Since the 1990s, the Sony Group has focused on a variety of environmental activities. These include developing environmentally conscious products, reducing the environmental impact of its sites and promoting product recycling. Since 1998, Sony has formulated uniform environmental mid-term targets that encompass its operations around the world, and has revised these targets every few years. At the end of fiscal 2009, Sony formulated Green Management 2015, a set of new mid-term targets that will serve as a yardstick for the environmental activities of Sony Group companies and divisions worldwide until fiscal 2015. Green Management 2015 will go into effect in fiscal 2011 and Sony will disclose its progress periodically.

Sony has continuously provided people with a vast array of products, services and entertainment. Such corporate activities are only possible if the global environment, which sustains all life on earth, is healthy. We must address such environmental issues as climate change, resource exhaustion and the need for effective management of chemical substances both as risks to business continuity and as business opportunities. In doing so, it is important that we act strategically and with a medium- to long-term perspective.

Recognizing this, we aim to be a leader in the environmental arena by ensuring that we conduct our business in a sustainable manner. To this end, we will also collaborate with others wherever possible to ensure our ability to provide innovative environmentally conscious products and services that enrich our customers' lives.

Taking these sentiments into account, we have set forth the Sony Group Environmental Vision, the goal of which is a “zero environmental footprint,” that is, reduction of the environmental footprint of our corporate activities and of every Sony product throughout its life cycle to zero, and we continue to pursue a wide range of related initiatives. We will strive to achieve this by 2050; our goals for the first phase, which continues through 2015, are outlined in Green Management 2015.

Green Management 2015 focuses on four key environmental perspectives-climate change, resources, chemical substances and biodiversity-which it refers to as “environmental aspects.” To formulate appropriate goals for 2015, we estimated our current status vis-à -vis our ultimate goal of “zero environmental footprint” for each of these aspects, after which we employed backcasting to determine desirable levels for 2015 and analyze the differences between these figures and our actual forecasts. In setting these goals, we exchanged opinions and ideas with relevant nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and experts.

At present, every Sony product negatively affects the environment to some degree throughout its life cycle or at different stages thereof. To ensure our ability not only to conduct our business in a responsible manner, but also to take responsibility for the environmental impact of every Sony product at each stage of its lifecycle, we have divided the product lifecycle into six stages: Research and development, product planning and design, procurement, operations, logistics, and take back and recycling. We have also set specific goals for each stage.

Our efforts to achieve the targets of Green Management 2015 will be guided by three basic policies.

①Achieve targets through unrelenting efforts to increase efficiency
We will strive to minimize our impact on the environment by improving the efficiency of production processes, logistics and office activities, among others.

②Place a high priority on creativity and innovation and implement environmentally conscious actions that are approved and supported by our customers
To date, the Sony spirit of creativity and innovation has enabled us to amuse and delight a wide range of customers. The same spirit guides our environmental activities. By ensuring our corporate activities are environmentally conscious, we will continue to provide life-enriching products that are not only superior in terms of functionality, performance and quality, but also exert very little impact on the environment.

③Communicate and establish partnerships with stakeholders within and outside the Company
In addition to Sony innovation, cultivating renewable energy and other such new elements of social infrastructure, developing technologies and creating mechanisms for reducing environmental impact require collaboration with other companies, NGOs and nonprofit organizations (NPOs), universities and research organizations. It is also crucial that everyone at Sony, from front-line production personnel to top management, is actively involved in this endeavor, and that we encourage such efforts by promoting environmental education and training.

With the aim of reducing the environmental footprint of our corporate activities and our products throughout their life cycle to zero, we have set targets for four environmental aspects-climate change, resources, chemical substances and biodiversity-over the six stages of the product life cycle.

1.Research and Development
To date, we have developed technologies that have enabled us to build environmentally conscious products that are small, light and energy efficient. Looking ahead, we will continue to develop innovative, industry-leading technologies that contribute to environmentally conscious lifestyles.

