® option ensures optimal
oxygenation cycles and remote access to process variables, reducing
operator travel. MiruGas® enables Teknic to remotely monitor theirfacilities, anticipate deviations, and improve the quality of treatedwater. Teknic is highly satisfied with the results and looks forward to
future collaboration.

Northern Europe

International Safety Award, from the British Safety Council
Nippon Gases UK Ltd, Immingham, and Nippon Gases Offshore, Dyce, havebeen awarded International Safety Awards by the British Safety Council for
their commitment to workplace health and safety in 2022. These awards
recognise organisations that prioritise the prevention of workplace
injuries, work-related illnesses, and promote well-being and mental healthat work.
Nippon Gases UK Limited has also won the Wholesale and Retail Services
Sector Award for demonstrating a strong commitment to good health andsafety management during 2022.

Back to index

109

110

5.
Annex

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111

112

5.1 Community initiatives

Category(Education, Diversity, Community Support (includes
Disaster Relief), Health & Wellness, Environment)

NorwayLørenskog Handball club, girls 2006: Team has big ambitions to be among the best teams in the country.
Lot of matches has to be played to reach their goal . For this a lot of financial means are required .
Collecting of the budget happens via volunteer days and local sponsor deals.NGD volunteert to be one of
the sponsors.

Community Support

Category(Education, Diversity, Community Support (includes
Disaster Relief), Health & Wellness, Environment)

NorwaySunde soccer team, boys 2009: Local football team working only with volunteers.This organisation plays
a major role in the integration and unity of people with a minority background in the local community .
Sponsoring was provided to buy all kind of equipment so that they could keep on organising their basic
activities.

Community Support

NorwayHaukås shool music corps: Support in getting new admin equipment.

Health & Wellness

NorwaySupport Ulllkisa Football team children : `Monetary support for a new football goal for the local youth
football team .

Community Support

NorwayWest coast hockey Academy: WCHA was started exclusively as an additional offer open to all children
and young people during a demanding corona period when much of their activities were limited and inperiods stopped. This started with a few children once a week and have today 200 participants with 3
events per week. In addition to hundreds of volunteer hours from parent coaches, external coaches havebeen hired at some of the events.

Education

Norway"Donate winter clothes from employees to refugees: Refugees need winter clothes - employees deliverwarm clothes to theoffice, and HR delivered them to refugees."

Community Support

NorwayMalm Idrettslag; Support for the local sports teams 100th anniversary celebration

Community Support

NorwaySponsoring of the local Theatre in Malm

Community Support

NorwayPropulse NTNU: NG Norway sponsored a group of award winning students from Norways leading STEM
university so that they could participate in international competitions. We supported them with ourgases up to an agreed value .

NorwayGrorud Sports clubs: The local soccer team which has a strong community engagement and reachouts to minority groups in the area. They organise free football training camps for youth as well asother organised activitites to keep youths off the street.

Community Support

NorwayYellow reflecting safety jackets were distributed to the local school in the community. This as part of
the training they received in school on safety ,Community Support

NorwaySotra Sports Club: Contribution to new suits for 32 handball players aged 12

Community Support

NorwaySørum Sports clubs Athletics group:Monetary sypport to reduce the cost of the training camps

Community Support

NorwayOdd G14 Football 40 boys: Monetary support contributing to a lower participation fee at this years
Norwaycup -kids/youths competiton "Community Support

NorwayUllkisa Fotrball G16: Monetary support contributed to cover costs for participating in competitions.

Community Support

NorwayHøyenhall BootCamp: Free training offer in Høyenhallparken for children and adults, with goals of
inclusion, community, everyday joy and public health.

Community Support

NorwayChristmas party donations to Rjukan community: Christmas party for children open for all people in
Rjukan community

Community Support

Norway"Tinn Leisure club for youths: children's/youth's club in the villages which offers
activities other than organised sports etc. The money was spend to buy outdoor furniture"

Community Support

NorwayRjukan Gymnastics and fitness group: in collaboration with Jazzercise and Moods organised a full-day
training activity at Rjukan for everyone - to get everyone interested in training again after the corona.

Community Support

Norway"Rjukan Golf club: support to the local golf club"Community Support

Norway"Rjukan Food festival: support to the food festival "Community Support

Portugal

Projecto Pro-Natura. ANEFA: Planting 750 new and diverse trees in a degraded area due to forest fires
during the last few years

PortugalCâmara Municipal Trofa (collection of goods/materials for Ukraine): Delivery of 100 oximeter to
Hospitals in Ukraine, in order to use in the war context

Community Support

Portugal

Centro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia / Espinho ( CHVNGE): Delivery of 9 stethoscopes to Vila Nova deGaia Hospital. Purpose of equip the pneumology service of this Hospital.

Community Support

Belgium

PDP CUP: A mini football tournament organised in memory of a friend of some staff members, Peter deSmet, who died of cancer, hence PDS cup. A significant part of the proceeds will be passed on to theofficial Come on Against Cancer campaign.

Health & Wellness

Belgium

HET VRIENDENHUIS: Sponsorship of a BBQ event for a home of disabled children. Employees
volunteered to organise the BBQ, help with serving the food, do the dishes, entertain the children.

Community Support

Belgium

NERDLAND FESTIVAL: Nerdland Festival is Belgium's largest outdoor science 3 day-festival that aims to
make scientific professions attractive and knowable. Nerdland Festival gives companies the opportunity
to showcase their product and processes scientifically educationally. It aims to attract families and toenthusiam mainly young people about science and technology. Companies can sponsor the festival in
exchange for a company stand where company/processes/chemical processes can be shown.

Belgium

WARMSTE WEEK: Support of 'Warmste Week', a national event supported by radio and television. Every
year they work around a central theme, in 2022 it was poverty. Different actions were organised: Sale ofchocolat, hot-dogs, nespresso cups, organising a wine and cheese evening, sale of Christmas cards,...

Community Support

Belgium

PROJECT ENSIVAL: Heavy flooding in Wallonia in July 2021 leaving entire villages partially uninhabitable
and schools unusable.
ENSIVAL is a volunteer project to build a playground/ravot park in a city park next to the current
container classes of primary schools set up after the floods.

Community Support

Belgium

TABLET + CHARCHING CABLES: Vzw Spoor 56 is a special youth care organisation. They provide support
and guidance to children/youth and their families where there is a troubling parenting situation. Nippon
Gases Belgium decided to support this organisation from Community Engagement with 35 tablets andcharging cables.

Education

Community Support

Belgium

TRASHPICKING: Local initiatives during lunch breaks in the neighbourhood of the Nippon Gases facilities
to help keep the environment cleaner

Environment

Belgium

SPONSORSHIP FOOTBALL ACCOMODATION: Support local football team with the construction of a new
facility. The new-built accomodation will not only serve for the football team, but can be made available
for other associations (sport, cultural,…), for private use or for commercial activities

Community Support

Denmark

Christmas donations: Donations were gathered among employees and distributed to 3 organisationsof choice of the employees: Children cancer foundation,Danish Cancer Society (KræftensBekæmpelse) and Hospital Clowns

Community Support

Denmark

SDM i Skills is the major annual Danish championship for young people from vocational education andtraining programmes. DM i Skills gives young people the chance to showcase their talents. It also helps
to sharpen their professional skills and show the outside world - including primary school pupils - thediverse and exciting opportunities offered by vocational education and training programmes.The aim
is to create awareness about the education and help attract more persons to pursue a carreer in theindustry. NGD sponsered this event.

Community Support

Nippon Gases employees supports Danish Red Cross work in Ukraine: Employees raise money for theDanish Red Cross operating in Ukraine. For every euro raised, Nippon Gases doubled the amount.

Health & Wellness

Denmark

Germany

v. Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen Bethel: Collecting stamps from incoming mail to be sent to Bethel.
The Bethel organisation offers handicapped people the work to sort, refurbish, select and sell thesestamps.

Community Support

Italy

Mirability: Christmas card contribution for health research on a genetic disease

Italy

Dynamo Camp:Medical devices challenge in order to collect donations through the participation in
sports initiatives

Community Support

Italy

Centro Nemo:Gymnasium setup for respiratory rehabilitation of patients with neuromuscular diseases
at Niguarda Hospital

Community Support

Italy

Politecnico di Milano: Research group at the University to define the guidelines of the hospital of thefuure in the areas of digital innovation, sustainability, design and risk analysis

Community Support

NorwayPUB QUIZ: Online quiz of 1,5 hours over luncht time to support 'Het Vergeten Kind'. This foundation
supports children who grow up in very difficult circumstances.

Nippon Gases supports Redd Barnas work in Ukraina, Polen & Romania: Employees collected money
for Save the Children organisation , operating in Ukraine, Poland and Romania. For every euro raised,
Nippon Gases Norway doubled the total amount collected by employees.

Education

Education

Environment

Environment

Community Support

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Netherlands

113

Organisation & Project Description

Organisation & Project Description

ANNEX

ANNEX

CountryCountry114

Country

Country

Organization & Project Description

Category(Education, Diversity, Community Support (includes
Disaster Relief), Health & Wellness, Environment)

Community Support

Portugal

Hospital Pulido Valente: Weighing scale delivery to Hospital Pulido Valente

Community Support/ Health & Wellness

Portugal

Hospital CUF Almada: Delivery of 10 thermometers to Home Hospitalization Unit of CUF Hospital Almada

Community Support/Health & Wellness

Portugal

Several Hospitals around the country : Delivery of around 500 blankets to use by the Home
Hospitalization Units of several Hospitals around the country

Spain

Hospital Gregorio Marañon:Delivery of coat pantys for the promotion of the vaccination campaign to thehospital staff.

