Material Issues

The Yamaha Group reflects priority sustainability initiatives for contributing to social sustainability and medium- to long-term improvements to corporate value into its sustainability initiatives, and advances and manages activities on these policies. In fiscal 2022, we reassessed our prior sustainability priorities to identify nine material issues. A revision to the Yamaha Group Sustainability Policy was instituted in April 2022 based on these material issues, and this policy is guiding sustainability initiatives.

Identified Material Sustainability Issues

Environment

Response to climate change

Reduction of CO₂ emissions at business sites and in logistics, and through collaboration with suppliers
Energy savings in products

Sustainable use of timber

Sustainable sourcing and utilization of timber
Promotion of forest cultivation

Resource savings, reduction of waste and hazardous substances

Resource savings and improved resource recycling of products and packaging
Reduction of hazardous chemical substances (VOCs, etc.)

Society

Contribution to an equal society and comfortable lives

Mental and physical safety and health
Remote communication
Consideration for universal design and accessibility, etc.

Respect for human rights in the value chain

Human rights of workers at suppliers, etc.

Culture

Spread and development of music culture

Products, services, and activities that contribute to the promotion and development of music culture
Contribution to the development of the next generation

Human Resources

Increase job satisfaction

Human resources development, safety and health, work–life balance, etc.

Respect for human rights and DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion)

Initiatives to respect the human rights of people who work with Yamaha (human rights education and due diligence)
DE&I promotion (gender, nationality, etc.

Foster open organizational culture where people can proactively take on challenges

Employee engagement surveys, creation of opportunities for dialogue, etc.

Yamaha Group Sustainability Policy

Material Sustainability Issues, KPIs, and Targets

Sustainability KPIs and Targets of the Make Waves 2.0 Medium-Term Management Plan (Fiscal 2023–2025)

What we protect and develop	Material items	Major initiatives	KPIs and targets for fiscal 2025 (Make Waves 2.0 medium-term management plan)
Environment Precious global environment	Response to climate change	Reduction of CO₂ emissions at business sites and in logistics Energy savings in products	Reduce CO₂ emissions by 5% through energy conservation (CO₂ emissions /production volume) Maintain inclusion on CDP Climate Change A List Improve logistics packing efficiency by 5%
	Sustainable use of timber	Sustainable sourcing and utilization of timber Promotion of forest cultivation	Increase rate of sustainable timber use to 75% Cultivate and preserve three scarce tree species necessary for musical instrument production (Tone Forest Activities）
	Resource savings, reduction of waste and hazardous substances	Resource savings and improved resource recycling of products and packaging Reduction of hazardous chemical substances (VOCs, etc.)	Eliminate plastic packaging used for newly-launching small products
Society Equal society and comfortable lives	Contribution to an equal society and comfortable lives	Mental and physical safety and health Remote communication Consideration for universal design and accessibility, etc.	Install Listening Care function for reducing burden on ears by delivering high-quality sound at low volumes into all new headphones and earphones Realize high-quality, natural remote communication (companies, schools, etc.) Develop Daredemo Pianos (Auto-Accompanied Pianos) that can be enjoyed by anyone, including senior citizens and people with disabilities
Society Equal society and comfortable lives	Respect for human rights in the value chain	Human rights of workers at suppliers, etc.	Conduct on-site audits of suppliers (60 companies)
Culture Music culture to enrich people’s hearts and minds	Spread and development of music culture	Products, services and activities that contribute to the promotion and development of music culture Contribution to the development of the next generation	Increase number of students enrolled at overseas music school by 100,000 Promote instrumental music education at schools in emerging countries (School Project); provide instrumental music education opportunities to aggregate total of 2.3 million children in 10 countries
Human resources Diversity and mutual respect	Increase job satisfaction	Human resource development, safety and health, work–life balance, etc.	Continue improving ratio of employees offering positive responses regarding motivation on employee engagement surveys Double human resources investment
	Respect for human rights and DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion)	Initiatives to respect the human rights of people who work with Yamaha (Human rights education and due diligence) DE&I promotion (gender, nationality, etc.)	Achieve global ratio of female managers of 19% Conduct cross-border positioning of 30 individuals
	Foster open organizational culture where people can proactively take on challenges	Employee engagement survey, creation of opportunities for dialogue, etc.	Continue improving ratio of employees offering positive responses regarding workplace comfort on employee engagement surveys

Sustainability Priorities and Initiative Results Leading Up to Fiscal 2022

Material Issue Identification Process

1. Identification of Important Stakeholder Groups

Important stakeholder groups were identified to limit the scope of social issues to be assessed and guide priority assessments of social issues.

Engagement with Stakeholders

2. Limiting of Scope of Social Issues to Be Assessed

A list of 114 issues was prepared based on the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on global risk reports, global risks, and other risks. Redundant issues and issues deemed to be of low materiality to Yamaha and to the stakeholder groups identified in Step 1 were excluded for the list. Then, certain social issues were divided into risks and opportunities and social issues unique to Yamaha Group were added to make for list of a total of 64 social issues to be assessed.

3. Assessment of Materiality of Social Issues

The 64 social issues identified in Step 2 were divided into risks and opportunities and mapped based on materiality assessments conducted based on the perspectives described under (1) and (2) below.

(1) Business Perspective (Materiality to Yamaha)
A cross-Company assessment team of 35 individuals was assembled to score the materiality of the identified social issues from the perspectives of profits, losses, costs, reputation, compliance, corporate ethics, and management and business continuity.
(2) Stakeholder Perspective (Materiality to Stakeholders)
Customer input, employee surveys, and other methods were used to identify the needs and opinions of the stakeholder groups identified in Step 1. The materiality of the identified social issues was then scored based on this information, the requirements of industry initiatives, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluation criteria (of FTSE Russell, MSCI, and other institutions).

[ picture ] Material Issues・Assessment of Materiality of Social Issues

4. Identification of Material Issues

Social issues deemed to be of high materiality based on the mapping in Step 3 were grouped to make nine material issues, which were then further categorized and organized into the areas of environment, society, culture, and human resources.

5. Approval

The identified material issues were discussed by the Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by the president, and then approved by the Board of Directors.