Sustainability

Promotion Framework

Sustainability at the Sumitomo Metal Mining Group

Our Group carries forward the mine operation and the smelting and refining that have been Sumitomo’s original businesses since 1590, placing the Sumitomo Business Spirit at the center of our corporate conduct. Article 1 of the Sumitomo Business Spirit states that we value the trust of society and mutual relationships, and that we will address all matters with integrity. As mining must be conducted where the targeted natural resources are present, typically in projects that span years or even decades, mine operation in particular demands that we build and maintain relationships of trust with varied stakeholders in areas of operations as a prerequisite for the continuity of our business.

Based on the Sumitomo Business Spirit, our Group’s Corporate Philosophy calls for co-existence with the global environment and society. It sets out ways of building and maintaining the relationships of trust indicated in the Sumitomo Business Spirit, and advocates respect for all individuals to achieve a forward-minded and vibrant company.

The Sumitomo Metal Mining Group Sustainability Policy describes our stance in working toward the sustainability that are pursuing through co-existence with the global environment and society and respect for all individuals. The policy clearly positions contribution to the sustainable development of society as an issue for our management, and further defines the aim of our sustainable growth as enhancing the degree of our contribution and ensuring its sustainability. This is in accordance with “Benefit self and benefit others, private and public interests are one and the same,” the spirit that Sumitomo has inherited, meaning that Sumitomo’s business must benefit the nation and society, and emphasize harmony with the public interest.

We have specified issues to be given priority in achieving our Sustainability Policy, identifying these as material issues. We also set out the evaluation that we seek to earn from society through our initiatives to tackle these material issues, in the form of Vision for 2030.

In this way, our Group’s stance toward sustainability takes co-existence with the global environment and society and respect for all individuals as its philosophy. Placing value on social trust and mutual relationships, we seek to balance the sustainable development of society with sustainable growth for our company.

Sustainability Issues in the Value Chain

Within the value chains of our Group’s businesses, we mapped out sustainability issues in terms of their potential impacts on society. In mapping sustainability issues, we made reference to matters concerning material issues described in the “Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sector Standard for Mining”. *

Sumitomo Metal Mining Group Sustainability Policy

The SMM Group will tackle management issues that contribute to society’s sustainable development, and will strive to achieve continuous growth in our business and improve our corporate value.

Sustainability Promotion Structure

Our Group advances sustainability activities primarily through our Sustainability Committee. Since setting out our Vision for 2020 in 2008, we have consistently undertaken solutions to social issues through our business. In April 2022, we reorganized our sustainability promotion structure with the aim of engaging in management and sustainability with greater consistency.

Sustainability promotion framework

Putting Sustainability Promotion Activities into Practice

The 7 Sustainability Subcommittees manage and advance the progress of our sustainability promotion activities, with the Sustainability Committee at the center. However, responsibility for putting activities into practice is assigned across different levels through job classification-based management. In conjunction with our 2021 3-Year Business Plan, the subcommittees also formulated plans for organizations in areas related to Vision for 2030 during the period of the 3-Year Business Plan, and are managing the progress of these plans. The 7 subcommittees assess details of organizations’ activities through the subcommittees’ members or secretariats, and check progress through the Sustainability Committee.
Through dialogue with shareholders and investors and through briefing videos for business partners, we explain our Group’s sustainability promotion activities to outside stakeholders and call for their cooperation.

Penetration of Sustainability Promotion Activities

For Vision for 2030 and other sustainability promotion activities, we distribute simple, illustrated booklets with specific examples of activities to all Group employees, and post interviews and columns on specific activities in our in-house bulletins and on our portal site. We also conduct education on sustainability in annual training (new employee training, mid-career hire training, grade-specific training, selective training, etc.). In addition to regular training, in FY2022 we held “Reorganization of Sustainability Promotion Structure” briefings for managers and young employees in every district.
In conjunction with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, we have also set every September as a month for thinking about the Sumitomo Metal Mining Group’s Vision for 2030. As a part of this, we hold the Sumitomo Metal Mining Group Vision for 2030 Awards every year as a rule. These awards recognize individuals and groups for their contributions to achieving Vision for 2030. In FY2022, a total of seven awards were given, with one individual award and six group awards (115 people in total). We also engage in awareness activities such as communicating messages from top management and conveying our progress toward Vision for 2030 to employees in a concise manner.