The Air Water Group’s Vision for 2050
<Sustainability Vision >
Achieve a recycling-oriented society
through coexistence with society and the earth
- Continuously provide economic and social value by flexibly responding to environmental and social changes
- Achieve a resource recycling society, leave zero environmental impact, and revive the global environment through our corporate activities
- Continue to be chosen by our local communities and customers, and ensure the well-being* of our employees
*Well-being is the state of being physically, mentally, and socially comfortable. In addition to being happy, it represents a condition in which employees live with a sense of purpose through a range of different workstyles and platforms to succeed.
The Air Water Group’s businesses make use of the earth’s valuable resources—such as air and water—and combine diverse technologies and unique business models and expertise to provide products, services and solutions that are essential for industries and quality lifestyles. Precisely because we make use of nature’s blessings, our business activities must be sustainable.
At Air Water, based on our management philosophy, we have created a Sustainability Vision for the year 2050. Through this vision, we will seek to create a recycling-oriented society through coexistence with society and the earth.
As our management environment continues to change at dizzying speeds, to ensure we can achieve sustainable growth and continue to generate value for society, we are working to improve our medium- to long-term corporate value based on our Sustainability Vision for 2050.
We have defined the seven key challenges essential to achieving this vision as Pillars to Success (Materialities), and we are analyzing the risks they might bring and the opportunities they might provide in our diverse business activities.
In selecting our materialities, following thorough investigation of the environments surrounding society and our business, examination of the relevant risks and opportunities, and consideration of our stakeholders, we looked at their importance in building a sustainable society and raising corporate value.
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Identifying challenges |
We identified challenges by looking at our external environment from a long-term perspective and by linking the 17 SDGs with our business activities. |
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Determining the importance of each challenge |
We looked at the importance of each challenge in line with the Air Water Group’s Management Philosophy, Purpose, and management strategies. |
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Selecting challenges |
Utilizing the Future-Fit Business Benchmark, we specified the challenges most important to society, our stakeholders, and the Air Water Group as Pillars to Success (Materialities). |
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*A KPI tool used to promote sustainable management developed and offered by the UK’s Future-Fit Foundation.
Ultimately, we selected challenges with the greatest impact on business continuity (horizontal axis) and the greatest benefit for society and our stakeholders (vertical axis). In utilizing our diverse technologies to generate innovations, we will strive to make our ideal society a reality.
We regularly review our Pillars to Success (Materialities) and business domains, which are the business risks or opportunities from a medium- to long-term perspective, in light of changes in the environment and other factors, in order to incorporate changes in social issues and needs associated with the changing times into our sustainable management.
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Pillars to Success |
Risks and Opportunities |
Highly Relevant Business Domains |
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Fighting climate change |
Risks |
• Use of fossil fuels and tightening of （CO\( \sf _2 \) emissions regulations • Shrinking of current energy markets and decline in demand due to energy conversions • Negative impact on production activities and logistics functions caused by increasingly severe natural disasters (high waves, floods, etc.) |
Industrial Gas, Chemical, Medical, Energy, Agriculture and Food Products, Logistics, Seawater, Other |
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Opportunities |
• Creation of a local-production local-consumption energy supply system using biomass • Conversion from petroleum-based energy to low-carbon energy, and provision of related devices • Provision of decarbonization solutions such as next-generation fuels (hydrogen and liquefied biomethane) |
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Realizing resource recycling |
Risks |
• Tightening of waste treatment restrictions and increasing treatment costs • Spread of environmental issues and risks due to the depletion of resources and population increases |
Chemical, Agriculture and Food Products, Logistics, Other |
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Opportunities |
• Provision of collection, refining, and purifying systems for industrial emissions (incl. collection and solidification of （CO\( \sf _2 \)) • Reduction of waste through promotion of recycling and reuse • Creation of a waste-recycling supply chain (treatment systems, etc., for food waste and livestock manure) |
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Limiting environmentally hazardous substances |
Risks |
• Negative impact on material procurement and production activities due to droughts and worsening water quality • Increase in costs in line with tightening of chemical substance restrictions • Tightening of plastic restrictions |
Industrial Gas, Chemical, Agriculture and Food Products, Seawater |
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Opportunities |
• Provision of waste gas refining equipment, water treatment equipment, and purification and treatment products for waste gas, wastewater, and soil • Use of plastic alternatives in drinks containers and packaging materials |
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Coexisting with local communities in prosperity |
Risks |
• Deterioration of regional economies due to declining populations (decreasing birthrate and aging population) and urban concentration • Increase in severity of damage from natural disasters • Increase in operation and maintenance costs due to aging social infrastructure |
Industrial Gas, Medical, Energy, Agriculture and Food Products, Logistics, Seawater, Other |
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Opportunities |
• Provision of solutions to minimize risks from natural disasters • Provision of products and services that contribute to improved sewage systems and other social infrastructure • Creation of businesses that increase regional employment and revitalize regional economies • Growing needs for smart factories and smart agriculture |
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Wellness (Healthy lifestyles) |
Risks |
• Increase in medical fees in line with extreme population aging and healthy longevity • Changes in disease patterns, including chronic and complex lifestyle diseases |
Medical, Agriculture and Food Products |
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Opportunities |
• Provision of products and services that contribute to the advancement and remote control of medicine • Provision of products and services that enable self-medication • Provision of delicious ingredients that are safe, reliable and healthy |
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Ensuring the well-being of employees |
Risks |
• Drop in labor productivity and loss of personnel without appropriate measures • Drop in employee health • Diversification of employee values in line with globalization of business |
Industrial Gas, Chemical, Medical, Energy, Agriculture and Food Products, Logistics, Seawater, Other |
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Opportunities |
• Promotion of ICT-based workstyle reforms and work-life balance • Promotion of employee career development and diversity management • Creation of a workplace environment where employees can work with peace of mind and good physical and mental health |
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Reinforcing Group governance |
Risks |
• Business continuity risks and unforeseen losses in line with insufficient internal controls • Loss of social credibility through compliance violations • Insufficient risk management following M&As and business expansion |
Industrial Gas, Chemical, Medical, Energy, Agriculture and Food Products, Logistics, Seawater, Other |
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Opportunities (Countermeasures) |
• Strengthening of internal control functions through integration and reorganization of subsidiaries • Thorough compliance and enhanced risk management • Improvement of stakeholder relations through better transparency |
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The Air Water Group contributes to the realization of the five "Ideal society" by creating economic value as well as environmental value (coexistence with the Earth) and social value (coexistence with society) through the "Areas of Contribution," which are the specific themes of the Pillars of Success (Materiality).
