August 04, 2004

In light of the importance of its corporate social responsibilities (CSR) to the society, Sony has taken steps to implement a number of specific measures designed to ensure it can fulfill those responsibilities. These include the establishment of a capability for supervising group member compliance with corporate governance practices, taking steps to raise environmental efficiency and strengthening the system of environmental management. These and other measures are covered in detail in the newly issued CSR Report 2004.

Sony launched the CSR Report covering the full spectrum of its activities relating to corporate social responsibility in 2003. CSR Report 2004 has placed emphasis on reporting on CSR activities with a global perspective and presenting information in a way that reflects the sheer diversity of the Corporation's activities. In the area of stakeholder communication, for example, the 2004 edition reports on the ongoing dialogue between opinion leader and Sony top management, and provides detailed information, including quantitative data, concerning the corporate quality control system and relevant social issues. The content of CSR Report 2004 is also coordinated with that of the Corporation's annual report in order to enhance a complementary relationship betwee the two.

The Sony CSR reports serve as an important vehicle for introducing the full spectrum of corporate philosophy and activities to a global audience.
(For comprehensive information on Sony's social and environmental activities.)

Provided below is a summary of Sony environmental activities for Fiscal 2003 included in the CSR Report 2004.

• Sony's Web site on CSR

Highlights of Environmental Activities in FY2003

(1) Eco-Efficiency in Fiscal 2003

• *For more detailed information, refer to pages 42 and 43 of CSR Report 2004.
  The Sony Environmental Vision was established in October 2000. Sony has since adopted eco-efficiency (eco-efficiency = sales/environmental impact) as its own key index for measuring environmental impact of its activities. The eco-efficiency factors for 2003 (when compared with 2000) are listed below.
• -Greenhouse gas eco-efficiency: 1.14 times (1.05 in 2002 compared with 2000)
• -Resource input eco-efficiency: 1.21 times (1.18 in 2002 compared with 2000)
• -Resource output eco-efficiency: 1.24 times (1.18 in 2002 compared with 2000)

Eco-Efficiency Targets Included in Sony Mid-Term Environmental Targets (Green Management 2005)
[Improve eco-efficiency for greenhouse gases, and resource input and output indices by 1.5 times by the end of fiscal 2005 and double that by the end of fiscal 2010.]

(2) Energy Conservation Efforts

• *For more detailed information, refer to page 60 of CSR Report 2004.
  Measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases include taking steps to reduce the energy consumed by air conditioning facilities through installing high-efficiency heating and cooling systems. This had the effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 2,000 tons on a CO₂ basis in fiscal 2003.
  (Overall Sony Group site annual greenhouse gas emissions: approx. 2.09 million tons CO₂)
• -Example of Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation, Kumamoto Technology Center
  High-efficiency heating and cooling systems installed in fiscal 2002 reduced energy consumption by approximately 30 percent compared with conventional systems.
  This reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1,290 tons on a CO₂ basis.
  (Kumamoto Technology Center annual greenhouse gas emissions: approx. 49,000 tons CO₂)

• -Example of Sony Semiconductor Kyushu Corporation, Kokubu Technology Center
  High-efficiency heating and cooling systems installed in June 2004 reduced energy consumption by approximately 60 percent compared with conventional systems.
  This is expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 17,000 tons on a CO₂ basis (based on first-quarter results), which accounts for about 12% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of the approx. 142,000 tons CO₂ in Kokubu Technology Center.

(3) Strengthening the Environmental Management Structure

• *For more detailed information, refer to pages 44 and 45 of CSR Report 2004.
  On the basis of success achieved so far in acquiring ISO14001 certification for all sites worldwide, Sony has launched a program in December, 2003 to build and implement a common environmental management system that can be applied to Sony Group operations worldwide. As part of this process, Sony underwent the necessary auditing and succeeded in acquiring ISO14001 certification for the environmental governance functions of its HQ and regional environmental offices in June 2004. This network of HQ and regional environmental offices forms the backbone of Sony's environmental management system.

Sony has also established a system of verification in which a single external certification organization conducts an external audit of the environmental management system. The audit includes verification of levels of greenhouse gas emissions and the accuracy of data included in the annual CSR Report outlining environmental performance.

Sony intends to gradually change over from the current system of independently acquired ISO14001 certification to a system of group ISO14001 certification by using the network of HQ and regional environmental offices, which has recently acquired certification for environmental governance. The target is group ISO14001 certification for all Sony Group sites worldwide by the end of March 2006. Total number of sites targeted for group certification: 373
This breaks down to:
Americas: 36
Europe: 33
Japan: 194
Asia: 110

The End