Materiality | Sustainability

UBE Group’s Materiality

In conjunction with the formulation of the new Medium-Term Management Plan, which is in effect from fiscal 2025, the UBE Group has reviewed its Material issues (Materiality) that must be addressed by rallying its overall strength, with the aim of realizing UBE Vision 2030 Transformation –2nd Stage: “A specialty chemicals that contributes to the global environment, human health, and an enriched future society.”

The process of reviewing these Material issues involved the selection of candidates by the Executive Management Study Seminar, with the Strategic Management Meeting deliberating on each. After that, the Board of Directors validated the appropriateness of the newly defined Material issues and passed a resolution to approve them.

Guided by its Founding Principles, Purpose, Corporate Philosophy and Management Principles, which together constitute the UBE Philosophy Framework, the UBE Group is committed to sincerely addressing five Material issues identified across the four key areas described below.

Growth:
Expanding specialty businesses
Society:
Empowering and engaging a diverse workforce
Occupational safety and health, process safety, and disaster prevention
Environment:
Addressing global environmental issues
Governance:
Upholding integrity and fairness in corporate governance

At the same time, the UBE Group has established KPIs as indicators of its commitment to sustainable management through fiscal 2030. By reviewing progress annually, the Group aims to help address social issues and realize its Vision for 2030.

The process used to identify Materiality

	Identification and categorization of social issues and changes in society (external environment) To clarify the scope and priorities of the UBE Group’s efforts to address social issues through its business activities, we conducted a comprehensive identification of issues recognized globally with reference to international guidelines and global initiatives. These issues were then categorized into the four key areas of “Growth,” “Society,” “Environment” and “Governance.”
	Analysis and Determination of Materiality We have identified Material issues for the UBE Group through the following process: (1) Assessment of Relevance and Impact The social issues identified in Step 1 were further analyzed to evaluate their relevance and potential impact on the UBE Group. (2) Prioritization of Issues through Materiality Mapping Each issue was assessed along two axes—its significance to stakeholders and its importance to the UBE Group—and plotted on a Materiality matrix. This enabled the prioritization of issues based on their relative positioning within the matrix. (3) Determination of Materiality Based on the prioritization results, the issues were reviewed from the three perspectives of consistency, uniqueness, and bridging perception gaps. This led to the determination of Materiality for the UBE Group.
	Goal setting, main initiatives, and KPI review for each Materiality area Goals were established for each materiality area, along with a review of the main initiatives and corresponding KPIs.
	Approval of Materiality The Board of Directors deliberated the defined goals and Materiality, together with the corresponding main initiatives and KPIs, and passed a resolution to approve the finalized Materiality.