Environmental Management

“K” LINE Group Environmental Policy The “K” LINE Group is aware that our business activities can impact on the global environment, and we therefore set forth in our environmental policy our determination and commitment to minimize the impact of our business activities on the global environment.
So that we can successfully promote our environmental activities in accordance with the environmental policy, the Corporate Sustainability Management Committee, which is led by the president & CEO, discusses and develops policies for promoting the sustainability activities of the entire “K” LINE Group with two subcommittees: the Sustainability Sub-Committee and the Environmental Sub-Committee. The Environmental Sub-Committee meets twice a year, bringing together top management and the environmental managers, assistant environmental managers, and sub- assistant environmental managers from each division of the Company to prepare basic plans and set targets on environmental matters for the Group, monitor progress toward these targets, evaluate the results, and reconfirm or review the targets.
In addition, all Group companies come together so that the entire staff working for the “K” LINE Group unites to promote environmental activities, and we hold a Group Environmental Conference every year to discuss and share awareness of current environmental issues.

We successfully achieved most of the 2019 interim mile- stones of the “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050, which was formulated by the “K” LINE Group in March 2015. At the same time, we recognize that the business environment and demands of customers have changed since the formulation of the vision and there is a need to respond to the impact of climate change and the increasing demands for decarbonization. Accordingly, in June 2020, we announced our revised “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050, with targets reorganized around the two issues of decarbonization and the aim for zero environmental impact. This vision shows the formulation of new 2050 goals and 2030 interim milestones.

In November 2021, we revised the 2050 goals for decarbonization in the “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050.
Reinforcement of global climate change countermeasures has become an urgent issue and the drive to achieve net- zero greenhouse gas (GHG）emissions by 2050 is gaining momentum in every country and every industry. Amid these circumstances, the Group is also taking on the challenge of raising our target even further to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.

We have established an EMS based on ISO 14001*1 and operate it to make constant improvements by identifying environmental impacts and minimizing them. We implemented the EMS in February 2002, after obtaining certification from a third-party organization. Since then, we have been striving to enhance our environmental activities by using annual reviews and renewal periods to check and ensure that our EMS complies with the ISO 14001 standard, is con- ducted in line with the PDCA cycle,*2 and is improved and corrected accordingly.

“K” LINE Group companies have acquired various environmental certifications, including ISO 14001, and we are making a Groupwide commitment to environmental protection. Group 
companies that have acquired ISO 14001 certification account for around 79% of our Groupwide net sales.

Guided by “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050, a set of long-term environmental management vision, we are building and operating DRIVE GREEN NETWORK (DGN), a framework to promote environmental management for the entire Group.

We are using DGN to centrally control our environmental management initiatives (such as setting environmental policies and targets and working to achieve them) through internal audits and the like. We aim to continuously pursue environmental protection activities by actively using the PDCA cycle while ensuring environmental compliance across the entire Group.

The name “DRIVE GREEN NETWORK” reflects our desire of inheriting   the spirit put into the construction of the DRIVE GREEN HIGHWAY, our environmentally-friendly next-generation flagship completed in 2016 under the concept of “getting one step ahead for the future”.

Based on our environmental management system (EMS), we continuously run our PDCA cycle. We have set our environmental targets for the year in line with the “K” LINE Environmental Vision 2050 and “K” LINE Group Environmental Policy. We have appropriately reviewed our achievements and have used these outcomes to set our targets for next year. These environmental targets include not only measures related to ship operations but also specific measures for office sites, such as the reduction of both water consumption and waste.