Responding to TCFD Recommendations
Climate change is greatly impacting society and Epson sees it as a significant societal problem. The goal of the Paris Agreement is to achieve decarbonization and limit the global average temperature to well below 2℃ above pre-industrial levels and try to limit the temperature increase to 1.5℃. To achieve this, Epson is working to reduce total emissions in line with a 1.5℃ scenario1 by 2030. Furthermore, Epson coordinated the revision of Environmental Vision 2050 with the announcement of the Epson 25 Renewed Corporate Vision. To attain our goals of becoming carbon negative and underground resource free2 by 2050, we are working to decarbonize and to close the resource loop. We are also providing products and services that reduce environmental impacts and developing environmental technologies.
Since indicating its support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in October 2019, Epson has disclosed information (on governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets) based on the TCFD framework so as to enable good communication with shareholders, investors, and a broad spectrum of other stakeholders. Epson has decided to disclose the level of financial impact in 2021 in a quantitative manner for the first time. Furthermore, in 2022, Epson enhanced its disclosure of specific initiatives and achievements aimed at reducing GHG emissions in response to the update to the TCFD recommendations. Since 2023, Epson has enriched qualitative and quantitative information on the highlights and specific results of its initiatives to address climate-related risks and opportunities.
1 Target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions aligned with the criteria under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
2 Non-renewable resources such as oil and metals
Scenario Analysis Findings
We analyzed scenarios based on the TCFD framework to quantitatively assess the financial impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on Epson's strategy. In a 1.5℃ scenario in which there is rapid decarbonization of society, we found that there is transitional risk of an increase in operating costs due to market changes, policies, and legislation, but we expect to limit the financial impact by strengthening products and services based on inkjet technology and paper recycling technology.
Epson will spend approximately 100.0 billion yen (approximately 25.0 billion yen from 2021 to 2025 and approximately 75.0 billion yen from 2026 to 2030) over a period of 10 years ending in 2030 to accelerate decarbonization, close the resource loop, and develop environmental technology. The solution to climate-related risks aligns with the materialities we have set of achieving sustainability in a circular economy and advancing the frontiers of industry and will lead to opportunities for business expansion with Epson's low environmental impact products and services that save electricity and reduce waste. These products and services will help to mitigate customers' environmental impact and control climate change.
Based on the results of these analyses, Epson will continue to try to maximize its opportunities while addressing recognized risks in order to achieve decarbonization, which we believe is a rational goal both for society and for Epson.
On the other hand, even in a 4℃ scenario in which global warming has advanced because the world failed to take additional measures, we found that the impact of physical risks on our domestic and overseas sites due to the damages arising from weather extremes would be small.
Governance
Important matters related to climate change are supervised by the board of directors, which receives reports at least once a year from the Sustainability Strategy Council, an advisory body to the president that plans and reviews strategic sustainability activities for the Epson Group, including matters related to climate change.
In addition, Seiko Epson's president and representative director, who has ultimate responsibility and authority for climate-related issues, delegates responsibility for climate-related issues to the sustainability director, an Executive Officer. The sustainability director heads the Sustainability Promotion Office and oversees the execution of climate change initiatives, including TCFD.
Strategy
Epson has determined that achieving sustainability in a circular economy and advancing the frontiers of industry are material matters. To achieve these, we are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by leveraging our efficient, compact, and precision technologies to drive innovation. We have been implementing activities at regular meetings of the Environmental Strategy Council and its subcommittees to realize our Environmental Vision 2050. In FY2023, we reviewed the status of implementation of activities and submitted deliberations and reports to various management meetings, focusing on the following initiatives.
Main Climate Change Initiatives
| FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 |
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In the 2023 fiscal year, Epson created a Global Environmental Strategy Promotion Office, the mission of which is to draft and carry out corporate environmental strategy. It also established environmental subcommittees for each environmental topic. These organizations will strengthen collaboration with the operations divisions to accelerate environmental action, heighten the feasibility of the environmental vision, and further increase the resilience of the climate change strategy.
| Increasing resilience | FY2023 initiatives & results | |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Strategy Council | Decarbonization | - Finalized the roadmap for reductions over the medium term toward Scope 1 zero emissions (upgrades of facilities and equipment for electronification and switching of fuels). - Implemented sustainable and stable procurement of renewable energy and formulated a plan for in-house power generation. - Supplier engagement (surveys of suppliers’ reduction plans and switching to renewable energy, etc.) |
| Closed resource loop | - Started operating resource-loop indicators and targets to become underground-resource-free. - Formulated business-specific/company-wide medium-term plans for utilizing compact, lightweight and recycled materials and switching to sustainable resources. |
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| Customer environmental impact mitigation | - Started calculation of objective and fair avoided emission for product genre that contributes to reducing the environmental impact of society. | |
| Environmental technology development | - Materialized the topic of dry fiber technology application (developed packaging materials and cellulose composite bioplastics). - Developed an elemental technology for practical application of a high-value-added technology for metal powders. |
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Scenario Analysis of Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities
Epson identified and evaluated scenarios in the categories of transition risk, physical risk, and opportunity to evaluate the importance of climate-related risks and opportunities. Seven risks and opportunities were singled out for evaluation. We evaluated the business impact and financial impact of each on the basis of the scenarios corresponding to temperature increase of 1.5℃ presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) as well as on the basis of internal and external information.
Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities in a 1.5℃ Scenario
The results of evaluating climate-related risks and opportunities based on scenario analysis are as follows.
| Category | Evaluated risks & opportunities | Actualization | Business impacts | Financial impact | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transition risks | Market changes Policy & laws and regulations | Paper demand | Short-term | Impact
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Small |
| (Initiatives in Environmental Vision 2050) - Decarbonization - Closed resource loop - Environmental technology development |
Short-term | Impact
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Invest a total of approximately ¥100.0 billion by 2030 | ||
| Physical risks | Acute | Damage to business sites due to floods | Long-term (End of 21st century) | Impact
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Small |
| Chronic | Damage to business sites due to rising sea levels | ||||
| Impact on operations due to drought | |||||
| Opportunities | Products and services | (Initiatives in "Environment Vision 2050") - Customer environmental impact mitigation |
Short-term | Assumed scenarios
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Large CAGR of 15% is expected in growth areas by FY2025 |
| Environmental business | Short-term | Assumed scenarios
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Medium | ||
Actualization Short term: < 10 years Medium term: 10-50 years Long term: > 50 years
Financial Impact Small: < 1 billion yen Medium: 1-10 billion yen Large: >10 billion yen
FY2023 Actions
Epson implemented the following initiatives in FY2023 to promote decarbonization, close the resource loop, develop environmental technology, and mitigate environmental impacts on the customer's end.
| Category | Evaluated risks & opportunities | Initiatives implemented in FY2023 | FY2023 quantitative results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transition risks | Market changes Policy & laws and regulations | Paper demand | ‐In Office & Home Printing, sales of ink have been stable with a decrease in sales of ink cartridges offset by increases in sales of high-capacity ink bottles and ink for office shared printers in conjunction with the increased number of machines in the field. The financial impact of fluctuations in demand for paper in the market targeted by Epson was limited. | Small1 |
| Decarbonization | - Completed switching 100% to renewable energy at all sites of the Epson Group globally2. - Developed a roadmap for long-term stable procurement of renewable energy and a plan to construct a biomass power plant, our first such in-house plant (operation to begin in 2026). |
¥4.79 billion(breakdown) -Investment: ¥1.54 billion -Expenses: ¥1.73 billion -Personnel expenses:¥ 1.52 billion Cumulative input costs and investments for Environmental Vision 2050: ¥12.64 billion in total |
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| Closed resource loop | - Expanded the use of recycled plastic products, and increased the long-term use of products through refurbishing/reuse. - Started construction of a new plant to recycle metal waste as materials for metal powder products (operation to begin in June 2025) (Epson Atmix). |
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| Environmental technology development | - Coordinated with external parties for the development of new technologies for fiber recycling by applying dry fiber technology. Strengthened a system for the development of cellulose composite bioplastics and promoted the development. - Promoted the development of a technology for separating and collecting CO2 using a separation membrane and a CO2 absorption technology utilizing algae. |
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| Physical risks | Acute | Damage to business sites due to floods | - Assessed risks based on the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report for 36 sites (17 in Japan, 19 in overseas)3. - Confirmed that the volatility in Epson’s future operation risk caused by floods (river flooding), high tide and drought is limited. Implemented BCP measures against the risk of inundation of facilities on lower floors of Toyoshina Plant4. |
Small1 |
| Chronic | Damage to business sites due to rising sea levels | |||
| Impact on operations due to drought | ||||
| Opportunities | Products and services | Customer environmental impact mitigation | - Promoted initiatives in the growth areas (office printing, commercial & industrial printing, printhead sales, production systems) under "Epson 25 Renewed." | FY2020 →FY2023 Revenue CAGR +14.7%5 |
| Environmental business | - Started verification of a business model for fiber recycling with an eye to business development with dry fiber technology as the core technology | - | ||
1 Small financial impact: less than ¥1 billion.
2 Excluding some rental properties housing sales sites.
3 Assessed using IPCC climate change scenarios RCP 2.6 (2℃), RCP 8.5 (4℃).
4 A major domestic site with a long-term flooding risk (end of 21st century).
5 Comparison of actual results for FY2022 to FY2023 forecasts at the time of announcement of Epson 25 Renewed.
Risk Management
As the environment in which we operate grows more complex and uncertain, effectively dealing with risks that could have a significant impact on corporate activities will be essential in order to carry out business strategies and business objectives.
Epson sees climate-related issues as risks that could significantly impact management and manages them appropriately.
Climate-Related Risk Identification, Assessment and Management Process
| 1. Study | 2. Identify & assess | 3. Manage |
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Metrics and Targets
Epson aims to achieve the medium- and long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets to realize Environmental Vision 2050. For this reason, we are working to reduce environmental impacts throughout the value chain by improving the environmental performance of our products, utilizing renewable energy, enhancing our business activities and taking other steps based on our efficient, compact, and precision technologies.
GHG Reduction Targets (general indication of aggressive total emissions reduction targets in line with the 1.5℃ scenario1)
| Scopes 1, 2, 3 | Reduce GHG emissions by 55% compared to FY2017 by FY2030. |
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1 Target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions aligned with the criteria under the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
Scope 1: Direct emissions from the use of fuel, etc., by the reporting company
Scope 2: Indirect emissions from purchased energy
Scope 3: Emissions from the reporting company's value chain
