Environment | In harmony with nature
Long-term environmental vision (2050 and beyond):In balance with nature (Contribution > Footprint)

In order to exist “in harmony with nature”, the Bridgestone Group has continued to make comprehensive efforts to develop and utilize technologies that “value natural resources” while addressing the urgent matter of global warming through efforts to “reduce CO₂ emissions” based on the Environmental Mission Statement over many years. Becoming nature positive^*, the Group believes that a comprehensive approach and transformation that combines actions in various areas, such as efficient use of resources, sustainable production, and climate change countermeasures, as well as nature conservation, are necessary. The Group will continue to evolve its Sustainability Business Model by incorporating the science-based targets (SBTs) for Nature framework of “Avoid,” “Reduce,” “Restore and Regenerate,” and “Transform”.

The Group will strive to minimize the footprint of its business activities by reducing water withdrawal in water stress areas and emissions to the air and water. In parallel, it will enhance its contribution through conservation and restoration of ecosystems based on the long-term environmental vision of being “in balance with nature (Contribution > Footprint)” for 2050 and beyond, thereby contributing to realization of the vision of “living in harmony with nature” of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

* “Nature positive” means halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity and natural capital in order to put nature on the path to recovery. The intent behind this is to reduce the impact of business activities on biodiversity and natural capital, maintain and restore nature’s bounty, and transform socio-economic activities for sustainable use of natural capital.

Actions to achieve In Harmony with Nature

The Group identifies and engages in activities related to its impact on and contribution to preservation/conservation of the environment throughout its product lifecycles and value chain.

1. Minimizing footprint
   (Examples)
   ・Reduce CO₂ emissions in operations
   ・Reduce water withdrawal impact in water stress areas
   ・Reduce waste generated and amounts sent to landfills
   ・Request suppliers to consider biodiversity
   ・Strengthen environmental management to pollution prevention
2. Enhancing contribution
   (Examples)
   ・Develop and expand solutions business to contribute to CO₂ reduction
   ・Preserve and restore ecosystems around Bridgestone Group facilities
   ・Conduct water conservation activities within communities
   ・Contribute to enhancement of circular economy
   ・Introduce biodiversity educational program

As part of Milestone 2030, the Group is promoting contribution to a nature positive world by improving its environmental impact. The Group intends to be even more ambitious in its activities in response to the continued importance of social and environmental issues, and the potential impact on the environment caused by business growth.

To achieve the focused target, the Group will create water stewardship plans at 100% of its manufacturing facilities in water stress areas earlier than 2030 and monitor the ratio of facilities that created the plans and the progress. As of December 2023, all 17 sites in the scope had completed the development of water stewardship plans. For details of the water stewardship plan, see “Minimizing footprint”.

In addition, the Group has a permanent goal of and is committed to no deforestation^*3 in sourcing and production activities, which is incorporated into the Global Sustainable Procurement Policy, and worked on achieving the goal in cooperation with its suppliers, business partners and other stakeholders. In 2023, the Group has achieved a significant milestone: 34% of its natural rubber supply chain became traceable to the smallholder level, which exceeded the original target of 30%. This achievement is based on self-declarations from our suppliers, marking a notable step forward in our journey towards complete transparency. From 2022 to 2023, the Groups has also completed a total of 54 on-site ESG audits of our tier-1 natural rubber processing facilities. For details of the plan and progress, see “Procurement”.

The Group considers its dependence and impact on biodiversity when conducting its business activities. The Group conducts a materiality analysis of its dependence, impact and contribution to biodiversity identified in the relationship map below to identify priority issues. Moving forward, the Group plans to expand its activities by taking key actions on these issues, while continually reviewing our priority issues to meet the changes in social needs.

* Prepared in-house referring to ENCORE by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and others, as well as the Business & Biodiversity Interrelationship Map® released by the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB).

The Group evaluates its dependence and impact on biodiversity using the Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risk and Exposure (ENCORE) tool developed by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and others. Using the evaluation by the industry group, the Group evaluates the general dependence and impact of its tire business within the value chain.

