Since the 1990s, Sony sites*1 throughout the world have sought certification under ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management systems. Acquisition of ISO 14001 certification at all sites was completed in fiscal year 2000. Since then, Sony has expanded this effort, establishing an environmental management system that integrates Group headquarters with overseas environmental departments, business units and sites, while taking advantage of the management systems already operational at each business site, and acquiring integrated ISO 14001 certification*2 for the entire Sony Group in fiscal year 2005.

To deal with increasingly diverse and complex environmental issues that may affect Sony's operations, such as manufacturing and sales of environmentally conscious products, recycling and environmental management at sites, Sony has established specialized functions at the Sony Group's environmental headquarters, specifically in the areas of environmental management related to energy, resource conservation including recycling, chemical substance management, biodiversity conservation, procurement, logistics, technological development and communications, which the Representative Corporate Executive Officer is in charge of overseeing.

Each of these specialized functions works together with regional offices and departments that specialize in such areas as product quality, customer satisfaction, occupational health and safety, and disaster prevention, to achieve a uniform and effective management system. Each specialized function issues targets to the operating units, divisions and sites and reviews their progress. To promote integrated environmental management globally, Sony has established regional environmental offices to facilitate region-wide environmental management activities, such as a better understanding of local, legal and regulatory trends, effective communication of standards and instructions set forth by headquarters to the regional divisions and sites, and effective performance of audits at all regional business divisions and sites.