Members of Tokyo Century’s Sustainability Management Division Share Their Personal Experiences with Sustainability

Tokyo Century originally had an Environment and CSR Office, which was mainly tasked with replying from a cross-sectional perspective to external inquiries about its environmental activities and corporate governance. This office was replaced by the Sustainability Management Office in 2018 with the aim of providing a greater emphasis on sustainability efforts and thus more effectively responding to the accelerating global trends related to ESG and the SDGs, two concepts that have quickly come to play a stronger role in evaluating corporate performance. At first, Ms. Unno and I were the only members. The two of us on our own ran in-house training programs and information delivery work to raise awareness of sustainability across the company while also doing our jobs in other departments.

Another strength, I might add, is the adaptability to change. According to the results of an employee engagement survey in February 2019, conducted by an outside consulting firm, among Japanese companies, our ability to quickly respond to change and attitude toward innovation are as strong as international high-tech companies. If more of us recognized the importance of sustainability and the vital role of being flexible in terms of change, Tokyo Century would more effectively contribute to the resolution of social and environmental issues and grow into a more mature organization.

The division is better positioned to expand its activities with new members who have different backgrounds and experiences. Ms. Matsumoto applied to the Career Challenge Program, introduced in 2020, to be transferred to the Sustainability Management Division. At a post-assignment interview, she enthusiastically shared her medium- to long-term plans in the division. I hope the division’s assignments will provide opportunities for her and other members to pursue their personal goals as well.

I belonged to the Ship Finance Division and engaged in ship financing for six years before the transfer. In early 2020, when I was working for a joint loan project with a French bank, I was asked by the bank’s team whether Tokyo Century intended to join the Poseidon Principles. That was when I started becoming interested in sustainability.

The Poseidon Principles are a framework developed by financial institutions for funding the decarbonization of the maritime shipping industry. The framework, as I understand it, is designed so that participating financial institutions can eventually support, as ship financiers, the global reduction of CO2 emissions. The more I studied the principles, the more I thought I’d like to acquire professional knowledge of sustainability and encourage Tokyo Century to become a signatory of the principles. I also thought that engaging in the principles and a similar global framework would help Tokyo Century open up to new business domains. These notions drove me to apply for a transfer to the Sustainability Management Division.

My interest in sustainability began two years ago when I visited an island overseas. Sunscreen was banned there to protect marine life. I also learned that plastic waste had been reduced as a result of the islanders’ efforts. Those initiatives were amazing and made me realize that Japan was somewhat behind when it came to protecting the environment. I’ve since become more conscious of the environment. And when I visited Miyako Island after that, I still have strong memories of the residents explaining to me how the presence of coral reefs and developed coasts affect the transparency of seawater.

What any of us can do personally for the environment may be limited, but the first step toward genuine sustainability is for each of us to engage in environmentally sound actions. For example, I’ve made it a habit to more frequently turn off electrical appliances, carry reusable bags, and buy local product whenever possible, and to do at least one thing for sustainability every day. These simple actions have enriched my mind and life and will help lead to a prosperous and comfortable society for everyone.

I think my interest in sustainability dates back to my childhood in Otaru, Hokkaido, where I was surrounded by an abundance of nature. As a child, I liked animals so much that I dreamed of becoming a zoologist. Maybe that’s why I’ve had an inexplicable yet strong fear over the possible destruction of nature since I was a child.

Generally speaking, how well the idea is instilled across the company is the key to successful sustainability activities. And I used to think that it was challenging for Tokyo Century. However, I recently started seeing the positive changes. For example, at the division and branch managers’ meeting, which have been held online since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every business division leader presented their fiscal targets for contributing to the SDGs through their respective businesses. In 2019, sustainable management was explicitly stated for the first time in the strategies of the Medium-Term Management Plan. Since then, management has been proactively communicating our ESG and SDGs initiatives to stakeholders, thereby prompting employees to include the aspect of sustainability in their work operations. That was when I became convinced that awareness of sustainability has rapidly grown.

Just as Mr. Kamei pointed out, I also think the first important step is to recognize sustainability as your own personal responsibility. Read newspapers or Internet news sources about sustainability issues that happen to attract your attention to become familiar with them. Once you’ve deepened your knowledge, try to discuss with your colleagues how one project or another would contribute to sustainability. These actions will help you instill the concept of sustainability among your colleagues.

We intend to strengthen the division’s communication efforts for providing valuable information to employees.

We are working hard on this, and we think sharing case studies of successful projects could be effective. For example, information about future urban standards or smart cities around the world would help employees imagine the kind of future their work could bring about. I hope that the division will provide such information.

As stated in its management philosophy, Tokyo Century "will work alongside customers in pursuit of their growth and will contribute to the creation of an environmentally sound, sustainable economy and society." Right now, all employees are striving around the world to help create a sustainable economy and society. Working for sustainability hand-in-hand with customers and gaining positive public recognition will eventually lead to our own corporate growth. The more experience we gain in sustainability efforts, the greater our business opportunities will grow and enable us to tackle and resolve sustainability issues, allowing us to contribute to the attainment of the SDGs as goals being pursued worldwide. That’s to say, working for sustainability with customers creates virtuous cycles.

Driving a corporate sustainability effort will absolutely require that every employee recognizes this as part of their natural duties in the midst of their daily work and feels they are actually contributing to sustainability. To that end, members of the Sustainability Management Division will work in concert to do everything necessary and provide the support they need.