Through its strategic Sustainability initiatives, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group* aims to "Create Shared Value" by helping to solve social problems while at the same time pursuing the Group's own economic value.
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group's Approach to Sustainability
Recently, on a global level, there are concerns about diminished social sustainability attributable to the worsening of a variety of problems. These include climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and increases in poverty and health hazards. Against this backdrop, the international community has come to view companies as having an obligation to play a positive role in building a sustainable society. We, at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, position working toward a sustainable society as the most important goal of our Sustainability activities.
About the concept of CSV: Creating Shared Value
"Creating Shared Value" is the concept of companies creating social value by addressing society's needs and challenges while simultaneously creating their own economic value, as advocated by Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group (the "Group") recognizes Sustainability as constituting not merely activities that benefit society, but also as a strategy that generates value for both society and business. Therefore, we believe we are in a strong position to realize CSV.
The Cornerstone of CSV
The Group's pursuit of CSV is based on its Management Principles ("Mission"), Ideal Model ("Vision"), and Codes of Conduct ("Values"), as well as its Sustainability Policy* — its basic policy on social responsibility formulated to reflect the Group's Mission, Vision, and Values. These policies identify our approach to creating economic value and social value. Specifically, the Group's Code of Conduct calls for "Contribution to Society — Dedication and Development," while one of the principles of our Sustainability Policy is to "Contribute to solving social and environmental problems through business." These concepts are consistent with CSV, which places economic value and social value side by side. The Group is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, a global policy framework for corporate sustainability, and the "Principles for Financial Action towards a Sustainable Society" (Principles for Financial Action in the 21st Century), a set of voluntary guidelines established by Japan's major financial institutions. The Group aims to create shared value while respecting a wide range of domestic and international principles and guidelines related to social responsibility.
※The Group's Sustainability Policy adopts the principles of ISO 26000 on social responsibility, promulgated in November 2010.