Sustainability Materiality: Priority Areas for the Group’s Medium- to Long-term Growth

Kioxia Group will continue to create value for society through its memory technology, based on its mission of “uplifting the world with ‘memory.’” We will contribute to the development of a sustainable society by strengthening the foundations supporting the Group’s medium- to long-term business activities, and by responding to the demands of our stakeholders as a member of global society.

Environmental issues such as climate change, energy and resource shortages due to industrialization, widening disparities of wealth, and the threat of new infectious diseases are just some of the growing challenges facing society. On the other hand, the development of digital technology continues to make people’s lives more convenient. Technological innovation brought about by AI, IoT and the use of big data has changed social and industrial structures and is expected to rapidly generate needs that have not been seen before.

Taking these social changes into account, there are rising expectations of the role the Group should play in the sustainable development of society. We have therefore decided there is an urgent need to further enhance our sustainability management and clearly set out our policies.

We have established themes we see as particularly important for governing the sustainable development of the Group and of society. We call these themes Sustainability Materiality.

Sustainability Materiality comprises three domains.

Kioxia Group will create social value in the medium- to long-term together with its partners by using memory technology to expand the possibilities of its current and future products and services based on its mission of “uplifting the world with ‘memory.’”

Our foundation of value creation is the driving force behind the Group’s continual provision of value to society, and an important foundation we will continue to strengthen.

Our stakeholders require us to conduct business activities as a member of global society, and this is a social requirement which is particularly important to the Group.

(1) Building a creative world through memory technology
Through memory technology we support value creation by working with partners to provide people with diverse experiences that transcend time and space, and creative means of expression and communication.

(2) Contributing to convenient and comfortable lifestyles
By creating flash memory with greater capacity, higher speed, lower power consumption and enhanced reliability, and by supplying more bits to more people, we will contribute to the creation of a society in which more people can lead convenient and comfortable lives.

(3) Creating safe and secure societies and environments
Based on the development of digital technology, we will contribute to resolving social and environmental issues by providing storage that helps people to live safely and securely.

We will recruit and train highly specialized human resources to develop advanced technologies, and diverse human resources to meet expanding and diversifying market requirements.

We will promote continuous technological investment and initiatives for future-oriented advanced technology development.

We will build partnerships with customers, suppliers and research institutions to create products and services that anticipate the needs of society.

We will comply with international human rights principles and promote fair and sound business activities.

We will promote sustainable business activities by addressing human rights, labor, safety, environmental, and other business risks, including those of our suppliers.

We will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the use of renewable energy in our business activities.

We will take environmental impact into account in our business activities, focusing on areas such as waste reduction, chemical substance management, and wastewater quality management, with the aim of enriching human life in harmony with the earth.

We will strive to create safe and healthy workplaces, taking into account changes in society and behavioral patterns, with the aim of preventing occupational accidents, improving employees’ health and increasing productivity through enhanced vitality.

In identifying our sustainability materiality, we referred to the IFRS Foundation’s International Integrated Reporting Framework, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Guidance for Collaborative Value Creation, Global Reporting Initiative “GRI Standard”, and ISO 26000 (the international standard on social responsibility). We then assessed stakeholder concerns and their importance to Kioxia Group, conducted interviews with the management team, and sought verification from external experts. Based on this process, candidate themes for sustainability management were identified, reviewed by the Sustainability Committee, and discussed and finalized at the Sustainability Strategy Meeting. The themes identified are also reported to and deliberated by the Board of Directors as part of the non-financial medium-term management plan.