TCFD-based Climate Change-related Information Disclosure

Initiatives for the TCFD recommendations

Guided by "The Advantest Way," Advantest implements climate change mitigation and adaptation measures from a long-term perspective, aiming to help solve important environmental issues through our business. In April 2020, Advantest announced its support for the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and is engaged in analyzing and disclosing information on business risks and opportunities attributed to climate change.

Governance

Advantest's environmental management system, which includes climate change-related matters, is led by the global lead of the SMWG. The SMWG is headed by the Group CEO, and consists of members representing all business units, functional units and regional units. Advantest's environmental goals are established through the formulation and review of the "Sustainability Action Plan," which is formulated through discussion and approval by the Executive Committee. The climate-related targets in the action plan are reviewed annually, taking into account the trends of environmental consortia in industry associations, as well as frameworks such as IFRS S1, S2 and TCFD. The SMWG reports on initiatives and progress towards the sustainability action plan, which sets out sustainability-related targets, including climate-related targets, at the Global Sustainability Meeting, and receives confirmation and approval from the management. In addition, the analysis of climate-related risks and opportunities based on the TCFD is reported to the CSO, who then approves the results of the analysis. The Board of Directors receives reports on climate-related risks and opportunities, holds discussions based on the content of the reports, and oversees whether appropriate responses are being made to related regulations.

Strategy

Advantest is promoting climate change countermeasures as one of the key themes in its environmental activities. Since collaboration with external stakeholders such as customers and suppliers is essential in promoting climate change countermeasures, Advantest has set mid-term targets for each climate change issue, focusing on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the introduction of renewable energy. Advantest has established unified task forces (TFs) that work with internal and external to promote responsible efforts to address climate-related issues. TF1 focuses on CO2 reduction in product development and TF3 targets CO2 reduction through collaboration with customers. Both TF1 and TF3 aim to address Scope 3 Category 11 through collaboration with customers. TF2 focuses on reduction of CO2 emissions through collaboration with business partners to address Scope 3 Category 1 through collaboration with suppliers, and TF4 aims for reduction of CO2 emissions through business activities with the introduction of energy-saving equipment and renewable energy to address Scope 1+2, which is direct emissions from our own production processes. All four TFs are implementing activities related to their goals.

Task Forces to promote CO2 reduction

Task Force Approach Specific Activities
TF1 Scope 3 C11 (Use of sold products) Development of optimal test solutions for semiconductors, which are becoming increasingly complex
TF2 Scope 3 C1 (Purchased products and services) 2 emissions reduction through cooperation with our business partners
TF3 Scope 3 C11 (Use of sold products) 2 emission reduction through cooperation with customers
TF4 Scope 1+2 (Direct emissions from our own industrial processes, such as purchased electricity) Reduction of CO2 emissions from business activities through the introduction of energy-saving equipment and renewable energy

Climate change risks and opportunities

Advantest assesses and regularly reviews climate change risks and opportunities in accordance with the TCFD classification in order to understand the risks and opportunities brought about by climate change and work to improve its own resilience. These risks and opportunities were assessed according to their priority and impact and were classified into time frames for short (until 2027), medium (until 2030), and long term (until 2050). In the context of scenario analysis, the following time horizons are considered for both 1.5°C/2°C and 4°C scenarios.

  • The scenarios related to transition risks and opportunities are set for the year 2030 in order to accurately reflect policy trends.
  • The scenarios related to the physical risks are presented for the years 2030 and 2050, respectively, based on the assumption that the physical impacts of climate change have already begun to manifest themselves and that they will intensify in severity and frequency if global temperatures continue to rise in the future.

In evaluating the risks and opportunities associated with climate change, we consider a range of scenarios, including the IEA NZE2050, IEA APS, RCP 1.9, RCP2.6, SSP1-1.9, SSP1-2.6, RCP8.5, and SSP5-8.5.

Climate change risks

Two scenarios described in the TCFD categories were deliberated regarding business risks related to climate change.

  1. (1)
    "Risks related to the transition to a decarbonized society," which occurs mainly during the well below 1.5/2-degrees Celsius scenario
  2. (2)
    "Risks related to the physical effects of climate change," which occurs in the 4-degrees Celsius scenario in which global CO2 emissions reduction goals are not achieved

Regarding physical risks, we have estimated the impact of flood damage at our own production sites in 2030 and 2050. As a result of the risk assessment, it has been determined that there is a risk of flooding at three of our production sites: the Gunma Factory, the Saitama R&D Center and Essai, Inc.(Chandler, Arizona, U.S.A.). At the Gunma Factory, the construction to raise the level of the extra-high voltage substation was carried out when it was renewed and flood prevention measures such as the installation of waterproof panels have been taken. Flood prevention measures are also being considered at the Saitama R&D Center. Essai, Inc.'s Chandler plant has installed a drainage system to cope with heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. Additionally, through all-hazards approaches in business continuity management initiatives, Advantest is taking measures to be able to respond to all kinds of disasters including those caused by climate change which will contribute to improving our resilience.