Community Support/Health & Wellness

Spain

Fundación Aladina: Creating nicer rooms for children with cancer, who have to be at Hospital Niño Jesús
during many months

Community Support

Spain

FUNDACIÓN ADECCO: Disability week 2022.Awareness Campaign

Community Support

Spain

Música en Vena: An initiative to bring small orchestras to hospitals to be listened by patients, in order toimprove their mood, especially for children suffering from cancer.

Community Support

SwedenKöpings golfklubb - golf: Sponsoring of the club

SwedenBuying eastereggs from a school to support the historical school trip

SwedenDuring christmas period, funding was collected in the organisation and by voting among theemployees a sharity foundations was selected to receive the contributions gathered, For 2022 theCancerfund Sweden was selected as the winnerCommunity support

UK

Ukraine Crisis Appeal: Raising funds for the British Red Cross to get critical care to those who need
it most both in Ukriane and its bordering countries.Funding was coming from employees making
donations

Community Support

UK

Kilt Walk: Employees walked 15 miles along the Scottish countryside to raise funds for local charities.
Employees raised funds through sponsorship and the funds were split between the following charities:
Clan cancer support, Home start-Aberdeen, Kidney cancer Uk, STV childrens appeal

Community Support

UK

Step Count Challenge : Step Count Challenge - Staff were split into teams of 5, competing against
one another to accumulate the most steps over a 8 week period. The winning team chose a charity
organisation ( North East Sensory Services) to make the donation of the collected funding

Community Support

UK

Beach Clean: Supporting in cleaning the beach to improve health of our marine enviroment

Community Support

UK

Macmillan coffee morning: Staff baked or bought cakes that were sold in pieces to collect money

Community Support

UK

AberNecessities: Local sharity organisation collecting clothes, … Offshore employees collectedchildren winter clothes/jackets donated to AberNecessities who distributed them among disadva,
Employees donated warm clothing to a campaign - The cosy jacket appeal which was donated to local
disadvantaged families

Community Support

UKI"Three Peaks Walk: Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walking Challenge in aid of Alzheimers Society"

Community Support

UKI

Sponsorship of junior sports teams - cricket, rugby & football: Sponsoring of team clothing for 3 juniorsporting teams

Community Support

UKI

Ten Pin Bowling Competition: Highest scoring 10 pin bowler nominated their favourite sharity
organisation ( Macmillan Cancer Support )to donate the collected money .

Community Support

UKI"Primary Engineer: The initiative supports the collaboration of primary school,teachers andengineering professionals, in bringing the concept of engineering to young children before entering
senior school. For this academic year we will be supporting 20 schools within a 40- mile radius of the
Immingham (x10) and Aberdeen (x10) sites, as well as sponsorship of the national award programme"

Community Support/Health & Wellness

Spain"Muevete con ALES" (Move with ALES): Collaboration with the ALES association in the "Muevete con
ALES" charity race

Community Support/Health & Wellness

Spain

FCHP (Fundación contra la hipertensión pulmonar, Pulmonary Hypertension Foundation in Spanish:
Sponsoring of the FCHP XIV Anniversary and of training and awareness sessions for pulmonary
hypertension patients and relatives

Community Support

Spain

Firefighters United Solidarity Effort Foundation: Collaboration with Firefighters United Solidarity
Effort Foundation

Community Support

Spain

Sponsorship of the 12th "Luchamos por la vida" (Let's fight for life) march.

Community Support/Health & Wellness

Spain

FUNDACIÓN ADECCO: World Down Syndrome Day support

Community Support

Spain

Turkey Embassy in Spain (Madrid): Campaign to help the victims of the earthquake in Turkey with thesending of funds

Community Support

Spain

FUNDACIÓN ADECCO, Plan Familia (Oximesa): We collaborate providing physio therapies, pedagogicaland phsicological assitance to seven company children with profund dissabilities

Community Support

Spain

FUNDACIÓN ADECCO, Plan Familia (Nippon Gases Spain): We collaborate providing physio therapies,
pedagogical and phsicological assitance to seven company children with profund dissabilities

Community Support

Spain

SEO-Birdlife & Alcorcón Hospital: SEO/BirdLife is the organisation that has been working for theconservation of wild birds and their habitats.The activity is about building bird feeders, made bychildren and psychiatric patients, to be placed in the surroundings of the hospitalSpain

RAI (Royal Academy of Engineering).Project, women and engineering: Development job-seeking skills
for five recent female graduates

Spain

RAI (Royal Academy of Engineering).Project, women and engineering: Promotion of STEM careersamong adolescent girls, with talks given by our engineers in schools

Diversity/Education

Spain

RAI (Royal Academy of Engineering).Project, women and engineering: Promote circular economy
among teenagers, being part of the jury that will award the best projects carried out by teenagers inschools in Madrid

Environment/Education

Spain & Portugal

AECC (Spanish Association against Cancer):Creating a health campaign, to promote the awareness,
early detection, treatment and palliative care of those which are suffering brest cancer

Community Support

SwedenSwedish employees received their Christmas and New Year gift of the company and decided to givethis financial contribution to the sharity fund of choiceCommunity Support

SwedenSwimming club Norrbybadet: Sponsoring of the clubCommunity Support

SwedenSpånga fritidsklubb - cricket : Sponsoring of the clubCommunity Support

SwedenHagateatern - Theatre: Sponsoring of the clubCommunity Support

SwedenMSK Skinnskatteberg - speedway: Sponsoring of the clubCommunity Support

Community Support

Education

Environment/Comunity Support

Diversity

Education

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115

Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC): Delivery of 50 oximeter to a group of clinician inorder to use in a humanitary action in São Tomé e Principe

Category(Education, Diversity, Community Support (includes
Disaster Relief), Health & Wellness, Environment)

ANNEX

ANNEX

Portugal

Organization & Project Description1165.2 Membership list of associations

VFIG: Association of Manufacturers of Industrial Gases of Netherlands
Netherlands

DUJAT: Dutch – Japanese Trade Federation Netherlands
JCC (Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands)

FranceWe are convinced that our business benefits from the active participation inorganisations that represent our industry. During FYE2022 we were active in many
associations and organisations, including:

AFGC: Association Française de Gaz Comprimes France
AFF (Association Françoise du Froid)
BCGA: British Compressed Gases Organization
CIA: Chemical Industries Association
BSI: British Standards Institution

UK
EuropaBritsafe: British Safety Council

EIGA: European Industrial Gases Association

SEDEX: Ethical Trading Organisation
AGCC: Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce

FEIQUE: The Spanish Federation of the Chemical Industry
AFGIM: Spanish Industrial Gases Association

Denmark

AEGE: Spanish Energy-Intensive Industry Group

PCG: Association of Compressed Gases Producers

CEJE: Association of Japanese companies in Spain
AmCham Spain: American Chamber of Commerce in Spain

SwedenGASNAM: Spanish Hydrogen Organisation

SIGA: Swedish Industrial Gas Association
SWC: Swedish Welding Commission

AEBIG: Spanish Biogas Association
AEC: Spanish Association for Quality

Norway

CFAA: Aeronautical Advanced Manufacturing Center

NIGF: Norwegian Industrial Gas Association
BN: Biogas Norway

AEDTFAA: Business Group for the Development of Advanced Aeronautical Manufacturing Techniques
Spain & Portugal

CESOL: Spanish Association of Welding and Joining Technologies
BEQUINOR: National Association for the Standardisation of Capital Goods and Industrial Safety
APCSD: Portuguese Home Healthcare Association
APQuímica: Portuguese Chemical, Petrochemical and Refining Association
IQPA: Cluster of Chemical and Process Industries of Principado de Asturias Club de Calidad: Quality ClubINDES: Asociación de Industrias de EL Serrallo (INDES): Industry Association of El Serrallo
FENIN: Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies
Shacho Kai: Association of Japanese companies helping to develop their business in Spain

5.3 2023 Summary Data

BH2C: Basque Hydrogen Corridor
Cluster de Energía, País Vasco: Energy Cluster Bask country

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Unit

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

GHG Scope 1

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

65,21

67.46

84.60

63.47

GHG Emissions Scope 2

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

1,360.38

1,037.68

810.17854.14GHG Scope 1 percentage vs Scope 1 + Scope 2

%

4%

6%

9%

7%

GHG Scope 2 percentage vs Scope 1 + Scope 2

%

96%

94%

91%

93%

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

1,424.18

1,105.13

894.77917.61

ASU

%

88%

85%

83%

86%

IGV: Industrial Gas Association e.v.

