Kao Recognized as Global Environmental Leader with a CDP Triple ‘A’ for Fifth Consecutive Year

• CDP, a global nonprofit organization, has recognized Kao with a triple ‘A’ rating for the fifth consecutive year.
• The CDP triple ‘A’—the highest rating available in the survey—is the result of Kao’s positive effortsto reduce environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle under its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
• Kao is one of the few triple 'A' companies that were selected out of more than 24,800 organizations which participated in the survey.

 
Kao Corporation has been named an ‘A-List’ company by CDP, a global nonprofit organization, in its annual global survey of companies’ sustainability initiatives, in the areas of Climate Change, Forests, and Water Security. The triple ‘A’ companies were selected out of more than 24,800 companies included in the survey. This is the fifth consecutive year that Kao has received a triple ‘A’ rating; it is the sixth time
that Kao has received an ‘A’ in the Climate Change category, the fifth time in
Forests, and the eighth time in Water Security.
 
Junko Ohtani, Executive Officer in charge of Kao’s ESG Division, comments, “We are honored to be selected as a CDP triple ‘A’ company for the fifth consecutive year. We have long been committed to addressing environmental and social issues across the product lifecycle through innovation, together with our stakeholders. We aim to offer products that, while being more sustainable, serve as high-performance solutions to everyday issues, thereby empowering the people we serve to live better, comfortably.
This approach is the basis for our ESG Strategy the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which guides us in managing our business with resilience, not only for the now, but also for the future. We will continue to drive efforts, striving to lead in our wide range of business areas, to realize our mission of a Kirei life for all.”
 
Kao’s Major Initiatives in Relation to Climate Change, Forests, and Water Security

Aiming to realize a decarbonized society and sustainable business, Kao is developing innovative technologies and working with stakeholders to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the value chain in order to achieve carbon zero in 2040 and carbon negative in 2050.
 
Regarding Forests, we promote ESG procurement with an emphasis on environmental conservation, resource protection, and human rights. Through efforts to ensure traceability and dialogue with suppliers, we aim to achieve zero deforestation by 2025, in line with the goal of realizing sustainable procurement. In the area of palm oil, one of Kao’s most important natural assets, we are transitioning to RSPO certified oil and are also implementing SMILE (Smallholder Inclusion for Better Livelihood & Empowerment program), a program to support independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia.
 
We also consider the sustainable use of water resources to be a very important management issue and are implementing various initiatives to address this. We are promoting water conservation throughout the product
lifecycle by providing water-saving products such as Attack ZERO, a concentrated liquid laundry detergent that requires only one rinse, and CuCute, a dishwashing liquid that quickly rinses off foam during rinsing.
 
Decarbonization, plastic reduction and low-impact formulas in focus in the AEMEA region  

Next to the company’s global initiatives, Kao also places great importance on activities to reduce its environmental footprint in the Americas and EMEA region.  
 
“At Kao, we take a holistic approach to our sustainability efforts and work very hard to implement our global goals across our AEMEA business,” explains Nicola Bäuerle,  Sustainability Director, AEMEA, Kao.
“Over the past years, we were able to further advance our achievements in the areas of decarbonization, plastic reduction and low-impact formulations. In our main production site in Europe, we reduced CO2 emissions by 38% in just three years. We also significantly increased PCR use across all sectors and further
advanced the biodegradability of our skincare and haircare formulations, to reduce the impact of our products on the environment. The renewed recognition by CDP is a great confirmation of our commitment to sustainability and we will continue our efforts in support of our global mission.“