The 12 material issues identified in fiscal 2022 have been categorized into five areas, including safety/ship quality management, advancement of environmental technologies, digital transformation, and human resources—the four pillars of our functional strategy set forth in our medium-term management plan—and management base, which serves as the foundation of the four pillars. The Group positions materiality as a set of important issues to be addressed in order to realize its corporate principle and vision under the medium-term management plan.
|
Category |
Material Issues (Actions for resolving social issues) |
Related SDGs |
|
Management base |
Respect for human rights |
sdgs05e sdgs08e sdgs10e |
|
Reinforcement of corporate governance |
sdgs16e sdgs17e |
|
|
Promotion and reinforcement of compliance |
sdgs16e |
|
|
Safety/Ship quality management |
Promotion of safety in navigation and cargo operations |
sdgs07e sdgs13e sdgs14e |
|
Advancement of environmental technologies |
“K” LINE low-carbon and carbon-free transition |
sdgs07e sdgs09e sdgs11e sdgs12e sdgs13e sdgs17e |
|
Supporting the development of a low-carbon and carbon-free society |
sdgs07e sdgs09e sdgs11e sdgs13e sdgs17e |
|
|
Reducing “K” LINE’s impact on the sea and air to zero |
sdgs03e sdgs11e sdgs12e sdgs14e sdgs15e sdgs17e |
|
|
Promotion of innovation |
||
|
Digital transformation |
sdgs07e sdgs09e sdgs11e sdgs12e sdgs13e sdgs14e sdgs15e sdgs17e |
|
|
Reinforcement of response to digital transformation (DX) |
sdgs07e sdgs08e sdgs09e sdgs12e sdgs13e sdgs14e sdgs15e sdgs17e |
|
|
Human resources |
Diversity ＆ inclusion |
sdgs05e sdgs08e sdgs10e |
|
Shaping of working environment and promotion of health management |
sdgs03e sdgs05e sdgs08e sdgs10e |
|
|
The securing ＆ development of human resources |
sdgs05e sdgs08e |
“K” LINE’s materiality is positioned as key issues to address in order to realize our corporate principle and vision based on the medium-term management plan, achieve sustainable growth, enhance corporate value, and contribute to social issues.
Namely, we aim to ensure the sustainability of the “K” LINE Group, society, and the environment.
In fiscal 2022, the Company reviewed its materiality and identified 12 new material issues across five areas. The “K” LINE Group’s previous materiality—established in 2014—was identified by referring to various sources of guidance related primarily to corporate social responsibility (CSR), including ISO 26000 and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. This review, however, was conducted in light of changes to the business environment and social conditions that arose over the subsequent eight years. In addition to using the conventional CSR approach, we analyzed and evaluated materiality from the two perspectives of importance to the Company (importance from a business perspective) and importance to society (importance from a stakeholder perspective), while considering factors such as their alignment with our business strategy and their impact on value creation.
- Create a list of social issues with a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (extensive list of 115 items in total)
- Narrow down the list of social issues, taking into consideration their relevance to the Company’s businesses and their unique- ness to the maritime industry (short list of 50 items in total)
- From the following perspectives, evaluate the importance of the 50 social issues shortlisted in Step 1:
- Importance to the Company
We evaluated the impact of each social issue on the Company’s corporate value from the perspective of risks and opportunities. We also administered a survey to our Group executives and employees to gather their opinions on social issues to be addressed by the Group on a priority basis. - Importance to society
We analyzed the impact of each social issue on key stakeholders of the Group (customers, employees, local communities, and global society) from the standpoint of each stakeholder.
- Importance to the Company
- In Step 2, we positioned items of high importance to both the Company and its stakeholders as social issues that have a high impact on the Company’s corporate value. These have been further consolidated into a total of 12 actions for resolving social issues in order to create a materiality proposal.
- A dialogue is held between outside experts and the Company’s management to exchange opinions on the materiality proposal.
- The materiality proposal is finalized based on the aforementioned dialogue. This proposal is then discussed by the Corporate Sustainability Management Committee, and a final decision is made at the Management Conference, after which it is reported to the Board of Directors.