HyCO

%

3%

3%

5%

4%

CO2 liquefaction

%

5%

6%

5%

5%

VCI: Association of Chemical Industry

Distribution

%

1%

1%

1%

1%

DVS: German Welding Association

Filling Stations + F-gas + Others

%

4%

4%

6%

4%

%

100%

78%

63%

64%

1,474.96

1,505.06

1.318.886

169,18187.52

169.18183.33

86.99
45.89

FEDERCHIMICA: Italian Association of Chemical Industry
AGT: Italian Association of Industrial and Medical Gas Manufacturers
UNIONE INDUSTRIALE: Association of Italian Manufacturing and Service Companies
Italy

IJBG: Italian- Japan Business GroupAICEP Italian Process Energy Consumers Association: Association of Industrial Groups characterised by the use of large amounts of electricity inproduction processes
CIB Consorzio Italiano Biogas: voluntary aggregation for companies / organisations / institutions involved in biogas and biomethane from renewable sources
CTI Comitato Termotecnico Italiano: a body federated with UNI, aims to carry out normative and unifying activities in the various fields of thermotechnics

VIK: Association of Industrial Energy Consumers
HyCologne: Association in Rheinland to promote the use of hydrogen
Germany

JIHK: The Japanese Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Düsseldorf
Wasserstoffenergiecluster Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V. : Association in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to promote the production and use of hydrogen
Silicon Saxony: Association of Electronic Manufacturers and Suppliers Saxony
DGG: Association of German Glas Producers
IHT – Industrieverband Härtetechnik
VDZ/ECRA: Association of German Cement Producers

Essenscia: Federation of the chemical and life sciences industries
Waterstofnet VZW: Hydrogen Association of Belgium
FEBELIEC: Federation of Belgian Industrial Energy Consumers
Belgium

BJA: Belgium-Japan Association & Chamber of Commerce
VOKA: Flemish Economic Association
circularity in the metal industry)Bemas (Non-profit organisation in the field of maintenance and asset management)

GHG Emissions Scope 1 + Scope 2

GHG Emissions Scope 1 + Scope 2 vs FYE2019 (a)GHG Emissions Scope 3 –Total

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

Category 1

Miles de toneladas de CO2e

Category 2

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

Category 3

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

64.13

69.92

Category 4

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

53.76

52.52

NA

Category 5

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

0.066

Category 6

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

0.051

0.064

NA

Category 7- Employee commuting

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

NA

Category 8
Upstream leased assets

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

NA

Category 9
Downstream transportation and distribution

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

57.09

Category 10
Processing of sold products

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

54.94

65.22

NA

Category 11
Use of sold products

Thousands of tonnes CO2eNANA

888.29Back to index

Flanders Metals Valley: Cooperation of companies, universities and research centers that focusses on complete circular chain (going for climate neutrality &117

Environment

Compromiso Asturias XXI: Association to increase the development and well being of the Principality of Asturias

ANNEX

ANNEX

AeH2: Spanish Hydrogen Association

118

Environment

Environmental Impact
Releases of substances designated under the Pollutant Release andTransfer Register (PRTR)

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

Unit

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

n/a

n/a

n/a

Local and accidental pollution issues

Number000

Local and accidental biodiversity issues

Number0

00

Environmental Violations fines

Number

0

0

0

Euros

0

0

0

Category 12
End-of-life treatment of sold products

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

NA

Category 13
Downstream leased assets

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

42.48

42,31

53.03

Category 14
Franchises

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

NA

Environmental Violations fines

Category 15
Investments

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

NA

NA

NA

Fugitive emissions from cooling systems

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

2.35

2.27

1.96

Emissions from transfilling ODS

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

23.43

31.76

18.18

Millions of m3

27.89

27.60

25.14

(a) Calculated using a base of 100 in FYE2019.
Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
Scope 1 emissions: Direct emissions occurring from sources
owned or controlled by the company

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated subsidiaries
in Europe

Scope 2 emissions: Indirect emissions from the use of electricity,
steam when supplied by third parties.

Water Usage

Scope 3 emissions: Indirect emissions other than Scope 2
emissions.

Total Water Withdrawn

GHG emissions in Europe are calculated using emission factors
specified recognised international standards as per verified
protocol.

Total Water Discharge

Contributions to Environmental Protection through Products
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Customer Application
Contribution
Decarbonization customer initiatives
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction refrigerant gases
business

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

314

1,520

1,419

Number

>60

53

TBD

Thousands of tonnes CO2e336.11

344.5

410.8

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
Energy Usage
Electric power

GWh2,794.99

2,530.59

2,795.31

2.594.42

Air Separation Unit

%

92%

92%

92%

92,8%

CO2 liquefaction

%

5%

5%

5%

4,5%

Filling Stations

%

1.7%

1.7%

1.7%

1,6%

HyCO

%

0.4%

0.4%

0.4%

0,7%

Others

%

0.9%

1.0%

0.9%

0,1%

Thermal Energy

GJ1,173.51

1,029.76

1,352.32

945.47

12%

12%

9%

12%

Air Separation Unit

CO2 liquefaction

Renewable energy sourcing

16%

%

18%

12%

17%

19%

34%

35%

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe
Purchased fuels and steam are converted into primaryenergy amounts(a) Calculated using a base of FYE2019(b) Gases produced (oxygen, nitrogen, argon) calculated inTons of equivalent gaseous oxygen

Millions of m3

23.78

23.31

20.88

Total Water Consumption

Millions of m3

4.10

4.29

4.26

ASU water consumption

%

86%

86%

87%

HyCO water consumption

%

1%

2%

1%

CO2 water consumption

%

12%

12%

12%

Surface water e.g. river, lake

Millions of m3

1.15

0.91

0,91

Ground water e.g. well

Millions of m3

0.31

0.32

0,37

Brackish water e.g. sea water

Millions of m3

0

0

0

City water

Millions of m3

1.04

1.13

1,08

Third party supply water

Millions of m3

1.60

1.93

1,9

Cooling Tower Water Evaporation

Millions of m3

2.87

3.09

3.06

Cooling Tower Water Blowdown

Millions of m3

1.23

1.20

1.20

Total Water Withdrawn in Extreme high stress areas

Millions of m3

0.76

0.72

0.78

Cooling Tower concentration cycles

Cycles

3.33

3.57

3.55

Water energy intensity

M3/MWh

1.53

1.47

1.64

City water consumption

%

25%

26%

25%

Water consumption intensity (a)

%

96%

81%

68%

Percentage main consumer sites with water management program (b)

%

100%

100%

100%

ANNEX

ANNEX

Tons

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated subsidiaries
in Europe.
(a) Water consumption vs business sales. Base year FYE2020(b) Water main consumers with water withdraw >30.000 m3/yr

Environmental Impact
Tons NOx

SOx emissions

35

31

47

43

Tons

n/a

n/a

n/a

Particulate emissions

Tons

n/a

n/a

n/a

VOC emissions

Tons

n/a

n/a

n/a

Back to index

119

NOx emissions

120

Environment
Waste

Society
Unit

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Waste total

Tons

2,390

3,030

3.109

Waste total on landfill

Tons

99

120

88

Non-Hazardous waste

Tons

1,929

2,434

2,538

Non-Hazardous Waste on landfill

Tons

83

84

53

Percentage Non-hazardous on landfill

%

4.1%

3,4

2,1

Hazardous waste

Tons

461

595.7

571,3

Hazardous Waste on landfill

Tons

16.0

36.6

Percentage Hazardous on landfill

%

3.4%

6.1%

Zero waste program sites
Waste intensity (a)ANNEX

Estimate of transport CO2 emissions avoided by on-site customer
units
Percentage of deliveries of air gases via pipeline%

73.96%

72.30%

72.18%

72.10%

FemaleMale

Total # of employees &distribution by age%

31.49%

29.83%

30.13%

28,75%

20s and below

%

3.70%

4.88%

5.15%

7,30%

35,3

50s and above%

41.32%

41.80%

39.62%

40,02%

30s%

17.59%

11.38%

14.71%

10,95%

Total # of employees byprofessional category

40s%

28.70%

30.89%

29.41%

30,66%

6.2%

50s and above%

50.00%

52.85%

50.74%

64,23%

Total # of employees byprofessional category%

Director

%

0.00%

0.00%

0.74%

0,73%

Manager/specialists%

25.93%

29.27%

26.47%

35,04%

Technical- Admin%

74.07%

70.73%

72.79%

64,23%

Number ofindividuals

97

205

270

290

Director

%

2.89%

2.89%

2.92%

3,08%

Manager/specialists%

41.43%

40.07%

40.79%

46,01%

Technical- Admin%

55.68%

57.03%

56.29%

50,91%

HC permanent contracts

Number ofindividuals

2677

2970

3046

3146

Total # of employees &distribution by sex%

Female%25.92%

27.81%

27.91%

28,07%

Million Euro

14.5

6.5

2.9

Male

%

74.08%

72.19%

72.09%

71,93%

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

19.1

10.8

17.8

Total # of employees &distribution by age

%

95.4

86.6

89.7

84.7

53.9

52.3

55.7

53.7

63.3

55.9

66.1

57.8

101,0%

99,7%

104,3%

95.7%

Thousand ltr

3,226

3,253

3,674

3.677

20s and below

%

5.57%

6.26%

7.52%

8,14%

30s

%

21.29%

21.78%

22.59%

22,82%

40s%

31.57%

30.00%

30.20%

28,89%

50s and above%

41.58%

41.95%

39.69%

40,15%

Total # of employees byprofessional category%

Director

%

2.91%

2.93%

2.92%

3,08%

Manager/specialists%

41.58%

40.47%

41.10%

46,50%

%

100%

96%

111%

108%

HC by temporary contracts%

55.51%

56.60%

55.98%

50,41%

Number ofindividuals

19

37

31

40

Total # of employees &distribution by sex%

Female%42.11%

18.92%

19.35%

57.89%

81.08%

80.65%

Amount of accruals or guarantees made or provided forenvironmental risks,.

