Environmental Initiatives

With the business philosophy of “Contributing to Society through Insights,” our company is committed to resolving social issues and creating new value in society through our business activities.
In light of the recent intensification of natural disasters and the international trend toward achieving carbon neutrality, we have decided to address climate change as one of our priorities in addition to understanding the impact that climate change will have on our business.

Our company has been operating Contact Centers/BPO Business utilizing IT for over 20 years since establishment. In order for us to realize sustainable growth, efforts to address climate change including reducing CO2 emissions is a key issue as we strive to help our customers solve climate change-related issues through our business operations.

Support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)^*

In July 2022, our company expressed support for recommendations by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

In order to accurately understand the impact of climate change-related risks and opportunities on our business operations, we conduct analyses based on the four areas recommended for disclosure in the TCFD recommendations: “Governance,” “Strategy,” “Risk Management,” and “Metrics and Targets.” Additionally, we will disclose the results of this analysis and gradually expand the information we disclose.

With our support for the TCFD recommendations, we will further strengthen our analyses and response to climate change issues and actively promote information disclosure.

• *
  Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures: An international initiative established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in 2015 to encourage companies to disclose information on the financial implications of the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to their businesses.

Governance

In order to discuss climate change-related issues and response measures, we have established a “TCFD Subcommittee” within the SDGs Promotion Committee. Based on the policies and action plans decided in this committee, we will implement specific measures and roll them out from the SDGs Promotion Committee to the entire company. The Board of Directors will monitor these efforts by receiving reports on progress twice a year and providing advice to the committee.

Management system for TCFD information disclosure

Committees and roles within the management structure for TCFD information disclosure

Committee	Members	Responsibilities	Frequency of meeting
Board of Directors	Directors	Overseeing response to climate change	Twice a year
Management Meetings	President, Full-time Directors, Executive Officers, Corporate Planning Department, Auditing Department	Overseeing response to climate change	Twice a year
SDGs Promotion Committee TCFD Subcommittee	President, Full-time Directors, Executive Officers, Corporate Planning Department, SDGs Promotion Committee Members, General Affairs Department	Deciding on policies for response to climate change, Formulating action plans	Twice a year
SDGs Promotion Committee	Promotion Committee members at each location, General Affairs Department	Promoting specific measures including electricity conservation and paper usage reduction.	Once a month

Strategy

Climate change risks and opportunities

We have identified the following highly significant risks and opportunities related to climate change.

Risk	Classification		Risk item	Impact
				2～1.5℃	4℃
	Transition risk	Policy	Increased costs due to introduction of carbon tax regulations	Small	-*1
		Technology	Investment losses related to systems and services for responding to climate change	-*2	-*2
		Market	Increased cost of business operations due to higher energy prices	Small	Small
		Reputation	Difficulty in raising funds due to lowered reputation among investors if climate change is not properly addressed	-*2	-*2
			Loss of business opportunities with clients due to negative image	-*2	-*2
			Difficulty in recruiting employees and increased turnover due to negative image	-*2	-*2
	Physical risk	Acute	Decrease in revenue due to business shutdowns caused by intensification of extreme weather events	Small	Small
			Increased cost of measures against water disasters, etc.	Small	Small
		Chronic	Increased costs associated with improving working conditions to accommodate for higher average temperatures	Small	Small

Opportunity	Classification	Opportunity item	Impact
			2～1.5℃	4℃
	Product/Service	Increased demand for products and services associated with the promotion of carbon neutrality	Small	Small
	Market	Increased demand for BCP measures in response to climate change and infectious diseases	Medium	Large

Scenario analyses

To gain a further specific understanding of the impact of climate change on our business and the opportunities and risks associated with climate change, we refer to scenarios published by external organizations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as benchmarks.

The scenario assumptions for the analyses are as follows.

