Konica Minolta Establishes Alignment and Action on Sustainable Development Goals

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By Konica Minolta 28 Jan 2016

Konica Minolta Establishes Alignment and Action on Sustainable Development Goals

January 2016 marks the first month of a 15 year journey towards the United Nation’s (UN) newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unlike its predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the SDGs call upon governments, businesses and civil society to foster productive public-private partnerships to tackle some of the world’s most urgent development needs.

The SDGs have been universally adopted by the UN General Assembly. That means the 17 goals and 169 targets are applicable to all countries and have global reach. Businesses were an important stakeholder in designing the agenda and will similarly be crucial to the implementation and success in achieving the ambitious goals by 2030.

Konica Minolta Australia sees the SDGs as timely and unique opportunity to pursue our agenda of innovation and collaboration. Engagement with the SDG agenda will further bring to life our company philosophy, the creation of new value. Like Konica Minolta Australia, the SDGs will grow and evolve overtime. As the year progresses we will identify opportunities for alignment and engagement, while considering elements of the SDGs in planning and actions.

In an important first step, we have reflected on our 6 core values and addressed each through the lens of the SDGs:

Intuitively, there are broad goals that Konica Minolta Australia is aligned to. Like many businesses around the world, we see it as our responsibility to meet some of the targets under Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls; Goal 8 Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all; Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns; and to be an active participant of multi-stakeholder partnerships. In partnership with our Business Innovation Centre, Konica Minolta’s healthcare initiatives also coincide with Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.

Some of our existing actions correlating to specific targets are outlined below:

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Target 3.8 achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

Konica Minolta has invested in the med-tech start up Clevertar which creates digital agents or avatars in the healthcare industry. With applications available via iOS and Android, Clevertar's products have the potential to democratise health care and are already being used to improve patient outcomes in the diabetes and aged care spaces.

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Target 5.2 eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

In November 2015, Konica Minolta Australia launched its first Domestic and Family Violence Support Policy. This policy provides paid leave, flexible working arrangements and employee assistance programs to both victims and perpetrators of violence seeking help.

Target 5.5 ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.

Equality among staff, including women’s participation in leadership is crucial to our business. At present 3 of 8 senior leaders are women.

Goal 8 Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Target 8.3 promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage formalisation and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises including through access to financial services

Through the acquisition of and investment in IT services companies, we are support entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. There is an opportunity to build on these tools and platforms to build tech solutions to pressing development needs.

Target 8.7 take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, eradicate forced labour, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms including recruitment and use of child soldiers

In keeping with our commitments under the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) Code of Conduct, and as a signatory to the UN Global Compact, we are strongly opposed to use of child, forced and bonded labour in business operations and supply chains. Konica Minolta Inc. conducts factory level audits and will continue due diligence in the years to come.

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Target 12.4 by 2020 achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle in accordance with agreed international frameworks and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

Konica Minolta is proud to work in partnership with Planet Ark and Close the Loop in the “Cartridges 4 Planet Ark” program, whereby empty toners are returned, sorted, classified and then recycled – all with a zero waste to landfill guarantee. Since the program's inception, over 17 million cartridges, including over 1 million Konica Minolta cartridges, have been diverted from landfill.

Target 12.5 by 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse.

We already collect and recycle equipment at the end of its contract life in all of our branches around the country.

This recycling of equipment is done with SIMs recycling solutions. After recycling, everything is certified as recycled with SIMs, providing us with detailed reports for each batch of electronic waste recycled.

Target 12.6 encourage companies, especially large and trans-national companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

Konica Minolta Group reports annually on sustainability. Our latest CSR report can be found here.

Multi-stakeholder partnerships

Target 17.17 encourage and promote effective public, public-private, and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.

Together with charity partners, Konica Minolta has donated financial and human resources to address social justice issues in Australia and overseas. In a development context we work closely with anti-trafficking organisation, Project Futures, on programs to assists human trafficking victims in Cambodia. In Australia Konica Minolta supports the Smith Family in their mission to help disadvantaged children.

The Sustainable Development agenda is an exciting opportunity for Konica Minolta Australia to leverage our experience, networks and business solutions to meet both our clients’ needs and contribute, in part, to addressing some of the world’s most acute problems. We encourage our solutions partners, industry peers and suppliers to develop their own agenda, no matter how large or small, or join together with Konica Minolta Australia as we undertake this journey.

For more information contact Laura McManus, Ethical Supply Chain Management, at laura.mcmanus@konicaminolta.com.au

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