Sony Overview of CSR Activities for Fiscal Year 2006; Issuing CSR Report 2007.

Tokyo, Japan, July 30, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Sony has issued its CSR Report 2007 which covers the full spectrum of its activities relating to Corporate Social Responsibility in Fiscal Year 2006.

Since its first publication in 2003, Sony has issued its "CSR Report" based on global standards and guidelines for social and environmental reporting. Now in its fifth edition, "CSR Report 2007" follows the principles outlined in the Global Reporting Initiative's "Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2006"[1], published in October 2006. In adherence with these guidelines, this year's report provides comprehensive coverage of the CSR activities being carried out by the Sony Group out across its diverse business operations, from the perspective of stakeholder interest and business importance.

In light of increasing stakeholder interest and their importance in the context of Sony's business as a whole, four significant themes are specifically featured: climate change, supply chain management, innovation and China. The remainder of the report is organized into five sections (Management, Product Responsibility, Employees, Community and Environment). Furthermore, comments from stakeholders, including external experts and employees, as well as messages from top management and outside directors are also included.

With each successive CSR Report, Sony has sought to provide more detailed explanations of its CSR activities and improve the transparency and comprehensibility of global quantitative data relating to Sony's Group-wide resources. Continuing these efforts, Sony's CSR Report 2007 is made up of a printed report and website components, with the printed report providing information relevant to the key CSR topics listed above, while the website contains supplemental data, as well as an electronic version of the report to enhance the report's accessibility among Sony stakeholders. As with last year, in addition to the Japanese and English versions, Sony plans to publish a Chinese version this autumn. Highlights of CSR Report 2007 can be seen below.

For more comprehensive information on Sony's CSR activities please see: http://www.sony.net/csr

(Both Japanese and English version can be downloaded from the above site.)

Highlights of CSR Activities in FY2006

1. Environmental Conservation Activities

- Established Partnership with NGO to Address the Issue of Climate Change

In July 2006, Sony signed an agreement with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) global environmental NGO, to join its "Climate Savers Programme". Under the program, Sony has agreed to partner with the WWF to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Sony's sites around the world, reduce CO2 emissions from product use by lowering the annual energy consumption of major Sony products and cooperate with the WWF to raise consumer awareness of global warming prevention.

- Promoting Product Energy Saving

In February 2007, Sony received a Sustainable Energy Europe Award from the European Commission, the first consumer electronics and entertainment company to earn this prestigious prize. The award recognized Sony for its voluntary commitment and efforts to improve the energy efficiency of its products, as well as its disclosure of information to consumers. As of February 2007, all Sony televisions sold in Europe had a standby power consumption below 1 watt, with 30 models achieving a standby power consumption of only 0.3 watts, below the market average. In Japan, Sony's KDL-40J3000 model BRAVIA LCD television has achieved an energy-conservation level of 180% relative to Japan's energy-saving laws, representing the industry's highest energy-saving performance[2].

- Environmental Conservation at Sites

Sony is engaged in a variety of environmental conservation activities at its sites as it works towards its "Green Management 2010" mid-term group environmental targets, to be achieved by 2010. In fiscal 2006, Sony's emissions of greenhouse gases (calculated in terms of CO2) totaled approximately 2.03 million tons, down 9% from fiscal 2000 levels. Furthermore, waste from Sony sites was approximately 193,000 tons, down 30% from the fiscal 2000 level, while the amount of water used dropped approximately 16% from fiscal 2000 to 24.18 million cubic meters.

2. Product Responsibility

- Promoting Supply Chain Management

In recent years, stakeholder interest in corporate social responsibility has risen sharply not only as a measure of the quality of a company's finished products, but also as a measure of its overall responsibility for its products, including human rights, labor conditions and work environments for the individuals on its production lines. In order to manage CSR in its supply chain, Sony implemented a program based on the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC), industry-wide framework for promoting legal compliance, occupational health and safety, and environmental protection throughout the supply chain.

Based on the EICC, in 2005 Sony established the Sony Supplier Code of Conduct, and as of fiscal 2006 had informed all of its suppliers about these guidelines, requesting their compliance with the code. As part of its effort to assess supplier conformance, Sony is phasing in the use of self-assessment questionnaires and holding presentations for suppliers.

3. Promoting Work-Life Balance 

- Enhancing child-care systems

In April 2007, Sony Corporation earned the Tokyo Labour Bureau's "corporate support for parenting" mark for achieving the targets of the action plan it formulated in response to the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation, which came into force in 2005. Almost all female employees of Sony Corporation who gave birth took child care leave, and approximately 90% of them returned to work thereafter. In April 2007, Sony Corporation revised its child care leave system with the aim of creating a work environment more conducive to taking child care leave, as well as to promote greater participation in child care by fathers, thereby making it much easier or employees to balance work and home life.

[1] Guidelines published by the Global reporting initiative (GRI). For details please see: http://www.globalreporting.org/

Sony has previously referred to the "2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines", also published by GRI.

[2] As of April 2007, comparison is with digital LCD televisions sold in the Japanese market and based on Sony data.

About Sony

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading personal broadband entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $67 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005. Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net

Source: Sony

Contact:

Sony Corporation
Corporate Communications
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Japan Corporate News Network. All rights reserved.