Discussions by the Board of Directors (Sustainability Initiatives)

While the mandatory disclosure requirements vary across regions and therefore require individual responses in the local regions, the underlying principles are broadly aligned with the ISSB Standards. The Sustainability Team spanning partner companies is working to identify common issues, share know-how, and strengthen information coordination. This enables the Group to balance region-specific compliance with overall efficiency. For example, the Team shares relevant knowledge and practices across the Group, including the level of GHG data required for third-party assurance in Australia, which is ahead of other markets in implementing mandatory disclosure requirements in the environmental and climate change field, NIPSEA’s process for developing a sustainability product portfolio, and the path Japan Group went through to formulate its Scope 3 emissions reduction targets.

We have currently allocated minimum manpower, and will need to assess the necessary resources by examining the practical workload involved, for example, for data collection and verification. In terms of expertise, the Company is drawing on knowledge within the Group through collaboration with Australia and other Asian regions, where prompt actions have been required, while also incorporating the know-how of external professionals to ensure readiness for the required disclosures. We also expect to take advantage of the networks of such external advisors, and will determine its own resource allocation in light of these factors.

We recognize the lack of full standardization in data definitions and calculation processes across Group companies as a principal challenge. While each company has adopted definitions suited to its regional and business environment, and operations have progressed to a certain extent, disclosure and assurance will require these data to be organized and standardized so that the information can be objective and verifiable. In addition, we will need to identify and develop system infrastructure appropriate for the Group as a whole to enable efficient and continuous information collection.