121

18,62%

50s and above%

44.33%

37.07%

32.22%

27,93%

Total # terminations byprofessional category%

Director

%

1.00%

0.98%

1.48%

1,72%

Manager/specialists%

37.00%

27.32%

30.74%

34,83%

Technical- Admin%

62.00%

71.71%

67.78%

63,45%

51

116

181

174

Total # voluntary leaves(voluntary includes employees
Number ofdecision to leave theindividuals
company)

31.90%

36.46%

41,95%

40s%

35.29%

23.28%

16.02%

20,11%

50s and above%

11.76%

15.52%

14.92%

23,56%

Total # voluntary leaves byprofessional category%

Director

%

0.00%

0.86%

1.10%

1,15%

Manager/specialists%

43.14%

24.14%

28.73%

44,25%

Technical- Admin%

56.86%

75.00%

70.17%

54,60%

10%

40s

%

21.05%

16.22%

22.58%

17,50%

50s and above

%

5.26%

29.73%

32.26%

30%

Total # of employees byprofessional category%

Director

%

0.00%

0.00%

3.23%

2,50%

Manager/specialists%

21.05%

8.11%

9.68%

7,50%

Technical- Admin%

78.95%

91.89%

87.10%

90%015.56%

27.45%

16.13%

0

20.00%%

16.22%

021.65%

30s

47.37%

ThousandEUR%

14,37%%

Environmental Liabilities

40s

32.60%

30s

74%

32,76%

29.31%

42,50%

70%

28.15%

25.49%

29.03%

55%

24.88%%

37.84%%

20.62%

Back to index

Percentage of operational sites certified under ISO 14001
Environmental management system%

20s and below

26.32%

Certifications

30s

%

%

3.8

20,69%

Total # terminations by age

20s and below

5.7

24.07%

64,37%

67%

6.4

18.05%

58.01%

72%

10.5

13.40%

61.21%

72%

Kg CO2/patient/y%62.75%%

27%

20s and below

%

%

36

Total # terminations by age

Male

Total # of employees &distribution by age

40

65,86%

85%

53.0

61

34,14%

62.22%

35,63%

13.7

Km

37.78%

69.27%

41.99%

11.0

Kilometers driven per patient monitored per year

30.73%

38.79%

Thousands of tonnes CO2e298

31.96%
68.04%

37.25%

%

267

%
%

%

Male

260

FemaleMale

Female

12.3

261

%

15%

15.0

Thousands

Total terminations by sex

%

11.9

Total number of patients treated by Nippon Gases

Total terminations

Total voluntary leaves by sex

Million km

Home-Health Care%TOTAL # of terminations(a) Based year FYE2019

CO2 emissions related to transportation (kgCO2/patient/yr)

36,50%

Male

40s

Customer on-site and pipeline
Estimate of truck transportation kilometers avoided throughon-site customer units (in millions of km)

34.56%%

Technical- Admin

CO2 emissions generated /Ton Liquid CO2 transported (a)32.52%

Total # of employees &distribution by sex

CO2 shipping
MGO Maritime Gas oil

28.70%

27.90%

Total # of employees &distribution by age

85%

98.9%

%

27.82%

8,57%

98%

103.0%

63,50%

27.70%

22,66%

96%

100.0%

65.44%

26.04%

7.73%

%

%

67.48%%

ANNEX

Change in distance travelled per cylinder industrial gas delivered(oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide) truck delivery. (a)71.30%

FemaleTotal # of employees &distribution by sex

22.52%

100%%%

HC by part time contracts

6.65%

Transportation Footprint

Change in distance travelled per ton of liquid industrial gas
delivered (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide) truck delivery.
(a)

137

3186

21.72%

100%

Thousands of tonnes CO2e

136

3077

5.71%

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.

CO2 emissions generated by road vehicles

123

3,007

21.48%

100%

Kilometers travelled by all vehicles delivering liquid

108

2,696

FYE2023%%

Million km

Number ofindividuals

Number ofindividuals

FYE2021 FYE2022%

Environmental Accounting

Kilometers travelled by all vehicles delivering gas in liquid or
cylinder form or services

FYE2019

FYE2021 FYE2022

Total employees (Full time +Part time)

FYE2023Unit

FYE201930s(a) Waste generation vs business sales. Base year FYE2020

Sustainable savings in cost-reduction projects

Employees

Unit

20s and below

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.

Investments e.g. efficiency projects with environmental emission
reduction

Employees

122Society

Society
Employees

Unit

Total # involuntary leaves
Number of(involuntary includes employers
individuals
decision to leave the company)
Total involuntary leaves by sex%

Female

%

Male

17

17.65%
82.35%

75

24.00%
76.00%

64

29.69%
70.31%

93

Compensation

100%

100%

4,15%

80

12

13

62,37%%

Hrs
Employee training hrs/employee//employee
yr

12

8

4

Employees with incentive plan%

Safety training hours/employee/yr37,63%
23,66%

40s%

17.65%

18.67%

20.31%

20,43%

50s and above%

47.06%

58.67%

54.69%

18,28%

Total # involuntary leaves byprofessional category%

Director

%

0.00%

7.69%

1.56%

3,26%

Manager/specialists%

52.94%

30.77%

39.06%

19,35%

Technical- Admin%

47.06%

61.54%

59.38%

77,42%

Total # retirements

Number ofindividuals

29

14

25

23

Employees under collective
agreement

79.0%

81,80%

Years

13.6

12.73

12,43

68.97%

100.00%72%

91,30%

Total # retirements by age%

20s and below

%

0.00%

0.00%

0%

0%

30s

%

0.00%

0.00%

0%

0%

Average length of service in
the Group

40s

%

0.00%

0.00%

0%

0%

Diversity

0.00%

4%

0%

Manager/specialists%

17.24%

50.00%

24%

26,09%

Technical- Admin%

79.31%

50.00%

72%

73,91%

95,45%

85.1%

%

3.45%

95.7%

92,94%

%

Male

%

95.7%

93.3%

% of employees with anindividual variable component
as part of their remuneration

8,70%

Director

93.2%

%

28%

%

%

% of the total workforce
across all locations who
received regular careerdevelopment reviews

0.00%

Female employees as a
% of the total number of
employees

70.8%

72.8%

74,20%

15

72.8%

74,20%

27.7%

%

%

27.1%
49
(1.6%)

27,8%

27.1%
44
(1,4%)

27,90%

30,43%
61
39%

Reporting boundary: Nippon
Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.

263

347

412

Work–Life Balance

new hires male

%

63.5%

62.82%

66,99%

Parental leave taken

new hires female

%

36.5%

37.18%

33,01%

Male

Number ofindividuals

65

43

62

FemaleNumber ofindividuals

58

36

45

Total Number of the newgraduates newly hired(Full-time)

4

Male

3

26

47

Female

1

17

42

84

323

NA

Male

Number ofindividuals

NA

25

31

FemaleNumber ofindividuals

NA

17

38

Volunteer leave systems

Number ofindividuals

NA

Male

Number ofindividuals

NA

13

34

9

32

Male

165

192

229

Female

95

122

94

FemaleNumber ofindividuals

NA

45

64

69

Male

Days

NA

Years of continual
employment (Unit: Years)(Full-time)

Year

13.6

12.73

12,43

Male

Year

14.5

13.69

13,32

Female

Year

11.3

10.26

FemaleDays

NA

Thousands
Euro

148

116

298.419

10,12

Expenditures on social
contribution initiatives (seeContribution to non-profit
organisations)45,47

Employee satisfaction survey
in last 3 years

Number

1

1

2

Age

47.1

46.50

46,38

Female

Age

43.7

43.06

43,12

Managers

Age

47.9

47.49

49,19

6

Male

3

8

4

6

Female0010Rate occupational accidents
resulting in recordable injury (b)

----

1.07

1.43

0.90

1.04

Lost-time accidents of
employees of at least one day (a)Number

2

4

3

3

2

4

2

3

0

0

1

0

Female11.093Rate of occupational
accidents resulting in lost
workdays (b)

0.71

0.72

0.52

0.52

Male

0.71

0.98

0.48

0.71

Female

0

0

0.64

0

22.72

12.06

8.7

31.09

14.91

12.1

% of the employees who
received training on
environmental issues

67%% of the employees
who received training tostrengthen employees'
knowledge and skills specificto their work or their careeradvancement.

88%

73%

94%

86%

Female

0

4.48

0

5.32%

3.08%

4.41%

3,79%

Male

5.27%

3.28%

4.23%

3,85%

Female

5.43%

2.55%

4.86%

3,64%

Absenteeism rate (g)Train.hours
reg.

4 ,155

8,759

12,543Train.hours
reg.

1,768

2,992

3,846

Male

Train.hours
reg.

6,147

8,992

7,998

FemaleTrain.hours
reg.

2,570

3,424

2,623

Male

Train.hours
reg.

2,413

3,579

2,136

FemaleTrain.hours
reg.

861

746

704

Train.hours
reg.

830

Train.hours
reg.

220

Absenteeism Hours (i)Specialist

%

Hours

Male

164.175

FemaleManager

Director
Male

---

Male

Mandatory Training in
PeopleHub

Male

Accident severity rate (c)

----

1,064
157

690
95

Male

Train.hours
reg.

13,54522,39423,366

FemaleTrain.hours
reg.

5,419

7,319

7,268

Occupational diseases
Male0

Female0

Number of accidents of
subcontractors LTI (d) (e)---Frequency of accidents of
subcontractors workers (f)Number ofincidents

High Severity Productvehicles preventable
incidents

Number ofincidents

Product vehicles preventable
incidents rate
No occupational diseases
reported

Technicians & Administration

Reporting boundary: Nippon
Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
(a) Fatal work accidents for
NG employees since 2017:none(b) Number of accidents
involving lost time of at least
one day, per million hours
worked by Group employees
and temporary workers.
(c) Average number of daysof lost time per million hours
worked.
(d) Personnel working underan Nippon Gases contract at aGroup site, at a customer site,or as a delivery vehicle driver.
(e) Fatal work accidents since
2017: None.
(f) Number of accidents
involving lost time of at least
one day, per million hours
worked(g) Absenteeism rate
calculation: # of hours of
illness / # of employees* annual working time byemployee(h) Product vehicles
preventable incidents with an
injury or vehicle tow away per
million driven km(i) Based on average working
hours for each country

Hours Reg.

419

759

1,200

FemaleHours Reg.

216

657

803

Specialist

Hours Reg.

Male

Hours Reg.

1,680

2,413

3,773

FemaleHours Reg.

