SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (President: Teiji Koge^*1; hereinafter "SEKISUI CHEMICAL") received the Silver Award (Minister of the Environment Award) at the “ESG Finance Awards Japan”, in the “Environmentally Sustainable Company&rdquo^;*2 category, on February 26, 2020. The awards were established by the Ministry of the Environment in autumn 2019 to promote the uptake of ESG financing.

The “ESG Finance Awards Japan” was established by the Ministry of the Environment on October 4, 2019, with the goal of promoting the uptake of ESG investments and sustainable finance. In order to popularize sustainable finance, it is crucial that activities are promoted among both financial institutions and the companies that are the targets of their investments. To this end, in addition to “Investor”, “Financing”, “Financial Services”, and “Bonds” categories, the Ministry has also established an “Environmentally Sustainable Company” category, which recognizes companies engaged in progressive financial environment initiatives.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL Group defines its Group Vision as “to contribute to improving the lives of the people of the world and the Earth’s environment,” and seeks to establish a management foundation that is sustainable from an “environment”, “social”, and “corporate governance” perspective. With regard to the “environment” in particular, based on the “SEKISUI Environment Sustainability Vision 2030” long-term environmental vision, the Group aims to contribute through its products and its businesses to the resolution of environmental issues such as climate change, water risks, resource circulation, and degradation of eco-systems. In this way, the Group hopes to aims “an Earth with maintained biodiversity.”

In this award, SEKISUI CHEMICAL was mainly recognized for the model created that increases social value by encouraging employees to pursue their normal business activities. Also, having a long history in business management in which environmental contribution has been the driver of value creation, placing “solving environmental issues” at the core of management, and having clear policies with steady implementation of initiatives were other reasons that were evaluated.

Going forward, SEKISUI CHEMICAL will continue to accelerate activities aimed at resolving environmental issues, contribute to a more sustainable earth and society, and improve its own sustainability as a company.

*1　Positions as of February 26, 2020 (date of the ESG Finance Awards Japan awards ceremony)
*2　An “Environmentally Sustainable Company” is a company that incorporates important environment related opportunities and risks in its management strategies, to create positive environmental effects and improve its corporate value at the same time.