Survey Shows Growing Number of Companies in Japan See Environmental Initiatives as an Opportunity

The percentage of companies making environmental efforts part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives continued to be high, at 81 percent, according to the annual "Survey on Eco-Friendly Corporate Activities" for fiscal 2009, released by Japan's Ministry of the Environment on December 7, 2010. The survey also showed that an increasing number of corporations see environmental initiatives as a business opportunity.

Of the companies surveyed, 59.4 percent had an environmental policy in place to support the curbing of global warming. When asked about biodiversity conservation, 17.2 percent replied, "Biodiversity is important, as it has much to do with our business." Both figures are higher than those from the previous survey, reflecting a trend that more companies are proactively integrating their efforts to fight global warming and conserve biodiversity in their business management policies.

When asked about the introduction of an environmental tax to curb global warming, the respondents in favor, at 40.7 percent, continued to outnumber those opposed, at 35.2 percent, in fiscal 2009. Concerning the use of the potential tax revenue, about 80 percent replied, "It should be allocated to global warming countermeasures and the promotion of investment in energy efficiency." As for the introduction of a national emissions trading system, 34.9 percent agreed to it, exceeding those against, at 25.9 percent, the same as in the previous survey.

The Survey on Eco-Friendly Corporate Activities has been conducted annually since 1991. In the latest survey, questionnaires were sent in August and September 2010 to 6,697 listed companies and unlisted companies with 500 employees or more. Of the total, 3,036 companies, or 45.3 percent, returned valid responses.

More Companies Agree to Environmental Tax Introduction (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/028903.html
Over 40% of Japanese Companies Agree about Domestic CO2 Emissions Trading (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/027049.html
Survey Shows Steady Progress in Corporate Eco-Friendly Activities (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026616.html

Posted: 2011/04/14 06:00:15 AM