Scenario setup		Year 2030
		2 to 1.5 °C scenario	4 °C scenario
Social image		Transition risk is high as policy shifts and technological innovations are driven toward the realization of carbon neutrality Physical risks of extreme weather events are lower than in the 4°C scenario	Although transition risk is low as no new policies or regulations will be introduced, CO2 emissions will continue to increase Physical risks of extreme weather events are high
Reference scenario	Transition	Various reports issued by IEA Various reports issued by Japanese government agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment and the Japan Meteorological Agency
	Physical	Various reports issued by IPCC Various reports issued by Japanese government agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment and the Japan Meteorological Agency

Risk Management

Climate change risks and opportunities

For each fiscal year, the TCFD Subcommittee under the SDGs Promotion Committee identifies company-wide climate change risks related to our businesses and manages these items in a risk map in order to realize a system for monitoring in coordination with the Risk Management Committee.
The Subcommittee also reports to the Board of Directors twice a year on climate change risks for which countermeasures are discussed in the Subcommittee, and important risks are reflected in management strategies as necessary so that they are addressed.

Metrics and Targets

Greenhouse gas emissions results

We define greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions as a metric for managing climate change risks and opportunities, and calculate emissions in classifications of Scope 1, 2, and 3.
Our actual greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions are as follows.

(Unit: t-CO2)		FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Scope1	CO2 emissions from energy (city gas) related to operation of air conditioning at our own locations	5	5	6
Scope2	CO2 emissions based on electricity consumption at our own locations	1,770	1,853	1,011
	CO2 emissions from energy (chilled water, steam, etc.) related to operation of air conditioning at our own locations	133	112	235
Total for Scope 1 and 2		1,908	1,970	1,252
Scope3	Category 1 (Products and services purchased)			7,082
	Category 2 (Capital goods)			847
	Category 3 (Fuel and energy activities not included in Scope 1 and 2)			249
	Category 4 (Transport and shipping (upstream))			164
	Category 5 (Waste from business)			56
	Category 6 (Business trips)			734
	Category 7 (Commute of employees)			2,025
Total for Scope 3				11,155

CO2 emission reduction targets (Scope 1 and 2)

Our company has set the following CO2 emissions reduction targets toward achieving carbon neutrality.

• Scope 1: Virtually zero by 2040
• Scope 2: Virtually zero by 2030

Endorsement of COOL CHOICE

In September 2022, our company endorsed the “COOL CHOICE” program recommended by the Ministry of the Environment towards a decarbonized society.

We aim to achieve the goals of SDGs and realize a decarbonized society by taking the initiative to make a “COOL CHOICE” (smart choice) and promoting various actions across our company through business operations with the SDGs Promotion Committee at the core of these activities.

• “COOL CHOICE” Website

Measures for Action

Bewith Forest Wakayama

Since 2018, based on support from Wakayama Prefecture and the town of Hidakagawa, we have been conducting forest conservation activities such as planting, supplemental planting, tree clearing, and underbrush cutting at the “Bewith Forest” established in Hidakagawa, Wakayama.
Although Wakayama Prefecture, where we operate one of our BPO and call centers, is said to be the “land of trees” blessed with forests, the number of unkempt and desolate mountains has been increasing due to a shortage of human resources.
We will continue our forest conservation activities to protect these forests and pass them on to future generations.

In addition, we have been manufacturing SDG badges and office benches using the timber from forest thinning in the “Bewith Forest.”
We contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions through not only our local forest conservation activities but also the effective use of wood from forest thinning.

Clothing donation initiative

We collect unwanted clothing within the company and donate it to Specified Nonprofit Organization, Japan Relief Clothing Center (JRCC) to deliver relief clothing to those in need around the world.

Collections to date are as listed below.

As the series of tasks involved such as collecting the garments, inspecting them, and shipping them to JRCC are handled by members with disabilities, this initiative has also led to the creation of employment for individuals with disabilities.

ECO cap collection initiative

Break rooms at our call centers generate a large amount of plastic bottle waste daily. We collect bottle caps for recycling within the company, and through donations to the Non Profit Organization, ECO Cap Promotion Association, we contribute to promoting recycling, reducing CO2 emissions, and supporting medical aid in developing countries.

As the series of tasks involved such as collecting the caps at the head office and shipping them to the ECO Cap Promotion Association are handled by members with disabilities, this initiative has also led to the creation of employment for individuals with disabilities.