Our everyday lives, economy, and well-being are built on biodiversity, which is the foundation of life. However, due to increasing population and growing economic activities, biodiversity is seriously declining. How can we conserve and restore ecosystems? This is one of the key challenges facing human society.
OMRON established its Biodiversity Policy in 2010 and has been working to conserve biodiversity.
In December 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted during the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Supporting the Framework’s vision of coexistence with nature and nature positive, OMRON revised its Biodiversity Policy in 2024. In making the revision, we referred to such sources as disclosure recommendations and guidance by the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), a framework for disclosing risks and opportunities related to nature capital.
The OMRON Biodiversity Policy is a subordinate policy to the Environmental Policy approved by the Board of Directors. It has been reviewed and approved by the Sustainability Committee chaired by the Sustainability Executive Officer.
(Revised: July, 2024)
Since the second half of fiscal 2023, OMRON has been an active participant in the TNFD Forum, getting ready for disclosures as per TNFD recommendations. In fiscal 2024, we applied the LEAP approach to locate the state of nature around our production sites and evaluate our dependencies and impacts on natural capital. Based on the findings of “Locate (Interface with nature) and Evaluate (Dependencies & impacts), we will assess key risks and opportunities and disclose them accordingly.
In this phase, we assessed our production sites in terms of ecosystem integrity, importance of biodiversity, physical water risks, and soil contamination in order to identify priority locations.
With businesses spanning Industrial Automation, Device & Module Solutions, Healthcare, and Social Systems, Solutions and Service, OMRON is involved in various manufacturing sectors. In fiscal 2023, we prioritized assessing the Industrial Automation Business and the Device & Module Solutions Business based on business scale and site number. We then identified target sectors according to the sales composition ratios of products representing these two businesses, and evaluated their dependencies and impacts using ENCORE*. The analysis found that scores for water-related (groundwater and surface water), pollution-related (water pollutants, soil pollutants, and solid waste), and others (noise, light) categories were rated Medium or above. (See Table 1 and 2). Based on this analysis, we concluded that the key high-priority dependencies/impacts are related to groundwater and surface water only.
[Water-related]
At OMRON’s production sites, most water withdrawals come from third party suppliers and are primarily used for domestic purposes. As such, we assume that our direct dependencies on groundwater and surface are actually smaller than what ENCORE says. However, considering that "using water resource effectively" is part of the "Coexisting with nature," which is one of the key environmental issues laid out in the OMRON Environmental Policy, we have determined that addressing dependencies on groundwater and surface water remains a high priority.
[Pollution-related]
At all our production sites, OMRON conducts Phase 1 surveys (initial surveys including written surveys, interviews, and on-site reviews) to carry out qualitative risk analysis. At some sites, we conduct Phase 2 surveys (soil and groundwater research) to analyze potential risks. Based on these analyses, we have found no evidence of soil contamination at any of our production sites or their surrounding areas, allowing us to conclude that the risk of soil contamination is minimal. Furthermore, OMRON mainly performs assembly at its production process and rarely uses liquid chemical substances. As such, we assume that our impact on soil, groundwater, and solid waste pollution is smaller than what ENCORE says.
[Others]
Likewise, based on our site environmental performance data, we believe that the impacts of noise and light pollution are smaller than indicated by ENCORE.
The Kyoto headquarters of OMRON Healthcare features a biotope that replicates the Katsura River ecosystem. The word biotope combines the words “bio” (life) and “topos” (place), referring to a space where organisms can thrive sustainably. Establishing biotopes is an important social contribution, preserving valuable habitats for living organisms as nature faces ongoing destruction in recent times. The biotope at the Kyoto headquarters is home to killifish families , which are classified as Endangered Species II on the Red List issued by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. Not only do the killifish breed in the biotope, eastern spot-billed ducks fly in as well to raise their chicks. We help preserve local biodiversity through this biotope as an effort to maintain and restore natural ecosystems in urban environments.
Also, in order to encourage living in harmony with nature with local communities, we invite students from the nearby Rakunan Elementary School to the headquarters to learn about the importance of nature and biodiversity through raising killifish and observing the ecosystem through field trips. This activity provides children with opportunities to gain a deeper awareness of environmental conservation.
The OMRON Healthcare Matsusaka Office is located in Mie Prefecture, which is known for the Ise-Shima National Park and the Owase cypress forestry industry. Approximately 70% of Matsusaka City is forested, but these forests have not been properly upkept due to the recent deterioration of the forestry industry, raising concerns about forest deterioration.
In response, Mie Prefecture and Matsusaka City launched “Kigyo no Mori” companies’ forest conservation project to restore healthy forests. OMRON Healthcare participates actively in this project, helping to conserve forests and protect ecosystems by working with the local community to plant trees and care for the forests. We will cooperate with the Matsusaka-Iinan Forestry Association for the five years until January 2029 to thin trees to form mixed needle and broadleaf forests, as well as to educate employees.
OMRON Healthcare also registered with the Declaration of Wood Use framework of Mie Prefecture. This framework aims to actively use lumber produced in the prefecture and educate people on wood. We use wood from Mia Prefecture for flower beds and office fixtures, and cultivate trees, committed to green circulation.
The OMRON Group is dedicated to sound forest conservation activities while coexisting and prospering with local communities.
