At Nippon Paint Group, we are driven by Innovation and Purpose towards building a sustainable future. In achieving this future that we envision, we adhere to the cornerstone of our management philosophy, Maximizing Shareholders Value (MSV), where we aim to fulfil our social responsibilities towards our customers, employees, partners, and the local communities in countries where we operate in.

We saw how the crisis of our generation, COVID-19, unfolded globally, impacting many lives and livelihoods. Hence, we took decisive actions to step up our efforts to support our customers and communities hardest hit by the pandemic by responding to their requests to expand our e-commerce operations as well as developing and marketing anti-viral products to build a sustainable future. This exemplifies our belief that business can be used as a platform to do good, in this case in ensuring that livelihoods of communities and businesses are kept elevated during crisis.

In fiscal 2021, the Group launched a new three-year New Medium-Term Plan centered on the Regional and Business Strategy and the Sustainability Strategy.

In our Sustainability Strategy, we recognize that the SDGs and ESG are essential elements for achieving sustainable growth and MSV. We have been conducting sustainability-focused management in tune with the dramatic changes in society and social issues, including climate change, resource depletion, rapid urbanization, COVID-19 and other infections, and natural disasters. Our sustainability initiatives in fiscal 2023 will take concrete steps to advance our ESG agenda, which we developed based on the ESG Statement and the Materiality released in fiscal 2020.

The six materialities that we identified last year have given us a renewed focus on the most important issues for the sustainable growth of the Company and society. The six materialities are Climate Change, Resources and Environment, Diversity and Inclusion, Safe People and Operations, Growth with Communities, and Innovation for a Sustainable Future. These themes are indispensable for the Group to exist in harmony with nature and society and to present a fully integrated and balanced approach to the three dimensions: economic, social and environment.

The top priority in our items of materiality is to take action on climate change. We have already started identifying specific issues and considering measures to attain net zero CO₂ emissions. We are sourcing renewable energy and estimating the financial impact of carbon pricing on a Group-wide basis, and are considering investing in installing energy-saving equipment and in-house sourcing of renewable energy at our operations around the world. These measures will both reduce CO₂ emissions and improve profitability.

We will also explore new business opportunities through our ESG initiatives. In the B toB business segment, we are responding to growing customer demand for low carbon footprint products by focusing on expanding sales of low-impact coatings for offshore wind turbine systems and the next-generation ship hull antifouling paint FASTAR. We will also continue to launch new PROTECTON® brand anti-viral and anti-bacterial products. Products like these contribute to earnings because they directly address social issues.

Society’s demand for ESG and compliance seems to be growing almost on a daily basis. Corporate efforts alone are no longer sufficient to fulfill a company’s social responsibility. Inspired by the needs of our stakeholders to realize sustainability, we are building stronger connections with consumers and communities and harnessing innovation to accelerate change and create solutions.

The Nippon Paint Group is committed to Our Purpose of “Enriching our living world through the power of Science + Imagination.” Guided by this shared identity, all of our partner companies and employees share our spirit of using technology to generate growth and prosperity to provide value for the community, and this spirit is driving us to realize our aspirations and goals.

Yuichiro Wakatsuki
Wee Siew Kim
November 30, 2021