At Ceres, our business philosophy is to "Enrich the world through internet
marketing." In our mid-term business plan released on December 23, 2021, we outlined our goal to
create a "token economy (alternative currency economy)" built from a point ecosystem and
blockchain. We will strive to become a platform that breathes new life into socio economic
activities. To meet these goals in the medium to long term, we understand the importance of
taking on sustainability related challenges such as addressing global environmental problems
(climate change, etc.) and considering employee health as well as employee working conditions.
These are important business challenges to overcome that not only reduce risks but also lead to
profit opportunities.
Ceres will continue to promote sustainability in a cross-sectoral and
flexible manner by further bolstering the ESG strategies that we have been working on.
Ceres Inc.
Satoshi Takagi, President and Representative Director
To help resolve sustainability challenges, Ceres introduced Seven Materialities as themes to focus on towards more effectively allocating company resources.
We identified social challenges closely related to our business activities by
referring to global frameworks of sustainability. We then assessed and mapped out the social
challenges based on their "impact on the company and its business activities" and "potential
contributions by the company" to identify materialities.
Assuming that stakeholder interest
in each social challenge is equally high, we classified the mapped out challenges by theme,
including in the areas where we can effectively make a contribution using our resources. Then we
set them as materialities.
Among these social challenges, we acknowledge that problems with a
high impact on the company and its business are areas that we should keep a particular focus on
as our themes.
Once a year, our Sustainability Promotion Committee identifies social
challenges, evaluates the risks and opportunities related to them, configures and reviews
materialities, examines specific measures, and reviews the results of our achievements.
The
identified risks and opportunities are shared with the Risk Management Committee and are then
assessed comprehensively with other risks and opportunities.
The Sustainability Promotion Committee is chaired by the President and Representative Director. It
is made up of internal directors, executive officers, and representative directors of major
group companies. It also consists of outside directors, as well as directors who are members of
the audit and supervisory committee. The Committee also includes other members deemed necessary
by the Committee as observers. The Committee meets once a year in principle.
This Committee
makes recommendations and reports to the Board of Directors on the promotion of Ceres's
sustainability business strategies and decides policies and measures. It also presents results
on examinations of matters relating to materiality, progress reviews and deliberations on
improvement plans.