1,084

1,846

2,247

Manager

Hours Reg.

Male

Hours Reg.

949

1,049

1,334

550

599

662

FemaleHours Reg.

Director

Hours Reg.

Male

Hours Reg.

194

346

386

FemaleHours Reg.

123

156

113

Total

Hours Reg.

Male

Hours Reg.

3,242

4,566

6,693

FemaleHours Reg.

1,973

3,257

3,825

12

7

High Severity Productvehicles preventable
incidents rate (h)Soft Skill Training in
PeopleHub

Male

53.719Number

0.32

10

9

6.70

5.50

6.45

2

7

4

0.03

0.08

0.05

0.08

0.16

0.1

0

0

0

Back to index

Male

Reporting boundary: Nippon
Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.

5

Female

Total

Caregiver leave taken

8

Male

FemaleNumber ofindividuals

330.059Female

%

----

Male

Technicians & Administration

Female specialist &managers as a % of the totalof the specialist & managerial
positions
Employees with disabilities as
a % of total labour force

Hrs/employee

Total Training Hours%

31.03%

Total # retirements byprofessional category

81,80%% of the total workforce
across all locations who
received regular performance
reviews

%

100%

79.0%

11,12%

Career- Performance

Female

%

85.1%

13.7%

Reporting boundary: Nippon
Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.

%

50s and above

13.2%% of the total workforce
across all locations
represented by formal joint
management-works councils,
health & safety committees
or employee representatives

Total retirements by sex

45.54

100%

3.7%

9.38%

46.2

%

1.9%

15.63%

Age

Occupational accidents
resulting in recordable injury

%

4.00%

Average age (Full-time)

100%

Gender pay gap Rest Nippon
Gases

18.67%

Number ofindividuals

100%

Gender pay gap Oximesa

0.00%

Internships

100%

37,63%

35.29%

259%

Employees who received safety
training%

Total Number of the midcareer newly hired (Full-time)

Occupational Health and Safety

Employees who received
training at least once during
the year
0,76%

%

Total

Training

2.0%

20s and below

100%

FYE2021 FYE2022 FYE2023

4.8%

30s

100.00%FYE2019%%100.00%

Unit

Gender pay gap Spain

New Hires

123

Employees

FYE2021 FYE2022 FYE2023

ANNEX

ANNEX

Total # involuntary leaves by age%

FYE2019124

Society
Assessments

Governance
Unit

Number of Health and Safety
European Assessments

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FY·2023

13

9

14

16

9

8

13

8

7

11

Number of Health and Safety
European Assessments operational
sites
Number of Environment European
Assessments
Environmental operational assessment
rate

4
%

% of all operational sites for which
an environmental risk assessment
has been conducted or ISO14.001
implementation

89%

38%

% of all operational sites for which
an employee health & safety risk
assessment has been conducted

100%

88%

70%

100%

92%

74%

100%

Community
Community projects . # people
participating

Number

400

658

1020

Hours of volunteerism

Hours

NA

NA

NA

Community engagement. # projects

Number

56

79

81

Thousand
Euros

148

141

293

Contribution to non-profit
organisations
Social Relations%

Belgium

100%

Germany100%

Denmark

100%

Italy

100%

Netherlands0%

Norway100%

Portugal

100%

Spain

100%

Portugal0%

Sweden100%

United Kingdom

0%

Ireland0%

Unit

FYE2019

FYE2021

FYE2022

FYE2023

Directors Male BOD NGEH

Number of individuals

6

8

8

Directors Female BOD NGEH

Number of individuals

1

1

1

Confirmed incidents of ethics/corruption and/or anti-trust matters

Number0

0

2

Public legal cases regarding corruption and/or anti-trust matters

Number000Human Rights violations complains

Number000Discrimination / Harassment cases reported and confirmed

Number0

20

Security breaches high severity cases

Number000

Number of Compliance trainings

Number

105

116

93

% employees received training on ethics (Code of Conduct
re-certification process)%

2,109 (a)(100*%)

2,100 (a)(100*%)

100%% employees received training on preventing discriminationand human rights violations (part of the Code of conduct
re-certification process)%

2,109 (a)(100%)

2,100 (a)(100*%)

2,831(100%)% employees received training to prevent anti-competitive
practices%

2,082 (a)(100%)

2,547 (a)(100*%)

2,272 (a)(100*%)% employees received training to information security risk
practices%

2,029 (a)(100*%)

2,514 (a)(100*%)

100%

Audits of control procedures (e.g. accounting, purchasing etc.) toprevent corruption and bribery

Number3

0

5

Audits on anti-competitive practices performed

Number0

0

0

Audits on information security risk performed

Number1

1

1

Amount of political donations

Euros

0

0

0

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
(a) selected employees(b) employees with company computer

ANNEX

ANNEX

% of employees covered byCollective Bargain Agreement

Management Configuration

Customers
Customer Customer complaints with product out of specification% with product out of specification %

%

5.4%

4.6%

5.5%

3.8%

Average days of resolution of closed complains

Days

62

39

30

71

Percentage of complaints reports investigated and closed out
within 90 days of the incident

%

63%

81%

90%

73%

Reported non-conformities

Number

61

66

204

399

Reported non-conformities – internal

Number

51

40

62

167

Reported non-conformities – external

Number

10

26

142

232

Reported non-conformities – safety

Number00

00

Supply chain suppliers audits

Number

3

13

34

60

65

1

0

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
Supply Chain

Percentage of targeted suppliers who have signed the suppliercode of conduct%

Reporting boundary: Nippon Gases and its consolidated
subsidiaries in Europe.
External Commitments
Audit, specifically related to CSR issues (e.g. Ecovadis)

Number0

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125

126

5.4 GHG emission verification
statement (SGS)
Ref No: 02/958/336129-02

Nº Ref Declaración 02/940-301211-02

Greenhouse Gases Verification Statement

Ref No 02/958/336129-02

Greenhouse Gas Verification Statement
The inventory of Greenhouse Gas emissions in the period
01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023 for

NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. provided the GHG assertion based on the requirements of GHG Protocol. The
GHG emissions for the Fiscal Year 2023 have been verified by SGS to a limited level of assurance, consistent with theagreed verification scope, objectives and criteria.
The emissions are broken down into the following categories:

NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.
CALLE ORENSE 11, 28020 (MADRID)

GHG PROTOCOL

Fiscal Year2023

Scope 1- Direct GHG emissions

63,473

Scope 2- Electricity indirect GHG emissions

854,136

Scope 3- Other indirect GHG emissions

1,318,886
TOTAL

2,236,495

SGS has planned and performed the current work to obtain the information, explanations and evidence considerednecessary to provide a limited level of assurance that the CO2 equivalent emissions for the Fiscal Year 2023 are fairly
stated.

For de following activities: Industrial and medical gases.

ANNEX

ANNEX

has been verified in accordance with ISO 14064-3:2019 as
meeting the requirements of

t CO2eOur verification of the GHG Assertion of NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. includes the evaluation of the GHG
information system, its control, and its notification protocol. This verification has included the collection of evidence

Approved by

supporting the reported data, and the verification of the correct application of NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.
procedures.

OpinionBased on the process and procedures conducted, SGS concludes that there is no evidence that the presented CO2
equivalent assertion:

Mª Lourdes Martín Mangas
Technical Director of Sustainability and Climate Change
Date: 5th June 2023
SGS Tecnos S.A.U.
C/Trespaderne 29, Edificio Barajas I, 2ª Planta, 28042 – Madrid (España)
www.sgs.es-

Is not materially correct and is not a fair representation of GHG data and information, and-Has not been prepared in accordance with the requirements of GHG Protocol, in relation to its quantification,
control and notification.

This statement shall be interpreted with the CO2 equivalent assertion “Nippon Gases GHG Inventory Report 2023 rev2b”
as a whole.

This Statement is not valid without the full verification scope, objectives, criteria and conclusion available on pages 2
to 5 of this Statement

Note: This Statement is issued, on behalf of Client, by SGS Tecnos S.A.U. (“SGS”) under its General Conditions included in
http://www,sgs,com/terms_and_conditions,htm. A full copy of this statement and the supporting GHG Assertion may be consulted at
NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.. This Statement does not relieve Client from compliance with any bylaws, federal, national orregional acts and regulations or with any guidelines issued pursuant to such regulations. Stipulations to the contrary are not binding on
SGS and SGS shall have no responsibility vis-à-vis parties other than its Client.

Page 2 of 5

127

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Page 1 of 5128

Ref No: 02/958/336129-02

The reporting boundaries have been:o

Ref No: 02/958/336129-02_v2

Schedule Accompanying Greenhouse Gas Verification
Statement Numbero▪

Emissions from stationary sources: consumption of natural gas.

▪

Emissions from mobile sources: Fossil fuel combustion: own vehicles fleet and ships.

▪

Fugitive emissions: refrigerants, Dry Ice manufacturing and ODS Gases.

Scope 2: Electricity indirect GHG emissions:

SGS has been contracted by NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U., for the verification of direct and▪

Electrical power..

indirect carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions as provided by NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.

▪

Steam

in their GHG assertion “Nippon Gases GHG Inventory Report 2023 rev2b”, covering the period 01/04/2022- 31/03/2023 and considering Fiscal Year 2019 (from 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019) as the base year.

Responsibilities
Energy and sustainability Department of NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. is responsible for theorganization’s GHG information system, the development and maintenance of records and reporting
procedures in accordance with that system, including the calculation and determination of GHG emissions
information and the reported GHG emissions.
It is SGS’ responsibility to express an independent GHG verification opinion on the GHG emissions asoScope 3: Other indirect GHG emissions:▪

Category 1: Purchased goods and services.

▪

Category 2: Capital goods.