Targets Climate Change 1.Develop technologies that reduce energy consumption of products and facilitate the use of renewable energy-e.g., technologies for managing the generation, storage and supply of energy-and thus improve energy self-sufficiency at the individual level 2.Develop information and communications technologies that support the sorts of lifestyles necessary for the realization of a low-carbon society Resources 3.Develop and refine “3R” (Reduce,Reuse,Recycle) technologies that reduce the use of nonrenewable resources and water and the generation of waste throughout product life cycles Chemical Substances 4.Develop technologies that reduce the use of chemical substances of very high concern (SVHCs) and facilitate the use of alternative substances

2.Product Planning and Design
Since our establishment, the Sony spirit of creativity and innovation has enabled us to amuse and delight a wide range of customers. The same spirit guides our environmental activities. By ensuring our corporate activities are environmentally conscious, we will continue to provide life-enriching products that are not only superior in terms of functionality, performance and quality, but also exert very little impact on the environment.

Targets Overall 1.Continuously launch Environmental Flagship models and services in each business category Climate Change 2.Reduce annual per-product energy consumption by 30% from the fiscal 2008 level Resources 3.Reduce utilization ratio of virgin oil-based plastics in products by 5% from the fiscal 2008 level 4.Reduce mass per product by 10% from the fiscal 2008 level Chemical Substances 5.Eliminate Environment-related Substances to be Controlled1 which are of very high concern, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in certain specified applications

3.Procurement
To reduce environmental impact throughout the product life cycle, it is necessary to adopt a broad perspective that also takes into account the procurement of materials and parts. We have always worked with suppliers to ensure the proper management of chemical substances. Moving forward, we will also actively seek the cooperation of suppliers on other fronts, including the reduction of energy and resource use.

Targets Climate Change 1.Establish a mechanism for determining suppliers' greenhouse gas emissions 2.Contribute to the development of a common industrywide reporting format Resources 3.Employ procurement practices that facilitate the achievement of targets at the “Product Planning and Design” and “Logistics” stages Chemical Substances 4.Employ procurement practices that facilitate the achievement of targets at the “Product Planning and Design” stage Biodiversity 5.Conduct biodiversity assessments at resource extraction and harvesting sites

4.Operations
Lowering our impact on the environment demands an approach that targets absolute reductions. Having formulated consistent global targets for the absolute reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation, among others, we will take steps to minimize the impact of operations at factories, offices and other sites. We will also promote regional environmental contribution initiatives.

Targets Overall 1.Conduct environmental assessments (including biodiversity assessments) Climate Change 2.Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an absolute value of 30% from the fiscal 2000 level Resources 3.Achieve an absolute reduction in waste from sites of 50% from the fiscal 2000 level 4.Increase the waste recycling rate Groupwide to more than 99% 5.Achieve an absolute reduction in the total volume of water used of 30% from the fiscal 2000 level Chemical Substances 6.Manage designated chemical substances (Class 1-4) in accordance with prescribed regulations Class 1: Prohibit use Class 2: Eliminate by specified date Class 3: Reduce amounts released and transferred >Reduce amounts of Class 3 designated substances, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into water and transferred as waste or into sewers by 14% from the fiscal 2008 level >Reduce emissions of VOCs into the atmosphere by 50% from the fiscal 2000 level Class 4: Comply with relevant laws and regulations and ensure adequate control over use Biodiversity, Contribution to Local Communities, Others 7.Promote environmental contribution activities that respond to the needs of local communities

5.Logistics
Considerable resources are used in the transport of parts and finished products. Accordingly, we will promote the use of compact packaging, increase loading efficiency and shift to rail, sea and other modes of transport that have only minimal environmental impact. By doing so, we will reduce the use of such resources as well as CO2 emissions.

Targets Climate Change 1.Reduce CO2 emissions from logistics by 14% from the fiscal 2008 level Resources 2.Reduce waste from packaging for incoming parts by 16% from the fiscal 2008 level

6.Take Back and Recycling
In order to take responsibility for our products even after their usage, we will continue to design products that are easy to recycle. We will also continue to develop recycling systems suited to local needs and promote the collection and recycling of end-of-life products.

Goals Respecting the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR), we will continue to promote the development and efficient operation of low-environmental-impact recycling systems suited to the needs of local communities. At the same time, we will actively advance the collection and recycling of end-of-life products. With the aim of reducing resource use, we will step up efforts to design products that are easy to recycle, as well as to promote the establishment of legislation that enshrines the concept of individual producer responsibility (IPR) and the building of an infrastructure for recycling Sony products.