Approach toBiodiversity

Based on the SHIONOGI Group EHS Policy and the SHIONOGI Group EHS Code of Conduct, the SHIONOGI Group will work together with business partners to promote initiatives aimed at preserving natural capital. We recognize that we benefit from biodiversity in all our value chain activities, including research, development, manufacturing, and marketing to create pharmaceuticals and other healthcare solutions and deliver them to society. Appreciating the benefits from diversity, we work to reduce the negative impacts these activities have on biodiversity. Specifically, we will contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by working with our suppliers to reduce the negative impacts of our business activities over the medium to long term, while taking into account the four material issues of ”AMR,” “climate change,” “resource conservation and circulation,” and “water,” which have been identified as Environmental Materiality for our business.

Participation in Initiatives

The SHIONOGI Group has endorsed the Declaration of Biodiversity by Keidanren and Action Policy (Revised Edition) and has announced its environmental policy for the future and specific examples of environmental initiatives through the Keidanren Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation.

  Keidanren Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation (External website)

Furthermore, in September 2023, we joined the 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity,*1 a platform that consists of volunteer companies, local governments, and organizations, supporting its founding purpose of promoting efforts to achieve the 30by30 target. The SHIONOGI Group will continue to strengthen its activities to conserve biodiversity, aiming for the international goal of Nature Positive to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

  Ministry of the Environment: 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity (External website)

 

*1 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity: A coalition of volunteers, including governments, companies, and NPOs, that was established to promote nation-wide efforts to achieve the 30by30 target, an international target of protecting or conserving at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030

30by30アライアンス

Visualization of Connection with Nature

As a social movement regarding biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework*2 was adopted at COP15 in December 2022, and the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)*3 framework was published in September 2023. In both frameworks, companies are required to identify and assess their dependence and impact on biodiversity and biodiversity risks and opportunities in business, and take the necessary measures for sustainable consumption (based on the LEAP approach).

To identify its dependence and impact on biodiversity, the SHIONOGI Group has begun efforts to visualize the connection between its business and nature, with a view to information disclosure based on the TNFD framework. Based on the results of the visualization analysis, we will continue to enhance our activities to conserve biodiversity.

*2 Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework: A global goal for biodiversity to be achieved by 2030, following the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, a set of global targets by 2020 adopted at COP 10

*3 TNFD (Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures): A framework for companies and financial institutions to assess their dependence on natural capital and impact on ecosystems and provide information to investors and other stakeholders based on their assessment results

Consideration for Ecosystem Diversity

Quality water brought about by the diversity of ecosystems is an important resource that is indispensable for pharmaceutical manufacturing. The SHIONOGI Group works to decrease the impact of soil contamination on the ecosystem by setting criteria for the quality of wastewater, which are stricter than those imposed by related laws and regulations, and to reduce the consumption of limited water resources by recycling most of the water it uses back into the environment.

 See the section “Water” for details.

As a countermeasure against AMR, we inactivate antimicrobials in wastewater discharged from antimicrobial-manufacturing plants and confirm that their content in the wastewater is at a level that does not affect the natural environment. We require our suppliers both in Japan and overseas to thoroughly manage antimicrobials in wastewater to contribute to the resolution of AMR issues and the conservation of the ecosystem.

 See the section “AMR” for details.

Initiatives at the Aburahi Botanical Gardens

There are many pharmaceuticals of plant origin. Even today, plants are important specimens for pharmaceutical research and are used as raw materials for pharmaceuticals. The Aburahi Botanical Gardens was established in 1947 within the Aburahi Research Center located in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture. Initially, plant cultivation was carried out for the purpose of cultivating origin plants for pharmaceuticals and searching drug discovery seeds from natural plants. However, it has now been refurbished as a facility for promoting environmental initiatives and conducting community and social contribution activities. At the Gardens, more than 1,000 species of plants, including threatened and rare species, are managed and maintained.

Contribution to the conservation of threatened species

At the Aburahi Botanical Gardens, we are involved in conserving threatened species and rare plants. We are also conducting ex-situ conservation of plants that are in danger of extinction in the area, breeding them at the Gardens and then returning them to their own habitat.

