Environment and Energy | Sustainability

Our Approach
Governance
Strategy
Impact and
management
of risks
Metrics and
targets
Initiatives

Our Approach to Biodiversity

The H.U. Group’s business activities are dependent on forests, soil, water, the atmosphere, biological resources and other ecological services generated by natural capital. However, the burden that our business activities places on the environment considerably impacts natural capital.
For this reason and based on the H.U. Group’s understanding that contributing to the maintenance and conservation of biodiversity is an important issue, the relationship between biodiversity and the H.U. Group’s business activities is summarized in "Biodiversity Relationship Diagram" to make it easier to understand what is happening in the value chain.
The H.U. Group promotes activities for achieving nature positivity (nature reconstruction) to reduce its negative impact on biodiversity and to increase its positive impact.

Governance

Under our Promotion Structure for Sustainability, our biodiversity initiatives are formulated and executed by the “Environment and Energy Subcommittee”, which is managed by the Division Head in charge of Human Resources Management & General Affairs. Additionally, important matters such as goal setting are discussed at the “H.U. Group Sustainability Committee” and reported to the Board of Directors as appropriate.

(Please refer to Promotion Structure for Sustainability for more information on our Promotion Structure for Sustainability. )
(Please refer to Management for more information on the system of the Environment and Energy Subcommittee. )

Strategy

In order to understand the relationship between our business and biodiversity, the H.U. Group has created a "Biodiversity Relationship Diagram" for our main LTS and IVD businesses. Water resources and climate change were highlighted as common major factors that affect "dependence" or "impact." In addition to climate change, we believe that initiatives regarding water resources will lead to the conservation of biodiversity, so we focused on water resources to identify risks and opportunities.

- Biodiversity Relationship Diagram

- Identification of risks and opportunities

■Risks related to water

Risk category		Contents of risk	Measures
Physical risks	Acute Chronic	Impact on operations, such as laboratory and plant operation restrictions and increased operating costs due to water shortages and water quality deterioration.	Efficient use of water resources
Transition risks	Policy Liability Market Technology Reputational	Increased costs of complying with regulations due to the strengthening and introduction of water-related regulations on water intake/discharge, etc. Liability for damages in the event of environmental pollution due to the leakage of contaminated water, etc. As consumer preference for products and services created through the introduction of technology and the use of equipment that promote water conservation and water recycling is increasing, delays in responding to this trend and lack of water-related initiatives have resulted in a decline in reputation, customers refraining from purchasing, and worsening in business terms.	Compliance with new regulations Promotion of sustainable water use initiatives and information disclosure Understanding of new technology trends and introducing and utilizing them at the appropriate time

■Opportunities related to water

Opportunity category		Contents of opportunity	Measures
Business performance opportunities	Markets Products and services Capital flow and financing Resource efficiency Reputation Capital	Increased corporate value through preferential financing and selection for inclusion in relevant indexes adopted by institutional investors as a result of recognition of water resource conservation efforts in the capital markets Improvement in resilience to resource scarcity due to efficient use of water Expansion of the market and sales of products and services and improvement in corporate reputation by introducing technologies and using equipment that contribute to preservation of water resources.	Promotion of sustainable water use initiatives and information disclosure Promotion of water conservation and reuse

Impact and management of risks

The identified water risks, opportunities, and measures are being managed by the Environment and Energy Subcommittee under the Promotion Structure for Sustainability and will be reviewed as necessary. In addition, factors that may have a significant impact on finances and business continuity are shared with the Risk Management Committee to manage such risks. (Please refer to this link for more information on Business Risks.)

Metrics and targets

In addition to climate change, which is expected to have a significant impact on our business, we recognize water as a key issue and set targets as below and will work to protect water resources.

Non-financial targets（FY2025 - FY2029）	Reduction of water consumption per unit at H.U. Bioness Complex: 5% (compared to FY2024)

Initiatives

- Initiatives to Protect Water Resources

The use of tap water and groundwater is essential for the business activities of the H.U. Group. Therefore, we understand that the reduction of the consumption of water, a limited natural resource, is an extremely important management issue.
Above all, problems in many parts of the world such as the depletion of water resources, degraded water quality, and flooding are seriously affecting the global environment. Partly reflecting this, the H.U. Group is striving to reduce water consumption and ensure the appropriate treatment and quality control of wastewater treatment to protect water resources, which constitute a part of our efforts to establish a recycling-oriented society, one of the material issues of the Group in the area of the environment.

Main businesses	Main purpose of water use related to the business
Lab testing and related services	Adjustment and dilution of reagents and cleaning of analytical equipment
In-vitro diagnostics	Production of reagents
Healthcare-related services	Cleaning of medical instruments

- Progress in the reduction of water consumption

Each Group company is striving to use water efficiently based on the characteristics of its business, in our efforts to reduce water consumption. Since FY2019, the H.U. Group has seen an increase in the amount of work that uses water due to an increase in the number of tests related to COVID-19, but in addition to reducing overall water usage, the amount of water withdrawn per unit of sales (m3/million yen) has also decreased. In FY2022 and 2023, water usage increased due to the transfer and start operations of a new laboratory, but in FY2024, it decreased to the 2021 level. We will continue to work to improve efficiency further and reduce water usage.

Progress in the reduction of water consumption

- Understanding and Addressing Water Risks

We identify water risks at our domestic and overseas production sites based on Overall Water Risk, an indicator used by AQUEDUCT released by the Water Resources Institute (WRI). We have thus confirmed that none of our sites is operating in a region with "Extremely High" or "High" water stress. If a site with a high level of water risk is identified in the future, we will take appropriate measures such as the reduction of water consumption according to the details of the risk and societal conditions.

- Participation in the Ministry of the Environment's Water Project

We participate in the Water Project launched by the Ministry of the Environment when the Basic Act on the Water Cycle came into force in July 2014. In support of the project's initiatives to use and preserve a sound water environment through efforts including collaborations involving industry, government, academia and society, we will promote not only the Group's business activities but also activities to increase employee awareness and collaborate with other companies participating in the project.

Water Project