Biodiversity Protection
Protecting Biodiversity
| Fiscal 2023 Objectives | Fiscal 2023 Achievements | Self-Evaluation | Priority Objectives for Fiscal 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
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★★ |
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- Self-evaluation: ★★★ Achieved more than targeted / ★★ Achieved as targeted / ★ Achieved to some extent
Biodiversity Protection through Business and Social Action Programs
While Sharp’s business activities impact biodiversity, the company also benefits from the resources that biodiversity provides. That is why the Sharp Group is carrying out a multifaceted approach in which it protects biodiversity through business activities and social action programs at worldwide bases.
Based on the Sharp Group Policy on the Sustainable Support of Biodiversity, Sharp formulated the Sharp Biodiversity Initiative in fiscal 2009. The Initiative describes biodiversity in an easy-to-understand manner, and it outlines concrete measures for business activities and social action programs that take biodiversity into account.
Sharp’s Efforts for Protecting Biodiversity
Environmental Community Service Activities to Contribute to Biodiversity Protection
In order to contribute to the preservation of ecosystems in which diverse flora and fauna coexist, Sharp carries out environmental conservation activities not only in Japan but also around the world.
At major Sharp business locations in Japan, we have set up branches of the Sharp Green Club (SGC), a joint labor-management volunteer organization. SGC’s activities emphasize communication with local residents and other stakeholders. For example, through the Sharp Forest project, SGC groups work to protect satoyama (areas between foothills and arable land). This involves afforestation efforts conducted by volunteers in five locations around Japan that seeks to use forest cultivation as a means of fostering an understanding of the relationship, as well as deepening the connection, between forests, wildlife, and humanity and to foster greater global environmental mindedness. SGC also works with the Ministry of the Environment, local governments, and other organizations in two locations in Japan to protect wetlands and waterfowl listed under the Ramsar Convention, such as by eliminating invasive species and conducting cleanup activities. In addition, employee volunteers take part in ongoing cleanup activities around the Sharp Group’s various factories and business locations as well as participate in cleanup and greening initiatives organized by local governments and other organizations, all for the sake of facilitating environmental protection tied to, and carried out in conjunction with, local communities.
In fiscal 2023, 824 such activities took place. These involved 12,172 volunteers, including Sharp executives, employees, and their family members. Overseas, too, Sharp held tree-planting and other such activities as part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. This way, the entire Sharp Group made efforts to preserve the world’s ecosystems.
tarting from fiscal 2024, Sharp is participating in the 30by30*1 Alliance for Biodiversity headed up by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. Through certification as a nationally certified sustainably managed natural site*2, it aims to be registered in the international database of OECM (Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures).
- The goal, pledged at the 2021 G7 Summit, is to halt and reverse biodiversity loss (“nature positive”) by 2030, aiming to effectively conserve more than 30% of the country’s land and marine areas as healthy ecosystems.
- A location recognized by the Ministry of the Environment as contributing to the conservation of biodiversity.
Conserving Bamboo Lilies
The Tenri Plant (Tenri, Nara Prefecture) is committed to preserving biodiversity on ancient burial mounds located within its grounds. Bamboo lilies, a rare wild plant species, naturally grow on these mounds but have become scarce due to land development and overharvesting. To nurture and conserve these lilies, our employees maintained the area by weeding the grounds and cutting down withered bamboos in spring and autumn.
Conserving Freshwater Fish Species
The Kameyama Plant (Kameyama, Mie Prefecture) is working to propagate Tanakia lanceolata, a freshwater fish on Mie Prefecture’s endangered species list. A large population of this fish used to inhabit rivers and streams in the municipality of Kameyama, but numbers have dropped drastically due to factors such as diversion of natural waterways, predation from invasive species, and a decrease in the bivalves that the fish depend on.
The biotope pond on the plant premises is suitable for conservation and propagation of the Tanakia lanceolata : there is little chance of invasive species entering, and its soil is sand, an ideal habitat for the bivalves crucial to the fish’s survival. Employees carry out periodical surveys of the fish population as part of ongoing conservation activities.
Environmental Conservation Activities at the Ramsar Convention Wetland of Yatsu Higata
At the Makuhari Site (Chiba, Chiba Prefecture), SGC, a volunteer group made up of both labor and management, undertakes environmental conservation activities at the Yatsu Higata mudflats, a Ramsar Convention wetland in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture.
In November 2023, a total of 19 employees and their family members, with the cooperation of the Yatsu Higata Nature Observation Center, cut reeds in a freshwater pond to maintain bird habitats and prevent the pond from becoming land.
Ongoing Greening Activities
Indonesian production and sales base SEID undertakes greening activities aimed at raising environmental awareness, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and preserving forests.
In March 2024, to coincide with World Conservation Strategy Day, 27 SEID employees planted a total of 30 trees of six different species, including cocoa, fig, and rubber trees, in Karawang, West Java, as well as installed biopore infiltration holes* in 60 locations to increase the soil’s water-retaining capacity. A total of 657 plants and trees have now been planted in Karawang since 2013.
- Cylindrical holes drilled vertically into the ground to prevent flooding.
Reforestation Activities
UK sales base SBSUK is committed to environmentally friendly printing as part of the Forest Positive initiative. This program effectively eliminates the environmental impact of deforestation by planting more trees than is accounted for by the amount of paper used for printing.
Through its partner, PaperCut, SBSUK has planted 3,341 trees thus far. In fiscal 2023, 200 trees in total were planted across all of Sharp’s UK operations, which is equivalent to the use of 1.6 million sheets of paper. Moving forward, Sharp will continue to actively work to protect forests and contribute to reforestation projects around the world.
Protecting Biodiversity on International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem
It is estimated that 3,531 disasters occurred in Indonesia in 2022*1. Indonesia’s tropical climate and volcanoes make it highly vulnerable to such disasters as earthquakes, floods,
heavy rainfall, and prolonged droughts.
Indonesian production and sales base SEID worked with Yayasan Terumbu Karang, a non-profit organization focused on conserving coral reefs, and with the residents of Tunda Island to plant 3,300 mangrove seedlings as part of blue carbon*2 regeneration.
- Based on a survey by BNPB (Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority).
- Carbon and greenhouse gases absorbed and stored in coastal and marine ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, brackish waters, and coral reefs.
Cleanup Activities Coinciding with World Cleanup Day
Indonesian production and sales base SEID undertakes activities to raise awareness of the dangers of plastic waste, a global environmental issue, as well as to highlight the importance of recycling. In September 2023, to coincide with World Cleanup Day, SEID conducted cleanup activities together with an environmental conservation organization, aiming to raise environmental awareness among the residents and tourists of Harapan Island and to protect the island’s beautiful natural environment.
Fifty students from Harapan Island also participated in the cleanup, and approximately 72 kg of waste was collected. The collected waste was separated, with some of it being taken to facilities called waste banks* before being recycled into products. In addition, SEID donated 111 mangrove seedlings.
- This system involves using a middleman to purchase the garbage, with the proceeds of the sale being transferred to the person who brought the garbage.