▪

Category 3: Fuel-and-energy-related activities (not included in scope 1 and 2).

▪

Category 5: Waste generated in operations.

▪

Category 9: Downstream transportation and distribution.

▪

Category 11: Use of sold products.

▪

Category 13: Downstream leased assets.

provided in their GHG Assertion for the period 01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023,
SGS conducted a third party verification following the requirements of GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-3:2019of the provided CO2 equivalent assertion “Nippon Gases GHG Inventory Report 2023 rev2b”, for the period
01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023.

The exclusions have been:-

Category 1: Natural Gas in Liquid CO2 Plants, Filling Stations and Specialty gases laboratories
because it is not required.

-

Level of Assurance

Category 1: Steam in Liquid CO2 Plants, Filling Stations and Specialty gases laboratories
because it is not required.

The level of assurance agreed for the assignment is a limited level of assurance.

-

Category 1: CO2 refilling extinguishers estimated emissions.

-Category 4. Upstream transportation and distribution.

-

Category 6. Business travel.

-

Category 7. Employee commuting.

requirements of GHG Protocol in their facilities located in BELGIUM, DENMARK, FRANCE, GERMANY,-

Category 8. Upstream leased assets.

IRELAND, ITALY, NORWAY, PORTUGAL, SPAIN, SWEDEN, the NETHERLANDS and UNITED KINGDOM.

-

Category 10. Processing of sold products.

-

Category 12. End-of-life treatment of sold products.

Scope
NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. has commissioned an independent verification by SGS ofreported CO2 equivalent emissions arising from their activities, to establish conformance with the

Página 3 de 5
This Statement is not valid without the full verification scope, objectives, criteria and conclusion available
included in the schedulePágina 4 de 5

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This Statement is not valid without the full verification scope, objectives, criteria and conclusion available
included in the schedule

129

ANNEX

ANNEX

Scope 1: Direct GHG emissions:130

5.5 Glossary
Ref No: 02/958/336129-02

The organizational boundaries were established following the financial control approach.

CCU

Carbon Capture and Utilisation

DX

Digital Transformation

ESG

Environmental, Social, and Governance

GEI

Gases de Efecto Invernadero

MAP

Modified Atmosphere Packaging

MCC

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

MCHC

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation. ("Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation" a partir de julio 2022).

N2O

Óxido Nitroso

NSHD

Nippon Sanso Holdings Corporation

PDP

Personal Development Plan

PPAPower Purchase Agreement

EPI

Equipo de Protección IndividualThis engagement covers verification of emissions and removals of greenhouse gases included within theorganization’s boundaries and meets the requirements of ISO 14064-3:2019.
•

Title and description of activities: Verification of the GHG assertion for NIPPON GASES EUROHOLDING S.L.U. Fiscal Year 2023.

•

Location of the acitivities: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal,
Spain, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands and United Kingdom plants.

•

Activities of the organization: Industrial and medical gases. . The main products supplied by Nippon
Gases in various physical forms and purities are oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen,helium, carbon monoxide, gas mixtures, electronic gases, specialty gases and the services andtechnologies associated with the use of these gases and mixtures.

•

Types of GHGs included: CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, SF6, NF3 and PFC.

•

The verification period is: 01/04/2022 - 31/03/2023

The purposes of this verification exercise are, by review of objective evidence, to independently review:•

Whether the CO2 equivalent emissions are as declared by the organization’s CO2 equivalent

RI - rate

Recordable Injury rate

ANNEX

ANNEX

Objetives

assertion.
•

That the data reported are accurate, complete, consistent, transparent and free of material error or

ODS

Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas

TNSC

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation

omission.
•

Whether the inventory system complies with the criteria and scope established in the GHG Protocol.

Criteria
Criteria against which the verification assessment is undertaken are the requirements of ISO 14064-3:2019.

Materiality
The materiality required of the verification was considered by SGS to be below 10%.

Note: This Statement is issued, on behalf of Client, by SGS Tecnos S.A.U. (“SGS”) under its General Conditions included in
http://www,sgs,com/terms_and_conditions,htm. A full copy of this statement and the supporting GHG Assertion may be consulted at
NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.. This Statement does not relieve Client from compliance with any bylaws, federal, national orregional acts and regulations or with any guidelines issued pursuant to such regulations. Stipulations to the contrary are not binding on
SGS and SGS shall have no responsibility vis-à-vis parties other than its Client.

This Statement is not valid without the full verification scope, objectives, criteria and conclusion available
included in the schedulePágina 5 de 5

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131

132

5.6 About this report
The non-financial statement was prepared pursuant to therequirements of Royal Decree-Law 11/2018, of 28 December,amending the Spanish Commercial Code, the consolidated
text of the Spanish Companies Act approved by Royal
Legislative Decree 1/2010, of 2 July, and Spanish Audit Law
22/2015, of 20 July, on disclosures of non-financial anddiversity information.
It also considered the European Commission guidelines on
non-financial reporting (2017/C 215/01) arising from Directive
2014/95/UE.
Preparation also considered the content of the Global
Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines(selected GRI Standards) and the principles in the Integrated
Reporting Framework, published by the International
Integrated Reporting Council, IIRC.

–

5.7 Legal Entities

Non-financial information relates to operations overwhich Nippon Gases maintains control (companies
consolidated in the Consolidated Financial Statements inaccordance with the full integration method).

TThis report details and expands on the nonfinancial
statement. Through the non-financial statement, Nippon
Gases reports on relevant environmental, social andgovernance aspects, employee-related and human rights
matters for the company in carrying out its business.
During the preparation of this report and its contents
selection, the results of the materiality analysis carried out
have been considered with the following results:
selection, the results of the materiality analysis carried out
have been considered with the following results:

The scope of this report includes the information on FY2022(from April 1st 2021 to March 31st 2022) of Nippon Gases.
The following criteria have been applied to the information
reported herein:
The financial information is presented in accordancewith the consolidation principles applied in the annual
accounts.

Extremely important aspects

Very important aspects

Important aspects

Holding
Tradename

Activity

Registered officeDirect%Indirect%Nippon Gases España S.L.U.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

-

Orense 11,28020 Madrid, España

Nippon Gases Portugal Unipessoal, LDA.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

-

E.N. 13 Km 6,4, 4470-Maia, Portugal

Oximesa S.L.U.

Production and sale of medical gases and services

100%

-

Orense 11, 28020 Madrid, España

Nippon Gases Italia S.R.L.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

-

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Nippon Gases Industrial S.R.L.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

-

100%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Nippon Gases Operations S.R.L.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

-

100%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Nippon Gases Pharma S.R.L.

Production and sale of medical gases

-

100%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Nippon Gases Refrigerants S.R.L.

Marketing and sales of refrigerant gases-

64%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

GemGas S.R.L.

Marketing and sales of industrial gases

-

100%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, talia

Nuova Pescarito S.R.L.

Distribution of Industrial gases

-

100%

Via Cavalier Virginio Tedeschi 1 - 10036, Settimo
Torinese (TO), Turin, Italy

Nippon Gases Industrial

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases-

60%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Domolife S.R.L.

Production and sale of medical gases and services–

51%

Via Aterno n. 56, Pescara, Italia

Dryce S.R.L.

Production and distribution of dry ice and C0–51%

via Aosta 5, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italia

Nippon Gases Pharma S.R.L.

Production and sale of medical gases and services–

70%

Via Benigno Crespi 19, 20159 Milán, Italia

Home Medicine

Holding company

–

100%

Salerno, Via San Leonardo 26 CAP 84131, Italia

Nippon Gases Deutschland HoldingGmbH.

Holding company

100%

-

Hans-Böckler Strasse, 1, 40476 Düsseldorf,
Alemania

Nippon Gases Deutschland GmbH.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

Hans-Böckler Strasse, 1, 40476 Düsseldorf,
Alemania

Sauerstoff- und Stickstoff- rohrleitungsgesellschaft mbH (SRG)

Distribution of industrial gases–

50%

Hans-Böckler Strasse, 1, 40476 Düsseldorf,
Alemania

Nippon Gases SP Z o. o.

Marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

Al Korfantego, 40-004 Katowice, Polonia

Nippon Gases Belgium, NV.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

-

– Product and service safety & quality– Pursuit of customer satisfaction– Conservation of biodiversity– Providing products and services that contribute tosolving environmental and social issues– Technology and R&D capabilities that support thecreation of customers and social value– Protection and effective utilization of Intellectual
Property– Climate change mitigation and adaptation– Promotion of initiatives for digital innovation

Antwerpse Chemische Bedrijven (LCB),
N.V.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

Metropoolstraat 16, 2900 Schoten, Bélgica– Effective use of resources and prevention of pollution– Employee and family health

Nippon Gases Netherlands, B.V.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

Beugsloepweg 3, 3133 KV Vlaardingen, Países
Bajos– Strengthening information security measures– Conservation of water resources

Nippon Gases CO2, B.V.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

– Improvement of productivity and promotion of
production optimization– Coexistence with the local community

Beugsloepweg 3,3133 KV Vlaardingen, Países
Bajos

Nitraco, N.V.

Distribution of industrial gases–

50%

Metropoolstraat 17, 2900 Schoten, Bélgica

Nippon Gases Danmark A/S.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

–

100%

Rode Banke, 120, 7000 Frederica, Dinamarca

Nippon Gases Norge A/S.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

–

Nippon Gases Sverige AB.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

-

100%

Volvogatan 14, 731 36 Köping Västmanlands län
SueciaNippon Gases Europe Ship AS.

