Basic policies and promotion structure

NTT Group Ecology Program 21

The NTT Group Ecology Program 21 was formulated in 1999 to serve as the basic concept for NTT Group environmental action programs. It consists of three core elements: the NTT Group Global Environmental Charter, which describes the basic principles and policies underlying our environmental action programs; Contributions to Local Environmental Protection, under which we carry out community-based activities as a member of the local community; and Environmental Technology R&D for addressing environmental issues through the development of new technologies such as those for energy conservation. Based on this concept, the NTT Group is conducting a wide range of environmental protection activities to contribute to a sustainable society.

Organization for promoting environmental protection

In 2005, the NTT Group established a CSR Committee charged with overseeing Group CSR activities. And under this committee, the NTT Group Global Environmental Protection Promotion Committee was established as a decision-making body for group environmental protection activities that works in close cooperation with the NTT Environmental Protection Office and departments in charge of environmental issues in individual group companies.
The Global Environmental Protection Promotion Committee oversees several other committees, including the Greenhouse Gases Reduction Committee, Waste Disposal and Recycling Committee, and the Environment and ICT Committee together with their subordinate working groups and group-wide environmental projects. The committee is also responsible for establishing basic policies, managing objectives, and resolving issues.

Green guidelines

The NTT Group has established three sets of green guidelines in line with our business activities that are intended to help achieve reductions in environmental impacts. To ensure that we and suppliers continue to contribute to environmental conservation, our Green Procurement Guidelines call for such measures as the minimal use of hazardous substances and the use of materials suitable for recycling, and also stipulate criteria for evaluating the environmental conservation efforts of suppliers.
The Green R&D Guidelines stipulate criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of methods, processes, and results of our R&D activities in reducing environmental impacts. The Green Design Guidelines for Buildings stipulate criteria for evaluating seven categories in the area of construction and maintenance of buildings, including extension of operating life, with the aim of reducing building-related environmental impacts.

Initiatives

New Guidelines for Green Procurement

NTT Communications has endeavored to purchase products with low environmental impact since it established its original Guidelines for Green Procurement in September 1999, but it revised these guidelines in January 2006 with the aim of building a more proactive green procurement system. The old guidelines requested suppliers to take environmental issues into consideration, but the revised guidelines seek to avoid procurement risks by evaluating suppliers and using those evaluations as a selection criterion when making purchases. Through the application of the new guidelines, NTT Communications aims both to promote the procurement of even more environmentally friendly products and to work as one with its suppliers to pursue activities that contribute to the building of an environment that leaves a lighter footprint on our planet.
Meanwhile, NTT FACILITIES evaluates suppliers as well as products according to specific requirements for each individual product described in its Guidelines for Green Procurement (supplemented version) and Green Procurement Evaluation Criteria, and in 2005 also adopted a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to product evaluation. In fiscal 2006, it studied whether any products supplied in the past contained asbestos. As a result of these activities, ISO14001 certified companies currently make up 98% of NTT FACILITIES' suppliers.

Supplier ISO14001 certification status (NTT FACILITIES)

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Environmental accounting

The NTT Group introduced environmental accounting in fiscal 2000 to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of its environmental conservation efforts through quantitatively determining both the cost of environmental conservation programs undertaken as part of its business activities and the returns gained.
Environmental conservation costs for fiscal 2005, including investments in energy conservation measures, totaled 61.6 billion yen, and as one quantitative result, yielded a 94,000-ton reduction in CO2 emissions. The economic benefit of these programs amounted to 47.25 billion yen, which included reduced procurement costs for new communications equipment thanks to the reuse of existing equipment, and reduced electricity costs thanks to energy-saving measures.
Environmental conservation costs in fiscal 2005 were down by 2.76 billion yen over the previous year. Factors contributing to this decrease included the completion of investment in experimental facilities for investigating the effect of electromagnetic waves on electronic devices and the human body, as well as reduced budget allocations for R&D in environmental technology in conjunction with a group-wide reduction in R&D expenditures. A 4.45 billion yen increase in economic benefits was also observed, a major contributing factor being reduced expenditures for new equipment with the increased reuse of used communications equipment.
We are determined to further improve our environmental management through quantitative measurement and analysis of our environmental activities.

*Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005 published by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan

*Reductions in CO2 emissions through energy conservation measures are calculated by subtracting actual emissions from estimated emissions in the event that no such measures were taken.

1. Scope of data

The companies subject to consolidated environment accounting are NTT, NTT EAST, NTT WEST, NTT Communications, NTT DATA, NTT DoCoMo, and their group companies (141 companies in total).

2. Applicable period

Data for fiscal 2005 report is from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006
Data for fiscal 2004 report is from April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2005

3. Accounting method

Accounting is based on the NTT Group Environmental Accounting Guidelines. These guidelines comply fully with the Environmental Accounting Guidelines 2005 issued by the Ministry of the Environment.

Environmental conservation costs are expressed in monetary units and conservation benefits in monetary units or physical quantity.

Environmental conservation costs are tabulated separately as environmental investments and environmental expenses. From fiscal 2003, depreciation expenses are included in environmental expenses. Personnel costs are also included in environmental expenses.