Corporate Citizenship (partnering with local communities)

[Global policy for the Panasonic Group's citizenship activities]

We will retain a firm commitment to adhering to this policy and communicating it. As a global organization, we will focus the energy of our workforce on solving social issues that affect the entire world.

Panasonic uses its resources to conduct a number of unique programs that support the next generation. Activities include sending instructors to hold classes at schools, providing support for educational programs, an international scholarship program and other efforts. All of these programs have gained recognition as activities that make a big contribution to enhancing the educational infrastructure of society.

In Japan, Panasonic instructors visited mostly elementary schools during fiscal 2009 to conduct classes in a number of subjects: manufacturing, careers, science and mathematics, and the environment. A total of about 20,000 students attended these classes. We plan to further upgrade this program in fiscal 2010 by working with the Hyogo prefectural government to start a program based on education for sustainable development (ESD). The program is to be a comprehensive, systematic, environmental education model that will rank among the most advanced in the world. In implementing it, Hyogo aims to become Japan's most advanced prefecture for environmental initiatives.

Panasonic has conducted the global Kid Witness News (KWN) video production program for 20 years. Producing videos fosters the creativity and communication skills of elementary and junior high school students. Children also learn the importance of teamwork. In fiscal 2009, approximately 8,000 students at 617 schools in 25 countries and regions around the world took part in this program.

In Japan, Panasonic has a program called Panasonic Kids School. The environmental and sports activities that took place in fiscal 2009 will be taken to other countries in fiscal 2010.

Panasonic is involved with climate change, CO₂ emissions and other environmental issues. Environmentally responsible products and 'eco-ideas' are two examples. Furthermore, as part of our 'eco-ideas' for Everybody, Everywhere, we have added biodiversity conservation as one of the central themes of our environmental activities.

We are one of the first corporate sponsors of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) International's Arctic Programme, having signed a sponsorship agreement in October 2008. We are investing 450,000 euros over a three-year period in this project, which aims to maintain and restore the Arctic environment and conserve biodiversity.

WWF and research organizations in China, Korea and Japan are currently working with private-sector organizations that are active in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea, in the Yellow Sea Ecoregion Support Project (YSESP). The objective is to protect biodiversity in the Yellow Sea. The first corporate sponsor from Asia, Panasonic has been supporting this project since September 2007 and will provide a total of ¥170 million over seven years. In January 2009, the eight grant recipient organizations participating in YSESP held their first conference in Beijing to announce accomplishments thus far. Presentations included reports on activities to make the public more aware of environmental issues. For example, children were taken on trips to study marine life and migratory birds in order to gain a better understanding of the environment. For the general public, festivals with an environmental theme were held. Another benefit of the conference was a deeper mutual understanding among national marine agencies, government fishing bureaus and the United Nations Development Programme of their respective activities. All participants at the Beijing conference agreed to increase cooperation among regions, local governments, government agencies and companies. In fiscal 2010, we plan to involve volunteers from our Chinese companies as we invite employees to participate in the activities of the YSESP.

Engaging in conversation with stakeholders is the most important way in which Panasonic identifies pressing social issues. This is why the cooperation of communities, governments, NPOs, educational institutions and other organizations is a key element of our programs supporting the next generation and the environment.

We use seven parameters to evaluate our citizenship activities based on a process that includes the input of external organizations. The seven parameters are: 1) contribution to solving social issues, 2) program management, 3) degree to which Panasonic resources are used, 4) feedback received by Panasonic, 5) framework for improving program sustainability, 6) Breadth of targeted issues, and 7) innovative nature of programs. Using these evaluations makes it possible to improve programs and channel resources to activities producing the greatest benefits.

With globalization and diversification progressing rapidly, various types of social issues now coexist in different areas. Tackling them requires a worldwide perspective in some cases and a local perspective in others. To achieve the best allocation of our resources at the global level, we started a corporate citizenship survey that encompasses the entire Panasonic group. Since fiscal 2008, we have been collecting citizenship data from sales companies once every year for six regions: Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia/Oceania, China/Northeast Asia and Russia/Middle East/Africa.

We plan to increase the share of corporate citizenship expenditure outside Japan from 45% in fiscal 2009 to more than 50% in the following fiscal year and 70% in fiscal 2013. Location, size and timing of these expenditures will be in line with our overseas business strategy. 'Next generation' is the largest category, accounting for 40% of expenditure. 'Environment' accounts for only 6%. This is a result of our global Eco Relay which mainly involves volunteerism rather than financial contributions, as a part of our 'eco ideas' for Everybody, Everywhere. We plan to increase our commitment to environmental programs, including environmental education on a global scale.

In Japan, our corporate citizenship expenditure is normally equivalent to at least 1% of pretax earnings. In the coming years, our goal is to raise our global corporate citizenship expenditure to an even higher level.

To facilitate focusing resources on priority programs, we divide them into three categories: core programs, associated programs and support programs. Core programs are the primary activities used to target a priority issue. Associated programs are activities involving important themes related to core programs. Support programs are activities that can contribute to the success of core programs. Using this scheme provides a more powerful framework for solving issues that have our highest priority.

Panasonic started publishing a corporate citizenship newsletter in fiscal 2009 that is electronically distributed to group companies worldwide. The publication serves as a platform for the global dissemination of information about corporate citizenship programs. In prior years, most news about local activities did not reach other parts of the world. With this newsletter, Panasonic Group companies everywhere have access to useful information about the successful activities of other group members. Our goal in this is to encourage the uptake of best practice from each region across other regions.

Panasonic Corporate Citizenship News is distributed to Panasonic Group companies worldwide.