Distribution of industrial gases

–

100%

Fredrik Selmers vei 6, 0663 Oslo, Noruega

Nippon Gases UK Ltd.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

–

Gresley Way, Immingham Docks, DN40 2NT,
United Kingdom

Nippon Gases Ireland Ltd.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

-

Unit 22, Viscount Avenue, Airway Industrial
Estate, Santry, Dublin 17, Irlanda

Nippon Gases France SAS.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

–

Rue de l’industrie 60, Savigny, Francia

Nippon Gases Offshore Investments Ltd.

Holding company

100%

–

Howe Moss, Avenue, Kirkhill Industrial, Estate,
Dyce, Aberdeen

Nippon Gases Offshore Ltd.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

–

Howe Moss, Avenue, Kirkhill Industrial, Estate,
Dyce, Aberdeen

Nippon Gases Asia Pacific PTE Ltd.

Production, marketing and sales of industrial gases

100%

–

21 Tanjong Kling road, Singapore

Nippon Gases Finance Ltd.

Finance Company

100%

-

Suit 27, 21 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, D02
X658– Development and maintenance human resources– Strengthening communication with stakeholders– Improvement of employee engagement– Providing comfortable and affluent lifestyles– Sustainable supply chain– Contribution to regional and industrial development
as social infrastructure– Diversity & Inclusion

Lammerdries 29 2250 Olen, Bélgica

Ringnesveien 50, 0978 Oslo, Noruega

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133

ANNEX

ANNEX

–

Consolidated entities

134

Environment

5.8 Table of Contents required
under Law 11/2018ÁmbitoMarco de informe

Measures to prevent, reduce or repair
emissions that seriously affect theenvironment, including any form air, noiseand light pollution

Pollution

GeneralReferencia

GRI 305-6 Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
GRI 305-7 Nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), andother significant air emissions

GRI 301-2 Recycled input materials used

Reporting framework

Reference

Comments/ Reason for Omision

Brief description of the group’sbusiness model:– Business environment

Business Model

Measures related to prevention, recycling,reuse and other form of waste recovery anddisposal

Circular economy
and waste
prevention andmanagement

GRI 301-3 Reclaimed products and their packaging materials
GRI 306-1 Waste generation and significant waste-related
impactGRI 306-3 Waste generated– Organisation and structure– Market presenceGRI 2-6 Activities, value chain and otherbusiness relationships– Objectives and strategies

GRI 2-9 Governance structure andcomposition

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Actions to avoid food waste

GRI 306-2 Management of waste discharge-related impacts

Water consumption and water supply inaccordance with local constrains

pp 13-16
144

Raw materials consumption and measurestaken to improve the efficiency of its use

GRI 2-23 Policy commitments

Sustainable use ofresources

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics
GRI 303-5 Water consumption
GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

GRI 3-1 Process to determine material topics
GRI 3-2 List of material topics

GRI 302-2 Energy consumption outside of the organisation

ANNEX

Main risks related to theseissues and related to the group's
activities, including, when relevant
and proportionate, its business
relationships, products or services
that may have negative effects inthese areas

Management Approach

Climate change
Measures taken to adapt to climate change

Biodiversity
protection
pp 50-53

GRI 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions
GRI 305-3 Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions

Impacts caused by activities or operations inprotected areas

pp. 74-78

pp. 68-71
123,124

GRI 305-4 GHG emissions intensity
GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

pp. 53
pp. 19,21305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions

Measures taken to preserve or restore
biodiversity

GRI 2-24 Embedding policy commitments

pp. 74-78

GRI 305-1 Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Voluntary reduction targets
GRI 2-23 Policy commitments

GRI 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption
GRI 302-1 Energy consumption within the organisation

Relevant aspects regarding greenhousegas emissions as a result of the company´sactivity, including goods and services
produced by the company

pp 42

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

pp. 74-78,
124

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

pp. 67

GRI 304-3 Habitats protected or restored

ANNEX

Description of the policies applied by
the group, Results of these policies,
including key indicators of relevant
non-financial results

Measures taken to improve energy efficiency
Use of renewable energy

Mention in the report of the national,
European or international reporting
framework used for the selection of
key indicators of non-financial results
included in each of the sections.
If the company complies with thenon-financial reporting law by issuinga separate report, it must be expressly
stated that such information is part ofthe management report

Generalpp 18

Our processes and locations do notcreate a material amount of food waste

Pp 83

GRI 301-1 Material consumption by weight or volume

GRI 302-3 Energy intensity
Materiality Analysis

N/A

Pp 79-81
126

GRI 303-3 Water recycled and reused

GRI 302-1 Energy consumption within the organisation
Direct and indirect energy consumption

Materiality

pp. 83, 124

GRI 306-2 Management of waste discharge-related impacts

GRI 2-1 Organisational details
GRI 2-2 Entities included in the organisation’ssustainability reporting– Main factors and trends that affectthe company´s future evolution

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics
304-2 Significant impacts of activities, products, andservices on biodiversity

pp. 73

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Social and employee related matters
Sub-category

Environment

Reporting framework

Total number of employees anddistribution by country, gender,
age and professional category

Reference

Comments/ Reason for Omision

pp. 127,128

The company reports the total number and distribution of
employees by gender, age and professional category; The
breakdown of the number of employees by country is notincluded, to avoid a competitive advantage to our competitors

pp. 127,128

The information provided refers to the number of contracts at
the end of the year due to the difficulty of obtaining averageannual values. Given the company's low turnover rate, it isconsidered a good estimate of the average number of contracts
for the year ended March 31, 2023

GRI 2-7 Employees
Sub-category

Reporting framework

Current and foreseeable effects of thecompany’s activities

Environmental assessment andcertification procedures

Reference

Comments/ Reason for OmisionPp 126,130
GRI 3-3 Management of material topics
GRI 201-2 Climate change: financial
implications, risks and opportunities

Resources dedicated to the preventionof environmental risks

GRI 308-1 New suppliers that were screenedusing environmental criteria

Pp 58-59

GRI 308-2 Negative environmental impacts inthe supply chain and actions taken

The environmental risk assessment
has not identified a high probabilityof occurrence in the locations where
we work

Employment

Annual average of indefinite,
temporary and part-time
contracts by gender, age andprofessional category

GRI 2-7 Employees

pp. 127,128

Number of dismissals by gender,
age and professional category

GRI 401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover

pp. 127,128

Internal reporting framework: (average women
remuneration average men remuneration) / averagemen remuneration.

pp. 128

Gender pay gap

GRI 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of
women to men

Pp. 126

The environmental risk assessment
has not identified a high probability ofoccurrence in the locations where wework. Consequently, during FYE2023
there have been no provisions orguarantees for environmental risks

Average remuneration
by gender, age andprofessional category

Internal reporting framework: qualitative descriptionof the average remuneration by gender, age andprofessional category

Average remuneration of theBoard of Directors by genderInternal reporting framework: qualitative descriptionof the average remuneration of the Board of Directors
by gender.

Average remuneration of
directors by genderInternal reporting framework: qualitative description of
the average remuneration of directors by gender

The company does not report the average remuneration of
employees by gender, age and professional category

The Administrator and the members of senior management who
may hold positions of administrators or directors in the parent
company have not received any type of specific remuneration
for this concept

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Amount of provisions and guarantees forenvironmental risks

GRI 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees
Total number and distribution of
employment contract modalities

Pp 72-73

Implementation of the precautionary
principle

135

pp.68-71
83, 124

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Sub-category

Environmental
management

Comentarios/motivo de omisión

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

136

Social and employee related matters
Sub-category

Implementation of labor
Disconnection policies

Number of employees withdisabilities

Reporting framework

Human rights
Reference

Comments/ Reason for
OmisionLa compañía nodispone de política dedesconexión laboral
que aplique a todos lospaísesInternal reporting framework: qualitativedescription of the implementation oflabour disconnection policies

Prevention of the risks of violationof human rights and, whereappropriate, measures to mitigate,
manage and repair possible abuses
committed

GRI 405-1 Diversity of governancebodies and employees

Organisation of working time

Internal reporting framework: qualitative description of
the organisation of working time

Pp 90-96

Internal reporting framework: quantitative description of
the number of total hours of absenteeism.
Work organisation

Number of absenteeism hours

Measures to promote work-life balanceand co-parenting responsibilities

Health and safety

GRI 2-26 Counselling mechanisms for human rights concerns.
GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

GRI 403-1 Occupational health and safety management
systemNumber of work accidents andOccupational diseases, by gender.
Frequency rate and severity rate bygenderGRI 403-9 Work-related injuries
GRI 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of
women to men

Pp 129Social dialogue organisation

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Pp 90-96

Pp 130

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Pp 100-102

Procedures to inform, consult and joint
participation with employees, as well as
negotiation procedures

GRI 2-29 Approach to stakeholder engagement

Pp 96-98

Training policies implemented

GRI 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills andtransition assistance programs

GRI 3-3 Management procedure for material issues
GRI 2-23 Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior

Pp 90-95 129

Number of hours of training byprofessional category

Internal reporting framework

Pp 82-87 129

Human rights violations complaints

Internal reporting framework

Promotion and compliance with
ILO´s provisions related to freedomof association and collective
bargaining; the elimination ofwork discrimination, forced orcompulsory labor and the effective
abolition of child labor

GRI 3-3 Management procedure for material issues

No occupational diseases
have been recorded during
FYE2023

GRI 407-1 Suppliers and own operation subject to risk of breachinglabor rights

Integration and universal accessibility
for people with disabilities

Policy against all types of discrimination
and, where appropriate, managementof diversity

Commitment
with sustainable
development

GRI 409-1 Suppliers and own operation subject to risk of
employment foced labour workers

