- CDP, a global nonprofit organization, has recognized Kao with a triple ‘A’ rating for the fifth consecutive year.
- The CDP triple ‘A’—the highest rating available in the survey—is the result of Kao’s positive efforts to reduce environmental impact throughout the product lifecycle under its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
- Kao is one of the few triple ‘A’ companies that were selected out of more than 24,800 organizations which participated in the survey.
TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#CDPAlist–Kao Corporation (TOKYO:4452), a manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics and specialty chemicals, has been named an ‘A-List’ company by CDP, a global nonprofit organization, in its annual global survey of companies’ sustainability initiatives, in the areas of Climate Change, Forests, and Water Security. The triple ‘A’ companies were selected out of more than 24,800 companies included in the survey. This is the fifth consecutive year that Kao has received a triple ‘A’ rating; it is the sixth time that Kao has received an ‘A’ in the Climate Change category, the fifth time in Forests, and the eighth time in Water Security.
Junko Ohtani, Executive Officer in charge of Kao’s ESG Division, comments, “We are honored to be selected as a CDP triple ‘A’ company for the fifth consecutive year. We have long been committed to addressing environmental and social issues across the product lifecycle through innovation, together with our stakeholders. We aim to offer products that, while being more sustainable, serve as high-performance solutions to everyday issues, thereby empowering the people we serve to live better, comfortably. This approach is the basis for our ESG Strategy the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which guides us in managing our business with resilience, not only for the now, but also for the future. We will continue to drive efforts, striving to lead in our wide range of business areas, to realize our mission of a Kirei life for all.”
Kao’s Major Initiatives in Relation to Climate Change, Forests, and Water Security
Aiming to realize a decarbonized society and sustainable business, Kao is developing innovative technologies and working with stakeholders to reduce CO2 emissions throughout the value chain in order to achieve carbon zero in 2040 and carbon negative in 2050.
Regarding Forests, we promote ESG procurement with an emphasis on environmental conservation, resource protection, and human rights. Through efforts to ensure traceability and dialogue with suppliers, we aim to achieve zero deforestation by 2025, in line with the goal of realizing sustainable procurement. In the area of palm oil, one of Kao’s most important natural assets, we are transitioning to RSPO certified oil and are also implementing SMILE (Smallholder Inclusion for Better Livelihood & Empowerment program), a program to support independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia.
We also consider the sustainable use of water resources to be a very important management issue and are implementing various initiatives to address this. We are promoting water conservation throughout the product lifecycle by providing water-saving products such as Attack ZERO, a concentrated liquid laundry detergent that requires only one rinse, and CuCute, a dishwashing liquid that quickly rinses off foam during rinsing.
Related Information
Kao sustainability website
Kao Integrated Report 2024
Kao Sustainability Report 2024
CDP website
About the Kirei Lifestyle Plan
Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people’s lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles—a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word “kirei” describes something that is clean, well-ordered and beautiful, all at the same time. The Kao Group established its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan in April 2019, which is designed to deliver the vision of a gentler and more sustainable way of living. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives and have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.
Please visit the Kao sustainability website for more information.
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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