News Releases
Konica Minolta Named to All ESG Indexes Adopted by the GPIF for Six Consecutive Years and Included in the FTSE4Good Index Series for 19 Consecutive Years
July 15, 2022
Tokyo (July 15, 2022) - Konica Minolta, Inc. (Konica Minolta) has been named to all of the five responsible investment (RI) indexes adopted by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)*1. These five indexes are the FTSE Blossom Japan Index, the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index, the MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index, the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index and the S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index.
This is the sixth consecutive year for Konica Minolta to be listed on all of these ESG indexes since the GPIF first adopted them.
Konica Minolta has also been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, which is one of the most well-known sustainable investment indexes in the world, for 19 consecutive years.
Konica Minolta’s Commitment to Sustainability
In its long-term management vision statement for 2030, “Imaging to the People,” Konica Minolta declares its determination to help attain a sustainable society, and remains committed to developing innovations that can promote both the creation of new value for the global environment and human society, and the growth of its business. In the wake of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the company considered how it could contribute to the fight against the pandemic, and has been providing various support and solutions, leveraging the strengths it has developed in the healthcare business and a wide range of other areas. To support Ukrainian refugees in Japan as well, Konica Minolta has added Ukrainian to the languages supported by its multilingual translation system for public agencies and local governments, as part of its commitment to solving social issues through corporate activities.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Digital Platform launched by 16 Japanese companies, including Konica Minolta, has now grown to 68 member companies in two years since its inception. In workshops held on this platform, the participating companies bring their technologies and expertise in the fields of environmental strategy, renewable energy, energy conservation and effective use of resources to co-create solutions, thereby accelerating efforts to promote environmental management.
Through these efforts, Konica Minolta is striving to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while facilitating the evolution of the business community and human society.
Outline of Each Index
The FTSE4Good Index Series, which was introduced by FTSE Russell, a UK-based global index provider, lists companies around the world demonstrating strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, and provides a means for investors and RI funds to select companies with good sustainability prospects for investment. The FTSE Blossom Japan Index is designed to include Japanese companies with excellent performance in ESG practices, and was selected by GPIF, the world’s largest public pension fund, as one of the ESG indexes for its passive investment strategy.
The FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index is a comprehensive ESG index that incorporates Japanese companies selected based on assessments of the size of companies’ environmental impact and their management of climate change risks, as well as the ESG assessments of FTSE Russell. This index was adopted as an ESG index by the GPIF in March 2022.
The MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index and the MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index are ESG indexes introduced in 2017 by MSCI Inc., a US-based global ESG research and index provider. These indexes were also adopted by the GPIF.
The S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index was launched jointly by S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s major index providers, and Japan Exchange Group, Inc. Using TOPIX as a benchmark, it is designed to reduce exposure to high-carbon companies while maintaining the risk/return profile similar to that of their benchmarks. This index, too, was selected by GPIF as an environmental index.
Reference: Evaluation by External Parties
Konica Minolta is currently included in global ESG indexes and is ranked high in the ESG ratings, as shown below.
| FTSE4Good Index Series (UK) | Included in the index consecutively since 2003 |
|---|---|
| FTSE Blossom Japan Index (UK) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index（UK） | Included in the index since its establishment in 2022 |
| MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders Index (USA) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| MSCI Japan Empowering Women Index (USA) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2017 |
| Dow Jones Sustainability Index (USA) | Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific): Included in the index consecutively since 2009 |
| S&P/JPX Carbon Efficient Index (USA, Japan) | Included in the index consecutively since its establishment in 2018 |
| S&P Global (USA) | Included in SAM Sustainability Award consecutively since 2013 (Four times as Gold and five times as Silver) |
| Corporate Knights (Canada) | Ranked among the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World (2011, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022) |
| ISS-oekom (Germany) | Maintained the highest Prime Status since 2011 |
| CDP (UK) | Included on the Climate A List (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021) |
*1：The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is an independent administrative agency responsible for the management and administration of the employees’ pension and national pension reserve funds under control of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
THE INCLUSION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. IN ANY MSCI INDEX, AND THE USE OF MSCI LOGOS, TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS OR INDEX NAMES HEREIN, DO NOT CONSTITUTE A SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT OR PROMOTION OF KONICA MINOLTA, INC. BY MSCI OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES.
THE MSCI INDEXES ARE THE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF MSCI. MSCI AND THE MSCI INDEX NAMES AND LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OR SERVICE MARKS OF MSCI OR ITS AFFILIATES.