On December 7, 2021, Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it has been selected by CDP as an “A List” company—the highest score possible—for Hitachi’s initiatives in the fields of Climate Change and Water Security. The CDP is an international not-for-profit organization that rates companies and cities on their environmental leadership. Only a few of about 12,000 companies subject to evaluation have achieved a “double A” rating, and this is the first time for Hitachi to achieve such a feat.
Alistair Dormer, executive vice president and chief environmental officer, said: “I’m very pleased, and we won’t rest on our laurels. We always push for greater innovation and achievements.”
CDP is a not-for-profit organization founded in the U.K. in 2000 that evaluates and scores companies and governments in the fields of Climate Change, Water Security, and Forests based on requests from global investors, companies, and others.
About 12,000 companies were subject to evaluation in 2021.That resulted in 200 companies making the “A List” for Climate Change, 118 companies for Water Security, and 24 companies for Forests.
The CDP evaluation is well-known worldwide as this evaluation is used in making decisions on ESG investments, as investment activities for choosing brands based on three elements―environment, society and governance―.
Hitachi was selected as an “A List” company, the highest possible score, by the CDP in the fields of Climate Change and Water Security. This is the first time that Hitachi was given the highest score in two fields at the same time. In terms of the Water Security field, this is the third year in a row that Hitachi has made the “A List.”
In 2016, Hitachi formulated a long-term goal to realize a sustainable society and aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its entire value chain by FY2050. Furthermore, Hitachi is also striving to use water appropriately and efficiently, and it plans to improve water usage efficiency by 50% by FY2050 (compared to FY2010).
To accomplish these goals, Hitachi has introduced internal carbon pricing (a system in which companies set an internal price on carbon so as to factor carbon into investment decisions and so on).
Executive Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer Alistair Dormer
Alistair Dormer, executive vice president of Hitachi, Ltd., said of Hitachi’s double A rating: “I’m very pleased that we achieved the rating as it shows the improvements we are continually making within our business to contribute to a sustainable society. Our aim is to become a climate change innovator - helping Governments, cities and customers cut carbon, and it is great to see recognition of this by CDP. Of course, though, there is always more to be done and it is my role as Chief Environmental Officer to ensure we don’t rest on our laurels and to always push for greater innovation and achievements.”