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Kao Joins the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Kao Corporation (President and CEO: Yoshihiro Hasebe) has recently joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
By becoming a member of the WBCSD and joining this global partnership, Kao, in cooperation with various stakeholders, hopes to help establish global standards to create a sustainable society. Kao will integrate these standards into its corporate strategy through Yoki-Monozukuri. This approach aims to maximize both functional and social value while using minimal resources, contributing to a more sustainable future.
In April 2019, Kao launched its ESG strategy “Kirei Lifestyle Plan” to support growing consumer demand for a sustainable lifestyle and achieve this goal. Since 2021, Kao’s Mid-term Plan has promoted the vision of “protecting future lives” and “sustainability as the only path.” To fulfill the corporate purpose of “realizing a Kirei World in which all life lives in harmony,” the company, propelled by essential research and technology innovation, has taken on the challenge of addressing social issues at every product stage, from raw material procurement to development, manufacturing, sales, use, disposal and recycling.
By joining the WBCSD, Kao will participate in setting global standards for appropriately assessing and classifying sustainability risks and opportunities at the product cluster level. With regard to chemicals, which play an important role in sustaining prosperity today, Kao diligently promotes the safer use of chemicals through responsible management practices to appropriately manage risk and create a sustainable society. Kao will pursue safer and more sustainable product design through its membership in the WBCSD and accelerated collaboration with its global partners.
About the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a global community of over 225 of the world’s leading businesses driving systems transformation for a better world in which 9+ billion people can live well, within planetary boundaries, by mid-century. Together, WBCSD and its member companies transform the systems they work in to limit the impact of the climate crisis, restore nature and tackle inequality. WBCSD accelerates value chain transformation across key sectors and reshapes the financial system to reward sustainable leadership and action through a lower cost of capital. Through the exchange of best practices, improving performance, accessing education, forming partnerships, and shaping the policy agenda, WBCSD drives progress in businesses and sharpens the accountability of their performance.
Visit website or follow WBCSD on LinkedIn to find out more.
About Kao
Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics, and specialty chemicals creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Attack laundry detergent, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Laurier sanitary products, Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, and Oribe hair care products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,530 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 34,300 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation. As an enterprise that provides products people use on a daily basis, the Kao Group takes responsibility to actively reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the product lifecycle. This is laid out in Kao’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which launched in 2019.
Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.
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Kao Corporation