Highest rating for six consecutive years in CDP*1 Supplier Engagement Assessment

TOKYO, May 15. Kirin Holdings Company, Limited has been named a Supplier Engagement Leader, the highest rating in the Supplier Engagement Assessment, by the international environmental non-profit organization CDP. This is the sixth consecutive year that the company has been named a Supplier Engagement Leader, and in FY2023 it was also awarded the highest rating in the ‘A-List’ in ‘Water Security,’ making it a two-category winner.
The CDP Supplier Engagement Assessment evaluates a company’s commitment to address climate change based on its responses in four areas: governance, targets, Scope 3 emissions, and supplier engagement. Of the companies that had responded to its Climate Change Questionnaire (full version), CDP selected the top 8% of companies with particularly good initiatives as Supplier Engagement Leaders.

Kirin Group’s Environmental Vision 2050, formulated in February 2020, sets the high target of achieving net zero GHG*2 emissions*3 for the entire value chain by 2050. In November 2020, we joined RE100*4 and in 2022 we became the first food company in the world to receive certification for its net-zero target*5 from the Science Based Targets (SBT) Initiative. Since January 2024, all nine breweries and all sales offices of Kirin Brewery have been powered by 100% renewable energy.
Kirin Group will continue to promote the sustainable use of natural capital*6 where climate change has the greatest impact. We have disclosed information based on the LEAP approach proposed by the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD*7) on a trial basis ahead of the rest of the world and registered with the TNFD Adopter at an early stage to disclose information in accordance with the TNFD framework.

Kirin Group will continue to tackle complex and interrelated environmental issues (biological resources, water resources, containers and packaging, and climate change) in an integrated manner, and to work together with all those involved in the value chain to combine our desire to enjoy and pass on our Earth’s blessings into the future with the aim of having a positive impact on nature and people. We will actively promote various initiatives to support this goal.

*1: CDP is a non-profit organization, the primary activity of which is to encourage companies and municipalities to disclose information on, and through, measures to address climate change, protect water resources, and conserve forests, among other environmental issues, at the request of institutional investors and major purchasing companies worldwide that are highly concerned about the environment. In 2023, the organization worked with over 740 investors with assets totaling more than USD136 trillion to pioneer environmental disclosure, greenhouse gas emission reduction, water conservation, and forest protection through capital markets and corporate procurement activities. In that year, approximately 24,000 organizations, including more than 23,000 companies and 1,100 cities, states, and territories worldwide, disclosed environmental information through CDP.
*2: Greenhouse gases.
*3: A state in which anthropogenic GHG emissions and removals are balanced and GHG emissions to the atmosphere are net zero.
*4: An international environmental initiative consisting of companies aiming for 100% renewable energy for electricity.
*5: A GHG emission reduction target consistent with the level required by the Paris Agreement (which aims to limit global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels), which was approved in 2015 by the SBT Initiative, established by four organizations  CDP, UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund.
*6: The stock of natural assets that provide society with flows of renewable and non-renewable resources and ecosystem services.
*7: A risk management disclosure framework for companies to report and act on risks related to natural capital.

For Reference

・Kirin Group Environmental Vision 2050
・Kirin Group “Environmental Report”

About Kirin Holdings

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.

Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.

Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become “A global leader in CSV,* creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

* Creating Shared Value: combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.