In the latest ENCORE evaluation conducted in 2023, the Group concluded that the significance of dependency is very high for services that maintain and regulate the climate, healthy soil, and pollination within ecosystems during the raw material procurement stage. It is also very high for services that control soil erosion, disease, and flooding. In addition, the evaluation concluded that the significance of dependence on water provisioning services was high in the tire and raw material manufacturing stages.

As for impact, the Group concluded that the significance of land use in the raw material procurement stage was very high. It also concluded that the significance of the impact from use of water resources and waste discharge was high in the tire manufacturing stage. In addition, in the value chain as a whole, it concluded that the significance of the impact from greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources, emissions into the air, water, and soil, and waste discharge was high.

The Group assesses the importance of the proximity of our manufacturing facilities to areas of biodiversity using the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) developed by UNEP-WCMC, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and others. Using this assessment, the Group works to identify priority issues related to our footprints and contributions to biodiversity around our manufacturing facilities, including location-specific assessment on protected areas and Red List species.

The Group encourages all manufacturing facilities across the globe to promote its biodiversity contribution activities, including the conservation of areas of biodiversity importance, and works to expand our contributions.

In addition to its past participation in the Business for Nature and the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB), the Group began participating in the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum in March 2022. Amid the accelerating movement towards achieving a nature-positive world, as adopted by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Group is comprehensively evaluating and managing its dependence and impact on climate and natural capital, as well as risks and opportunities arising from climate change and natural capital loss in order to incorporate them into business strategies.

Based on recognition of these risks and opportunities, the Group is working to reduce the risks of transitioning to a decarbonized society that exists in harmony with nature. This includes promoting contribution to carbon neutrality and a circular economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain. It also includes the impact of various environmental footprints on natural capital by developing a medium- to long-term strategy and Sustainability Business Model to become nature positive. At the same time, the Group is working to reduce physical risks by such measures as diversifying natural rubber supply sources through efforts to commercialize guayule, a rubber-producing plant that grows in arid regions.

For details on the Group’s initiatives based on TNFD recommendations, see the TCFD and TNFD Index.
For details on the Group’s Sustainability Business Model, see Building a Foundation for Sustainable Value Creation.

The Group launched “The Bridgestone In Harmony with Nature – Promoting Biodiversity Program” in early 2019.

Through the program, the Group encourages all manufacturing facilities across the globe to promote activities to conserve biodiversity. The Group annually assesses the level of biodiversity contribution at each site using nine key activity indicators, including the number of environmental education programs offered for children, partnerships with local schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the acreage of off-campus areas managed as natural habitats, and other factors. The Group also highlights each site’s efforts by recognition based on the results of these evaluations and promotes its biodiversity contribution activities by sharing case studies of activities underway worldwide with the entire organization. By contributing to the conservation and restoration of flora, fauna and their habitats, and by collaborating with various stakeholders, the Group is committed to preserving the environment for future generations, as stated in the “Ecology” value of the Bridgestone E8 Commitment.

In 2023, 105 manufacturing facilities participated in this program and 54 sites are recognized as Gold Class.

As an annual result, the Group held over 950 Environmental conservation/education events such as Eco-Art Contest, tree planting campaign and waste tire collection. The participants of those events exceeded 53,000.

Sixty-nine manufacturing facilities have partnerships with local schools, universities, NGO/NPOs, national wildlife groups, and governments and have promoted biodiversity conservation. For example, Aiken PSR in the U.S. has partnered with University of South Carolina, Aiken Campus to provide educational classroom instruction to Aiken County students.

68manufacturing facilities manage on-site microhabitats or waystations such as bird boxes, pathways for small animals crossing roads, and aquatic plants on the waterside. Furthermore, 82 manufacturing facilities protect and manage habitat onsite and/or offsite, with a total of over 2,072 hectares of habitat managed.