Governance

The TOPPAN Group’s Sustainability Promotion Committee is chaired by the President & Representative Director of TOPPAN Holdings Inc. It is positioned as part of the corporate governance structure and responsible for advancing sustainability across the Group.

The Board of Directors of TOPPAN Holdings Inc. delegates the consideration and deliberation of sustainability-related issues for the TOPPAN Group to the Sustainability Promotion Committee. The specific activities and measures discussed at the Sustainability Promotion Committee are reported to the Board of Directors by the Management Committee, and the Board of Directors is responsible for overall decision-making on sustainability management. The Board of Directors continuously discusses, monitors, and supervises sustainability-related activities, target setting, and progress.

The TOPPAN Group ESG Management Promotion Committee is a body positioned within the Sustainability Promotion Committee. Its members are presidents and directors of TOPPAN Group operating companies, who coordinate on ESG and SDG-related issues within the Group.

Under the Sustainability Promotion Committee, we have established the SDGs Promotion Project and the Corporate ESG Project, which are a cross-divisional bodies. These project teams address various individual themes while coordinating with each other.

The SDGs Promotion Project primarily focuses on advancing sustainability initiatives in our business activities as well as driving and monitoring the progress of activities in the areas of focus for contributing to the SDGs through business, which are set out in TOPPAN Business Action for SDGs.

The Corporate ESG Project is mainly responsible for sustainability issues that relate to the entire TOPPAN Group. In fiscal 2022, we formed the Human Rights Working Group, Supply Chain Working Group, TCFD Working Group, and Risk Management Working Group, which undertake projects on specific themes.

We have also established the Executive Sustainability Promotion Committee as a forum for discussing future sustainability issues. Directors and outside experts exchange opinions and coordinate with the Sustainability Promotion Committee on important matters.

Risk Management

Risk management for sustainability-related issues in the TOPPAN Group is incorporated into a comprehensive risk management structure promoted in collaboration with the operating companies of the Group. Under the management of the Board of Directors of TOPPAN Holdings Inc., divisions responsible at the holding company, the relevant departments of operating companies, and the Risk Management Working Group work together and coordinate risk management efforts.

The Risk Management Working Group is part of the Corporate ESG Project under the Sustainability Promotion Committee. It is led by the Director in charge of Risk Management, composed of persons in charge of risk management in the relevant divisions, and administered by TOPPAN Holdings Inc. It conducts an annual risk assessment and designates as “significant risks” those that are deemed to have a significant impact on the management of the TOPPAN Group.

The identification of significant risks is based on the results of assessment by subsidiaries, Group companies, and the relevant departments of operating companies under the supervision of the divisions responsible at TOPPAN Holdings Inc. We also consider such factors as the probability of actualization in the medium to long term, frequency of occurrence, and level of impact. In addition to changes in the global social and economic environments in which the TOPPAN Group operates, when assessing significant risks, we also fully consider sustainability management perspectives encompassing various global risks. These include environmental problems prompted by climate change, increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks accompanying the progress of digitalization, forced labor, and other human rights issues. In fiscal 2023 we have selected 25 risks, including climate change risk, securing human assets to support business growth, risks in procurement, and human rights risk.

Once identified, significant risks are reported to and considered by the Sustainability Promotion Committee before being reported to the Board of Directors. They are reassessed annually under the management of the Board.

To prevent potential significant and other risks from actually occurring, the divisions responsible at the holding company and the relevant departments of operating companies consider countermeasures and implement appropriate risk management aligned with business activities in Japan and overseas. Via the Director in charge of Risk Management, the Board of Directors receives regular reports from the divisions responsible on the status of responses to risks. When risks are actualized, we respond promptly in line with our crisis management structure.

Sustainability Promotion Committee

We convened the Sustainability Promotion Committee twice, the TOPPAN Group ESG Management Promotion Committee five times, and the Executive Sustainability Committee once in fiscal 2022.

The main activities and challenges to address going forward for each of the working groups under the Corporate ESG Project are as follows.

Human Rights Working Group

Main activities:

• Informed parties inside and outside the Group of the TOPPAN Group Human Rights Policy and conducted training for employees, including those at Group companies inside and outside Japan.
• Conducted a human rights risk survey covering Group companies inside and outside Japan as an assessment of impact on human rights, the first step in human rights due diligence. (75 companies in Japan and 103 companies overseas)
• Performed analysis of human rights risk survey responses and provided feedback on the results of the assessment.

Challenges to address going forward:

• Promoting human rights risk mitigation and remediation and providing related information based on the results of the assessment.
• Expanding opportunities for direct dialogue with individual companies through on-site assessments.
• Confirming the status of wage payment when conducting the human rights survey.
• Facilitating continuous dialogue with external organizations and making use of external assessments.

Supply Chain Working Group

Main activities:

• Ensured that our business partners are fully aware of the TOPPAN Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines by driving a PDCA cycle of planning and selecting target business partners, requesting questionnaire responses and written declarations of agreement, checking risks, and giving feedback and rectifying issues.
• After providing explanations to procurement staff in relevant departments, identified and selected target business partners, and requested and collected written declarations of agreement and questionnaire responses via briefing sessions.
• Conducted aggregation and analysis covering roughly 70% of business partners who responded.

Challenges to address going forward:

• Establishing, expanding the scope of, and enhancing the quality of the PDCA cycle for driving agreement with and full awareness of the TOPPAN Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
• Concluding agreements stipulating observance of the TOPPAN Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines with 90% of target business partners by fiscal 2025.

TCFD Working Group

Main activities:

• Conducted scenario analysis for each company, including an additional 12 Group companies.
• Clarified potential impact on business at each Group company due to factors resulting from climate change, identified significant risks and opportunities, and considered countermeasures.

Challenges to address going forward:

• Enhancing disclosure in the securities report and other media.
• Expanding scope and analysis and evolving countermeasures.

Risk Management Working Group

Main activities:

• Supplemented significant risks for fiscal 2022 and plans for countermeasures.
• Considered significant risks for fiscal 2023 and formulated plans for countermeasures.

Challenges to address going forward:

• Formulating plans that address changes in the external environment, such as changes in the business environment, global risks, information security, social problems, and environmental problems.

The SDGs Promotion Project monitors the progress of TOPPAN Business Action for SDGs, publishes results for each fiscal year, and assesses the feasibility of achievement of targets in the Medium Term Plan and consistency between activities and selected indicators. While keeping an eye on trends in society’s sustainability-related needs and the progress of the TOPPAN Group’s DX and SX businesses, the project team also continually considers its future activities and new themes.

Sustainability Challenges Going Forward

We aim to be a company that drives true sustainability by delivering solutions to global challenges, such as decarbonization, the establishment of a circular economy, and preservation of biodiversity. In addition to accelerating the activities of the ESG Project and the SDGs Promotion Project, we will proactively address and consider new sustainability themes, including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

Under the holding company structure, we will create frameworks to lead the entire Group in advancing sustainability management, facilitate activities at each Group company, and strengthen reciprocal collaboration.

We will drive sustainability management across the TOPPAN Group with an awareness of the importance of both activities and disclosure and take on the challenge of delivering solutions to global social issues through our business.