Dracocephalum argunense (Endangered Class II)
Dracocephalum argunense (Endangered Class II)

Conservation status of threatened species by category

Categories specified by the Ministry of the Environment

(Endangered Class IA, Endangered Class IB, Endangered Class II, Near Threatened Class)    

76 species

Categories specified by Shiga Prefecture

(Endangered species, vulnerable species, rare species, species requiring attention, important species in terms of distribution, other important species)

70 species

Categories specified by Koka City

(Endangered species, vulnerable species, species requiring attention, local species)

43 species

Environmental education for stakeholders

As part of our social contribution activities for the local community through the Aburahi Botanical Gardens, we invite the experts from Kyoto Pharmaceutical University and the former professor at Kobe Pharmaceutical University to provide educational support to local elementary and high school students, who will lead the next generation. We also provide opportunities to learn about the environment by holding garden tours, targeting those enrolled in a university for seniors and new employees of the SHIONOGI Group.

 

Results

Educational support (total number of participants)

274 people

Education for employees (total number of participants)

94 people

Number of educational support programs for the next generation / botanical garden tours

21 times

Educational support for local school children
Educational support for local school children

– Aburahi Botanical Gardens receives three stars in the Shiga Prefecture Certificate of Biodiversity Initiatives

The Aburahi Botanical Gardens received three stars, the highest rank, in the 2021 Shiga Prefecture Certificate of Biodiversity Initiatives because its community and social contribution activities, stated above, were evaluated as effective initiatives for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Aburahi Botanical Gardens receives three stars in the Shiga Prefecture Certificate of Biodiversity Initiatives

Reforesting Kombu Project

Shionogi Healthcare Co., Ltd., our Group company, manufactures and markets health foods that use fucoidan, a component extracted from Gagome kombu (kelp). However, due to a combination of reasons, such as an imbalance of supply and demand in the sea caused by the recent increase in sea urchins and abalones, which feed on seaweed, and overfishing caused by the Gagome kombu boom, natural Gagome kombu, which mainly inhabits the waters near Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture, is facing a crisis of possible extinction in the area.

As a company that handles products using Gagome kombu, we have started the Reforesting Kombu Project to restore natural Gagome kombu to its former state in which it grew thickly like a forest. The purpose of the project is to switch its use from natural to farmed. To this end, we are collaborating with Hakodate City and local universities and companies to establish a stable supply system for farmed Gagome kombu, as well as a system to grow farmed Gagome kombu while improving its quality. By expanding our project to other areas, we aim to promote the spread of farmed Gagome kombu, and conserve and restore natural Gagome kombu. To achieve the goal of reducing the use of natural Gagome kombu to zero by 2024, Shionogi Healthcare has begun switching its product raw materials from natural to farmed Gagome kombu since 2019. The rate of switching to farmed Gagome kombu reached 50% in FY2022.

This project is conducted under the “Project for Promoting the Launch of Business Based on Local Community-Company Partnership” subsidized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and we intend not only to create a production system and improve work efficiency for the kombu farming business but also to contribute to the revitalization of the area by encouraging job creation there.

Moreover, as future challenges, we not only expect the biodiversity conservation effect of farmed kelp, but also are considering initiatives aimed at contributing to blue carbon*4 through the kelp. By increasing farmed kelp, which serves as a carbon sink, we will contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society and advance multifaceted efforts to preserve the global environment.

養殖中のガゴメ昆布
養殖中のガゴメ昆布

*4 Blue carbon

Blue carbon refers to the carbon that is taken from the atmosphere into the ocean by marine ecosystems such as seaweed beds and shallow reefs. Blue carbon sinks include seagrass beds, seaweed beds, tidal flats, and mangrove forests, which are called “blue carbon ecosystems.” Carbon dioxide absorbed through photosynthesis in blue carbon ecosystems passes through the bodies of living organisms as organic carbon and is stored on the ocean floor for a long period of time.

ブルーカーボン