Well below 1.5/2-degrees Celsius scenario: Risks related to the transition to a decarbonized society

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Category Major risks Response/Strategy Time frame
Policies and regulations Increased business costs resulting from compliance with climate change-related regulations (carbon tax, legal compliance costs, parts procurement costs, etc.)
  • Promoting the introduction of renewable energy at our company sites
  • Supporting supplier decarbonization
Short term
Technology and market
  • Increase in R&D costs due to the accelerated implementation of measures to reduce environmental impact and intensified competition in areas related to decarbonization (carbon footprint, etc.)
  • Decrease in sales resulting from changes in customer evaluations and lost sales opportunities due to inability to meet customer needs for low-carbon technologies
  • Enhancing the value of our products by optimizing power performance and improving test performance
  • Promoting products with excellent environmental performance
  • Developing human resources to respond to next-generation energy waving research and development
Short to medium term
Reputation Deterioration in the competitive environment and changes in investor evaluations due to a decline in reputation for our efforts on climate change issues
  • Promote sustainability management, including climate change initiatives (achieve the goals of the Sustainability Action Plan 2024-2026)
  • Appropriate disclosure of climate change-related data and initiatives
Short to medium term

Well below 4-degrees Celsius scenario: Risks related to the physical effects of climate change

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Category Major risks Response/Strategy Time frame
Acute events Major typhoons and increased rainfall may result in
  • Recovery costs incurred and sales decline due to damage to our production facilities
  • Sales decline due to supply chain disruptions
  • Planning and implementation of flood prevention measures
  • Promoting an all-hazards approach in business continuity management
Short to long term

Climate change opportunities

Semiconductors will contribute significantly to the achievement of Net Zero, which requires stringent climate change countermeasures to be imposed. It is to be assumed that semiconductor production volumes will continue to grow in the future due to factors such as the expansion in semiconductor demand accompanying the digital revolution. Meanwhile, the quality and quantity of semiconductor testing will increase in step with the increasing sophistication and technological evolution of semiconductors. Demand for semiconductor test is expected to increase as a result of the combination of two factors: greater test content per chip, and increased semiconductor production volumes. Hence, Advantest recognizes the Net Zero movement to be an opportunity created by climate change. We will make investments to achieve the necessary technological advancements, such R&D costs and human capital development for next-generation technologies, as a part of our efforts to contribute to Net Zero through our semiconductor test business and product development that meets the needs of new semiconductor technologies.

Climate change-related opportunities

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Category Major opportunities Response/Strategy Time frame
Product & services/market Increased test demand due to strong market growth in semiconductors for AI/HPC, including high-end SoC and HBM
  • Introduction of power optimized products alongside improvements in testing performance
  • Developing new testing methods and testing devices
Short to medium term
Expansion of the test business for power semiconductors in line with the EV transition and growing demand for SiC/GaN semiconductors for power conversion efficiency
  • Developing new testing methods and testing devices
  • Providing solutions to increasingly sophisticated testing needs and optimizing test efficiency
Short to medium term
Maintaining competitive advantage and business growth through improved customer reliability through the development of products with superior environmental performance
  • Steady implementation of the introduction of power optimized products based on the Sustainability Action Plan 2024-2026
Short to medium term

Risk Management

At Advantest, we consider the factors that may hinder business management to be risks and have established a company-wide risk management system. The company-wide risk management system is described in "3. Risk Factors (1) Risk Management Structure," and risks related to climate change are also managed within this system. Specifically, Advantest analyzes and evaluates urgent risks and anticipated risks posed by climate change and implements countermeasures to avoid and mitigate those risks within the company-wide risk management system.

Metrics and Targets

Climate change related metrics and targets are listed in "(1) Sustainability in general 5) Metrics and Targets."

As a mid/long-term climate change countermeasures target, Advantest has set a goal to reach net-zero Scope 1+2 GHG emissions by FY2050. In addition, we have set targets to reduce Scope 1+2 GHG emissions by 60% by FY2030 compared to FY2018. For more details, please see our website. Furthermore, Advantest has established Scope 3 GHG emissions reduction targets for FY 2030. However, in light of changes in the business environment, we are currently reviewing our Scope 3 targets and considering specific measures to achieve these targets. The GHG emissions for FY2023, as outlined below, are estimates as of June 2024. As with other major performance figures, they will undergo third-party assurance by Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC and be published on our group website (scheduled for release in October 2024).

GHG emissions (Scope 1+2) (Note 1)

Unit: 1,000 t-CO2e

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Boundary FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 (Note 2)
Japan 19.68 19.14 16.25 11.83 11.04 9.22
Overseas 18.45 14.71 11.93 13.21 9.43 8.89
Total 38.13 33.85 28.18 25.04 20.47 18.10

GHG emissions (Scope 3)

Unit: 1,000 t-CO2e

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Boundary FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 (Note 2)
Category1 489.53 400.46 482.02 671.61 966.74 881.84
Category11 1,175.02 855.01 1,151.98 1,319.35 1,991.31 1,519.50
Others (Note 3) 28.62 35.37 49.40 61.95 80.26 Currently aggregating the data
Total 1,693.16 1,290.84 1,683.41 2,052.92 3,038.31 Currently aggregating the data
  • *1
    The Scope 2 calculations are based on the market-based method.
  • *2
    GHG emissions for fiscal year 2023 are estimated values as of the filing date.
  • *3
    Advantest does not conduct activities that fall under the following categories: 10 (Processing of sold products), 13 (Downstream leased assets), 14 (Franchises), or 15 (Investments). Therefore, these categories are not included in the calculation.
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