Canon Inc – Lobbying Governance & Transparency

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Lobbying Governance

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Strong	Canon Inc. has implemented a structured governance process for its climate-related policy engagement, whereby its Global Environment Center of Sustainability Headquarters monitors the status of external activities that exert an impact on national policy and climate change strategies as well as the status of direct and indirect cooperative activities conducted by Canon. Through a Group-linked information-gathering framework, it analyzes information that it has obtained through industries and supplies the results of that analysis to related internal divisions while simultaneously incorporating those results into the strategies and policies of the Canon Group. In collaboration with policy planners, the Global Environment Center determines strategies and carries out activities based on those strategies while verifying their consistency with the policies of Canon, and product operations divisions then decide on specific actions to take ... based on information from the Global Environment Center. Oversight is clearly defined: the Senior General Manager of the Global Environment Center reports each activity to the Executive Officer & Group Executive of Sustainability Headquarters, who provides a monthly report to the CFO in charge of environmental affairs, with select items elevated to the Board of Executives if they necessitate it. Canon further affirms its commitment by publicly aligning its engagement activities in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. While this framework covers both direct lobbying and its indirect cooperation through industry channels and designates named senior managers and governance bodies, the company does not disclose any publicly available third-party audit or dedicated report explicitly assessing its climate lobbying alignment. View Sources	B

Overall Assessment

Analysis

Score

Strong

Canon Inc. has implemented a structured governance process for its climate-related policy engagement, whereby its Global Environment Center of Sustainability Headquarters monitors the status of external activities that exert an impact on national policy and climate change strategies as well as the status of direct and indirect cooperative activities conducted by Canon. Through a Group-linked information-gathering framework, it analyzes information that it has obtained through industries and supplies the results of that analysis to related internal divisions while simultaneously incorporating those results into the strategies and policies of the Canon Group. In collaboration with policy planners, the Global Environment Center determines strategies and carries out activities based on those strategies while verifying their consistency with the policies of Canon, and product operations divisions then decide on specific actions to take ... based on information from the Global Environment Center. Oversight is clearly defined: the Senior General Manager of the Global Environment Center reports each activity to the Executive Officer & Group Executive of Sustainability Headquarters, who provides a monthly report to the CFO in charge of environmental affairs, with select items elevated to the Board of Executives if they necessitate it. Canon further affirms its commitment by publicly aligning its engagement activities in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. While this framework covers both direct lobbying and its indirect cooperation through industry channels and designates named senior managers and governance bodies, the company does not disclose any publicly available third-party audit or dedicated report explicitly assessing its climate lobbying alignment.

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Lobbying Transparency

Overall Assessment	Analysis	Score
Limited	Canon provides some, but limited, visibility into its climate-related lobbying. It identifies a single piece of legislation it works on – Japan’s “Act on Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities” – and explains that the law focuses on product efficiency standards designed to foster a low-carbon economy. The company describes one clear method and target of influence, stating that it has “dispatched personnel to the Ministry of the Environment over a ten-year period to serve as personnel in charge of these laws and regulations,” showing direct engagement with a named government body. Canon also indicates the policy change it is pursuing, namely “supporting the proliferation of products with a low environmental impact through procurement activities by the national government” and a focus on “evaluating energy-saving in products and energy at the time of their production.” However, the disclosure is confined to this single law, cites only one lobbying channel, and articulates just a broad desired result, so overall transparency remains limited.	D