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Participation in Initiatives and Advocacy Activities

Ricoh Group actively endorses and participates in domestic and international initiatives and statements related to Sustainability, and collaborates proactively towards achieving a sustainable society. As of March 2023, we are participating in the following initiatives;

Advocacy activities related to Climate Change

Basic Policy

Since advocating environmental management in 1998, the Ricoh Group has been working on climate change measures based on the scientific point of view, such as The Paris Agreement and IPCC. And aims to create momentum in society as a whole. We prioritize this basic policy and take a leadership role in introducing necessary climate change policies and activating corporate climate change measures by actively participating in domestic and international initiatives on climate change, beyond the scope of existing economic or industry organizations. We periodically verify the consistency between climate change measures taken by Ricoh and those taken by other participating organizations, and if there are any insufficient measures, we work with other companies to strengthen them.

Advocacy Activities

Mr. Masamitsu Sakurai, predecessor chairman of Ricoh, who served as the representative secretary of Keizaidoyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) from 2007 to 2011, published a policy proposal stating that Japan should also set high reduction targets for COP15, and showed an attitude that the industrial sector should actively engage in achieving the targets.
In 2009, Ricoh participated as a founding member in JCLP (Japan Climate Leaders' Partnership), an industry-crossing group of companies that proactively tackle climate change, and has been making various policy proposals on climate change as a core member ever since.
In 2017, Ricoh announced its participation in RE100, the first Japanese company to do so, and visited the Ministry of the Environment, where the current chairman, Mr. Yoshinori Yamashita, requested that the environment minister strengthen policies on introducing electricity from renewable energy sources. We continue to promote the participation of Japanese companies in RE100 and engage with the Japanese government, while also cooperating in the establishment of JCI (Climate Change Initiative) in 2018, and working to create momentum towards decarbonization in Japan.
In 2021, Mr.Yamashita was appointed as the co-representative of JCLP, and visited the Prime Minister's Office to hand over JCLP's opinion paper on climate change policies to the Prime Minister. We are advancing dialogue and policy involvement with the Japanese government and international organizations.

Initiatives participate in related to climate change

Science Based Targets (SBT)

Science Based Targets (SBT)

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)

Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD)

Japan Climate Leader's Partnership(JCLP)

Japan Climate Leader's Partnership(JCLP)

Japan Climate Initiative(JCI)

Japan Climate Initiative(JCI)

Biodiversity

Initiatives participate in related to climate change

Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity(JBIB)

Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity(JBIB)

Human Rights

Initiatives participate in related to climate change

Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)

Responsible Business Alliance (RBA)

Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG)

Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG)

United Nations Global Compact

United Nations Global Compact

Main activities to date

April 2002 Becomes the second Japanese company to sign the UN Global Compact
June 2007 Signs Caring for Climate: The Business Leadership Platform of the UN Global Compact
May 2008 Signs the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity
December 2008 Signs the CEO Statement for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN (Ricoh)
July 2009 Participates in the Japan Climate Leaders' Partnership (JCLP) as a founding member
December 2010 Announces its support for The Cancun Communiqué on Climate Change
November 2012 Announces its support for The Carbon Price Communiqué to counter climate change
September 2014 Announces its endorsement of the Initiative to Support the World Bank Group's Carbon Pricing
September 2014 Announces its support for The Trillion Tonne Communiqué, a call to keep cumulative CO2 emissions below a trillion tonnes
April 2017 Becomes the first Japanese company to join the RE100, a collaborative, global initiative of influential businesses
August 2018 Commits to recommendations of Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
September 2018 Ricoh President & CEO delivers keynote speech at the Climate Week NYC opening ceremony
October 2018 Signs Japan Climate Action Summit declaration
June 2019 Ricoh Corporate Officer in charge of ESG names board director of Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB)
August 2019 Commits to tackling inequality by joining Business for Inclusive Growth coalition
November 2019 Joins the Responsible Business Alliance, the World's Largest Industry Coalition Dedicated to CSR in Global Supply Chains
January 2020 Becomes the only Asian company on RE100 Advisory Committee
March 2020 Revises Environmental Goals for 2030 and obtains “1.5°C” approval by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
June 2020 Endorses Uniting Business and Governments to Recover Better
June 2020 Ricoh President & CEO attending a meeting with Japan's Minister of the Environment to exchange views about climate change issues
October 2020 Commits to Business Ambition for 1.5°C and Race to Zero
November 2020 On behalf of Ricoh as a Japan Climate Initiative member, Ricoh President & CEO proposes renewable energy deregulation to Japan's Minister for Regulatory Reform
November 2020 Joins “30% Club Japan” aiming to increase the ratio of woman executives in companies
March 2021 Joins WIPO GREEN, an international platform to promote environmental technology exchanges
October 2021 Ricoh President & CEO names Co-Chair of Japan Climate Leaders Partnership (JCLP)
April 2022 Participates in the 30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity
April 2022 On behalf of Ricoh as a Japan Climate Initiative member, Jake Yamashita, Ricoh President & CEO, urges Prime Minister Kishida to accelerate the expansion of renewable energy and introduce carbon pricing to overcome climate crisis