Reporting framework

Reference

Impact of the company’s activity on employment
and local development

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics l

pp. 103-110-103,
130

Impact of the company’s activity on local
populations and territories

GRI 413-1 Local community involvement
operations, impact assessments anddevelopment programs

pp. 103-110-103,
130

Company’s relations with local communities´agents and dialogue channels

GRI 413-2 Operations with potential or real
impact on local community

Marco interno: descripción de las acciones deasociación o patrocinio

Inclusion of social, gender equality andenvironmental matters in the company’spurchasing policy

Internal reporting framework: qualitative description of
the universal accessibility of people regardless the genderInternal framework: Qualitative description of measurestaken to promote equal treatment and opportunities for
women and men.
GRI 3-3 Management procedure for material issues

pp. 90-95

Consideration in the suppliers andsubcontractors´ relations of their social andenvironmental responsibility

Internal reporting framework: qualitativedescription of the management carried out

Pp 58-59

pp. 94-95

Monitoring systems and audits and results

Internal reporting framework: qualitative andquantitative description of monitoring andaudit systems, and the results

Pp 58-59

pp. 90-94

Measures to protect consumers´ health andsafetyGRI 2-23 Values, principles, standards, and norms of
behavior
GRI 3-3 Management procedure for material issues

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Consumer
relationshipmanagement

Reporting framework: Qualitative description of thediversity management
GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

pp. 90-94

GRI 2-23 Values, principles, standards, and norms of
behavior

Reporting framework

Reference

Comments/ Reason for
OmisionTax information

GRI 2-23 Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior
GRI 2-26 Mechanisms for advice and concerns about ethics

GRI 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed

Pp 58-59

GRI 414-1 New suppliers who have passed
evaluation and selection filters according tosocial criteria

Sustainable supply
chain
pp. 94-95

GRI 2-24 Embedding policy commitments GRI
408-1 Suppliers and operation with

Complaint systems

GRI 416-1 Assessment of health and safety
impacts of categories of products or services

GRI 2-16 Critical compliants Survey
GRI 2-25 Critical compliants Management

Complaints received and their resolution

Internal framework: Qualitative description of
the complaints received and their resolution

Profits obtained by country

Internal reporting framework: quantitativedescription of the profits obtained before taxes

Taxes paid on profits

Internal reporting framework: quantitativedescription of taxes on profits paid

Public subsidies received

GRI 201-4 Financial assistance received fromgovernment

pp. 53-55

pp. 53-55

pp. 131

Pp 58-59
131

Pp 58-59
131
Pp 58-59
131

Information is not provided on the
profits obtained before taxes andtaxes on profits paid country bycountry, since said breakdowns
and their historical evolution are
considered detrimental to thecommercial and competitive
position of the company. The
profits obtained before taxes andthe taxes on profits paid are foundin Note X of the Group's FYE2023
Consolidated Annual Accounts
The Group, through its company
in Benelux, has received during
FYE2023 the amount of 159,000
euros in public subsidies

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137

Pp 122-123

GRI 2-6 Activities, value chain and otherbusiness relationships

GRI 2-25 Management procedure to correct failures

Contributions to non -profit
organisations

pp. 103-110-103,
130

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Sub-category

Measures to combat money
laundering

Comments/ Reason for Omision

GRI 2-28 Membership of associations
Partnerships and sponsorship actions

Corruption and bribery
Measures taken to prevent
corruption and bribery

pp. 58-59

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Internal reporting framework: qualitative description of
the universal accessibility of people with disabilities

Equality

pp. 55

GRI 2-23 Values, principles, standards, and norms of behavior

Sub-category

GRI 3-3 Management of material topics

Equality plans measures adopted topromote employment, protocols against
sexual and gender-based harassment

pp. 55

GRI 2-26 Counselling mechanisms for human rights concerns.

Training

Measures taken to promote equal
treatment and equal opportunities for
women and men

In FYE2023, the company has not carried out humanrights due diligence procedures

Society

Pp 100-102

Balance of collective agreements
especially in the field of health andsafetyUniversal accessibility ofpeople with disabilities

pp. 55

Comments/ Reason for Omision

Pp 99

GRI 401-3 Parental leave

GRI 2-30 Collective bargaining agreements

Reference

ANNEX

ANNEX

Internal reporting framework: qualitative description of
the measures

Pp 100-102 129

Occupational health and safety
conditions

Percentage of employees covered bycollective agreements, by country
Labor relations

GRI 403-2 Types of accidents and frequency rate ofaccidents, occupational diseases, days lost, absenteeism
and number of deaths due to accident at work or
occupational disease

Sub-category
Application of due diligenceprocedures in the field of humanrights138

5.9 Independent Limited Assurance of
the Sustainability Report
INDEPENDENT LIMITED ASSURANCE REPORT OF THE SUSTAINABILITY REPORTTranslation of a report originally issued in Spanish. In the event of discrepancy,
the Spanish-language version prevails

Independent Limited Assurance Report of the Sustainability Report for the year
ended March 31, 2023

NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. AND SUBSIDIARIESTo the Shareholders of NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U.

Pursuant to article 49 of the Code of Commerce we have performed a verification, with a limited assurance
scope, of the accompanying Sustainability Report for the year ended March 31, 2023, of NIPPON GASES EUROHOLDING S.L.U. and Subsidiaries (hereinafter, the Group), which is part of accompanying Consolidated Directors’
Report of the Group.

Responsibility of the Board of Directors
The preparation of the Sustainability Report included in the Consolidated Directors’ Report and its content is the
responsibility of the Board of Directors of of NIPPON GASES EURO-HOLDING S.L.U. The Sustainability Report was
prepared in accordance with the content required by current commercial regulation and in reference with thecriteria outlined in the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI standards), as well asother criteria described in accordance with that indicated for each subject in section 5.8 “Table of contents
required under Law 11/2018 ” from the accompanying Sustainability Report.

ANNEX

ANNEX

The content of the Sustainability Report includes additional information to that required by prevailing mercantile
regulations in relation to non-financial information that has not been subject to our verification. In this regard,
our assignment has been exclusively limited to the verification of the information shown in section 5.8 “Table ofcontents required under Law 11/2018 ” of the accompanying Sustainability Report.

The Board of Directors are also responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of such internal
control as they determine as necessary to enable the preparation of an NFS that is free from material
misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
They are further responsible for defining, implementing, adapting and maintaining the management systems
from which the information necessary for the preparation of the NFS is obtained.
Our independence and quality management

We have complied with the independence and other ethics requirements of the International Code of
Ethics for Accounting Professionals (including international standards on independence) issued by theInternational Standards Board on Ethics for Accounting Professionals (IESBA) which is based on thefundamental principles of integrity, professional objectivity, competence and diligence, confidentiality
and professional behaviour.

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139

140

Our firm applies current international quality standards and maintains, consequently, a quality system that
includes policies and procedures related to compliance with ethical requirements, professional standards andlegal provisions and applicable regulations.
The engagement team consisted of experts in the review of Non-Financial Information and, specifically, in
information about economic, social and environmental performance.
Our responsibility
Our responsibility is to express our conclusions in an independent limited assurance report. Our review has been
performed in accordance with the requirements established in the current International Standard on Assurance
Engagements 3000 “Assurance Engagements Other than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information”(ISAE 3000 Revised) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of theInternational Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the guidelines for verifying Non-Financial Statement, issued
by the Spanish Official Register of Auditors of Accounts (ICJCE).

Our work consisted in requesting information from Management and the various Group units participating in the
preparation of the 2023 Sustainability Report, reviewing the process for gathering and validating the information
included in the NFS, and applying certain analytical procedures and sampling review tests as described below:

The Sustainability report does not include, as indicated in section 5.8 “Table of contents required under Law
11/2018”, information regarding to the number and distribution of employees by country, the average
remuneration of directors by gender, the average remuneration of employees disaggregated by gender, age andprofessional category, nor the tax information regarding to the benefits obtained and taxes on profits paid
country by country as required by the Law 11/2018, of 28 December, on the subject of non-financial informationand diversity.

Qualified conclusion
Based on the limited assurance procedures conducted and the evidence obtained, except for the impact of thematters described in “Basis for qualified conclusion”, no additional matter has come to our attention that would
cause us to believe that the Group’s Sustainability Report for the year ended March 31, 2023 has not been
prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the contents required by prevailing company law and inreference with the criteria outlined in the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI
standards), as well as other criteria, described as explained for each subject matter in the section 5.8 “Table ofcontents required under Law 11/2018” of the Sustainability Report.

uMeetings with Group personnel to know the business model, policies and management approaches
applied, the main risks related to these matters and obtain the necessary information for our external
review.

u

Analysis of the scope, relevance and integrity of the content included in the Sustainability Report for theyear 2023 based on the materiality analysis made by the Group and described in section 5.6 “About thisreport”, considering the content required by prevailing mercantile regulations.

Use and distributionuAnalysis of the processes for gathering and validating the data included in the 2023 Sustainability
Report.

This report has been prepared as required by current commercial regulation in Spain, thus it may not be suitable
for any other purpose or jurisdiction.

u

Review of the information on the risks, policies and management approaches applied in relation to thematerial aspects included in the 2023 Sustainability Report.

uCheck, through tests, based on a selection of a sample, the information related to the content of the2023 Sustainability Report and its correct compilation from the data provided by the information
sources.

u

Obtaining a representation letter from the Board of Directors and Management.

ERNST & YOUNG, S.L.
(Signature on the original in Spanish)____________________
Elena Fernández García

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28th June, 2023

141

ANNEX

ANNEX

The procedures carried out in a limited assurance engagement vary in nature and execution timing and aresmaller in scope than reasonable assurance engagements, and therefore, the level of assurance provided is
likewise lower.

Basis for qualified conclusion142© 2023, Nippon Gases.
All rights reserved.

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