Environmental Reporting 
                            Guidelines 
                       （Fiscal Year 2012 Version） 
                                 ◆ 
                          Provisional Translation 
            
            
            
            
           
           
           
           
           
                               April 2012 
                    Ministry of the Environment 
                         Government of Japan 
                                  
          
                          Table of Contents 
          
         Preface ............................................................ 1 
          
         Introduction ....................................................... 5 
          １． Position of environmental reporting ........................................ 7 
          ２． Revision of the Environmental Reporting Guidelines .......................... 8 
           （１）Current trends and challenges of environmental reporting ............................ 8 
           （２）Primary users of the Environmental Reporting Guidelines ............................ 9 
           （３）Key revised points in the 2007 Version ........................................... 9 
           （４）Key revised points in the 2012 Version .......................................... 10 
          ３． To management considering whether to launch environmental reporting ........... 13 
          
         Part One: Concept of Environmental Reporting and Reporting Principles .... 14 
          
         Chapter 1: Concept of Environmental Reporting ......................... 15 
          １． What is environmental reporting? ......................................... 15 
           （１）Definition of and guidelines for environmental reporting ............................ 15 
           （２）Fundamental functions of environmental reporting ................................. 16 
          ２． Environmental reporting and environmantally focused management .............. 18 
           （１）Environmental reporting and environmantally focused management ................... 18 
           （２）Current trends in environmentally focused management ............................. 19 
          ３．Stakeholders and environmental reporting ................................... 23 
          
         Chapter 2: Principles of Environmental Reporting........................ 26 
          １．General pinciples for environmental reporting................................ 27 
          ２．Material issues to be referred to in environmental reporting ..................... 33 
          ３．Basic points of attention in environmental reporting ........................... 37 
          
         Chapter 3:Framework for Environmental Reporting ...................... 44 
          
         Part Two: Report Contents in Environmental Reporting .................. 52 
          
         Chapter 4: Report Parameters and Summary ........................... 54 
          １． Report profile ........................................................ 55 
           （１）Report boundary and reporting period ........................................... 55 
           （２）Organizations coverage ratio and reporting period difference ......................... 56 
           （３）Reporting policies .......................................................... 59 
           （４）Policies for selecting a type of the report ......................................... 61 
          ２． Chairman’s statement / CEO’s statement ................................... 64 
                               
          ３． Summary ............................................................ 66 
           （１）Overview of environmantally focused management ................................ 66 
           （２）Overview of KPI trends ...................................................... 69 
           （３）Summary of activities to addresse an individual environmental issue ................... 71 
          ４． Material balance ...................................................... 77 
          
         Chapter 5: Information and Indicators on how Environmentally Focused 
         Management Including Environmemtal Management is working ............ 80 
          １． Environmental policies, visions and business strategies. ....................... 81 
           （１）Environmental policies ...................................................... 81 
           （２）Material issues, visions and business strategies. ................................... 83 
          ２． Organizational systems and governance .................................... 85 
           （１）Organizational systems for environmentally focused management ..................... 85 
           （２）Environmental risk management system ......................................... 91 
           （３）Compliance with environmental regulations ...................................... 93 
          ３． Responsiveness to stakeholder issues ...................................... 96 
           （１）Responsiveness to stakeholder issues ........................................... 96 
           （２）Philanthropy related to the environment ......................................... 98 
          ４． Environmental initiatives in the value chain ................................ 100 
           （１）Strategies and environmental policies for the value chain ........................... 100 
           （２）Green purchasing and procurement ............................................ 104 
           （３）Products and services designed for mitigating environmental impacts ................. 106 
           （４）New environmental technologies and research and development ..................... 109 
           （５）Environmentally conscious transportation ....................................... 110 
           （６）Resource exploitations and real estate development/investment with less environmental 
          impacts ........................................................................ 113 
           （７）Waste management and recycling ............................................. 116 
          
         Chapter 6:Information and Indicators on Environmental Impacts of Business 
         Activities and Environmental Initiatives Undertaken to Mitigate them ....... 118 
          １． Resources used and energy consumption .................................. 121 
           （１）Total energy consumption and initiatives to reduce it .............................. 121 
           （２）Total materials used and initiatives to reduce them ................................ 124 
           （３）Water withdrawal and initiatives to reduce it..................................... 128 
          ２． Recycled input resources (within the organizational boundary) ................. 130 
          ３． Products and services and environmental impacts arising from production ........ 132 
           （１）Total products manufactured or goods sold ...................................... 132 
           （２）Greenhouse gas emissions and initiatives to reduce them ........................... 133 
           （３）Total water discharge and initiatives to reduce it .................................. 136 
           （４）Effluents and nuisance, and initiatives to reduce them ............................. 139 
           （５）Release and transfer of chemical substances and initiatives to reduce them ............. 142 
           （６）Total weight of waste generated, waste disposed by land filling or incineration  and 
                               
          initiatives to reduce them .......................................................... 144 
           （７）Significant spills of hazardous substances and measures taken for preventing them ....... 150 
          ４． Conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components .... 152 
          
         Chapter 7:Information and Indicators on the Economic and Social Contexts of 
         Environmentally Focused Management ................................ 156 
          １． Economic Contexts of environmentally focused management .................. 158 
           （１）Economic contexts in an enterprise ............................................ 158 
           （２）Economic contexts in society ................................................. 162 
          ２． Social Contexts of Environmentally focused management ..................... 168 
          
         Chapter 8:Miscellaneous Contents to be discloed ........................ 172 
          １． Events after the reporting period. ........................................ 172 
           （１）Events after the reporting period .............................................. 172 
           （２）Extraordinary events ....................................................... 172 
          ２． Assurance and other measures to enhance reliability of environmental information . 174 
           
          Comparison of the Guidelines and Notice on Contents of Environmental Reports ....... 176 
          Comparison of the Guidelines and Its 2007 Version .............................. 181 
           
           [Annex]   .............................................................. 186 
          １.  [Members  of  the  Committee  for  the  Revision  of  the  Environmental  Reporting 
            Guidelines] .......................................................... 187 
          ２. [Grossary of Terms] (Omitted in the English version) ............................  
          ３. [List of Report Contents] (Omitted in the English version) ........................  
          ４. [Examples of Environmental Efficiency Indicators] (Omitted in the English version) ...  
          ５. [Ordinary Procedures To Figure Out Indicators] (Omitted in the English version) ......  
          ６. [Financial Implications of Individual environmental issue (Examples)] ........... 189 
          ７. [Information and Indicators on the Social Contexts (Breakdown)] ............... 197 
          ８. [Check  Sheets  for  Evaluating  how  Environmentally  Focused  Management  is 
            working(Examples)] ................................................... 203 
          
          
         Please refer to Annex 2 (Glossary of Terms) for the terms noted with an asterisk (*).