JFE Holdings

Stakeholder engagement
JFE Holdings discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups.

Solid and air pollution
JFE Holdings reports some activities to reduce plastic use and waste in its own operations.

No leading practices were identified in the social inclusion and community impact area.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
The company discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. The company does not disclose group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain. The company does not report consistently against all its targets. No evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
The company does not disclose a complete list of trade associations of which it is a member. The company does not disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company has reported that its entity, JFE Steel conducts an environmental impact assessment in accordance with laws and regulations before launching construction of a new manufacturing site or business. They further report that they assess the biodiversity of the surrounding areas as well as their premises to fully understand the situation and to implement the necessary measures for preserving the ecosystem. However, the company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations at the group level.  The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. The company does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations. The company does not disclose any assessment of dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. The company does not disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. JFE Steel, the operating company of JFE Holdings has reported that they discovered Kugenuma orchid, a plant listed in Japan’s Ministry of Environment’s fourth version of the Red List as an endangered species (Threatened II-Vulnerable, VU) at a planned construction site for power generation facilities. However, this disclosure is not sufficient to translate into evidence that the company discloses all the species existing in or adjacent to its own locations. It also does not translate into evidence that the company discloses the status of all the species found in and adjacent to its own locations according to national and international conservation lists. The company does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to the locations of its suppliers.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company does not disclose a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company does not disclose activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company does not disclose activities to minimise ecosystem conversion. The company does not disclose a commitment to restore ecosystems. The company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint. The company does not report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company discloses activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices. The company does not disclose a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
The company demonstrates it is reducing water withdrawal in its own operations. The company does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce water withdrawal across its own operations. The company does not report how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company does not provide sufficient qualitative evidence of reducing water quality pressures. The company does not disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company reports on release of COD (chemical oxygen demand). However, this data is only for 15 JFE Steel consolidated subsidiaries in Japan and not at group level. The company does not disclose targets to reduce water pollution. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water. The company has reported that as part of their overall risk management, they identify, analyse and evaluate water risks based on past incidents of droughts and floods in the JFE Group’s businesses, forecast data from the Meteorological Agency and results of their scenario analysis. However, there is no reference to how the communities are protected in their overall risk management.

Solid and air pollution
No evidence that the company is reducing the production of hazardous waste was found. No evidence that the company reduces plastic use and waste in its own operations was found. The company does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. SOx emissions and NOx emissions for 13 JFE Steel consolidated subsidiaries in Japan are reported. However, no group level reporting on air quality parameters on relevant pollutants identified in relevant regulations and as harmful air pollutants by international bodies could be found in the public domain. The company does not report time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

GHG emissions
The company is reducing its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. The company has reported time bound targets to reduce its CO2 emissions for its steel business. However, no group level time bound targets to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions could be found in the public domain. The company does not report progress against its scope 1 and 2 emissions target. No evidence that the company’s scope 1 and 2 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found. The company is reducing its scope 3 emissions. The company does not disclose a time-bound target to reduce its scope 3 emissions.  The company does not report progress against its scope 3 emissions target. No evidence that the company’s scope 3 emissions target is aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory was found.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations. No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its value chain.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company does not disclose a commitment to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. No evidence that the company tracks its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities was found. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose a commitment to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The company does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. No evidence was found that the company requires its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

While the company discloses that it conducts human rights due diligence, it has an opportunity to specify that the due diligence includes a process for identifying human rights risks and impacts through its business relationships. The company describes the process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in its business relationships. The company describes its process(es) for assessing its human rights risks and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues.  No evidence was found that the company has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues.  The company provides a case study describing how it has acted on a salient human rights risk issue. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. No evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities was found.

The company has a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers.  While the company provides a statement that it expects its suppliers to strive to create safe, healthy and comfortable work environments, the word ‘strive to’ is too weak to be considered a formal policy commitment. No evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage was found. No evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates was found. No evidence that the company describes how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers was found. No evidence that the company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements was found. No evidence that the company describes how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in relation to freedom of association and collective bargaining was found.

The company discloses its tax planning in its CSR Report, however, a statement in CSR Report is not considered to be a part of formal policy commitment. The company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption. No evidence that the company includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with business relationships was found. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach was found. No evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions was found.