Kao significantly expands skin protection business, helping to improve consumers’ quality of life

As part of its Mid-term Plan K27 and Global Sharp Top strategy, Kao aims to use unique leading-edge technologies to address pressing social and environmental challenges and grow its businesses while working to become an essential company for a sustainable world.
By aligning ESG initiatives with the Global Sharp Top business strategy, Kao is not only expanding business opportunities and reducing risks, but also contributing to society and enriching the lives of all people and the planet in line with its Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
The skin protection business, the leading initiative of Kao’s Global Sharp Top strategy, improves consumers’ quality of life. Kao was able to significantly grow this business, with a 29% increase in sales year-on-year.

Kao Corporation (TOKYO:4452), a leading manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics and specialty chemicals, has released the Kao Sustainability Report 2025 on its company website, providing a progress report on its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
Kao Sustainability Report 2025

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Kao's ESG Strategy Kirei Lifestyle Plan

Junko Ohtani, Executive Officer in charge of Kao’s ESG Division, comments, “We are committed to solving social and environmental issues through innovation, anticipating the needs of our consumers and customers. Ensuring our products offer not only superior functional and emotional value but also social value is the key to being chosen by our consumers, helping them achieve more comfortable and sustainable lifestyles simply by using Kao products.”

Main ESG Initiatives in 2024 That Balanced Business Growth with Addressing Key Social and Environmental Challenges
As part of its Mid-term Plan K27 and Global Sharp Top strategy, Kao aims to use unique leading-edge technologies to address pressing social and environmental challenges and grow its businesses while working to become an essential company for a sustainable world. By aligning its ESG initiatives with the Global Sharp Top business strategy, Kao is not only expanding business opportunities and reducing risks, but also contributing to society and enriching the lives of all people and the planet in line with its Kirei Lifestyle Plan.

In 2024, Kao made great strides in advancing its Global Sharp Top strategy by leveraging its ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
Kao Sustainability Report 2025: Executive summary

Improved quality of life: 29% increase in sales (year-on-year) in the skin protection business
The skin protection business is the leading initiative within the Global Sharp Top strategy, helping to improve consumers’ quality of life by combatting rising ultraviolet (UV) rays, air pollution and other environmental factors that can cause skin damage. There has been an increase in global demand in this area and sales have grown significantly. The product range includes UV care products to protect the skin from UV rays, self-tanning (safe color) products to produce a tanned look without UV exposure, and environmental skin protection such as mosquito repellents. These products harness Kao’s unique technologies to address market requirements —not just in Japan, but also Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Making the world healthier & cleaner: 24% increase in sales (year-on-year) of products with excellent environmental performance
Part of the ESG strategy is a commitment to “making the world healthier and cleaner.” Sales of products meeting Kao’s strict environmental conformity requirements are increasing. Just like last year, this rise is attributed to an increase in conforming products in the Attack laundry detergent and CuCute dishwashing detergent brands, which make up a high percentage of total sales and boast excellent environmental performance. Increased sales and market share for these brands also contributed to sales figures for the Fabric and Home Care Business.

Responsibly sourced raw materials: 88% traceability to oil palm farms
Kao is committed to sustainably sourcing palm oil, its most important natural resource. Traceability is essential to minimize environmental and human rights risks in the supply chain and to ensure a stable supply of raw materials. Achieving a traceability rate of 88% demonstrates steady progress towards building a sustainable palm oil supply chain.

Decarbonization: 15% reduction in lifecycle CO₂ emissions (Base year: 2017)
Accelerating its efforts to reach carbon zero by 2040 and become carbon negative by 2050, Kao is helping to achieve a decarbonized society by introducing low-carbon facilities, expanding the use of renewable energy and reducing CO₂ emissions throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Making the world healthier & cleaner: One of just eight companies worldwide to receive a CDP Triple-A rating
Kao has been selected as an A-List company, the highest rating awardable, in all three surveys of Climate Change, Forests and Water Security, carried out by the international non-governmental organization CDP on more than 24,800 companies worldwide. Kao was one of eight companies to achieve the Triple-A rating in 2024, and is the only company in Japan to be selected for five consecutive years.

Effective corporate governance: One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies^® for 19 consecutive years
In recognition of the ethical culture that the company has always fostered, Kao has been selected by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies 2025^®. Kao is one of only six companies worldwide and the only Asian company to have received this award for 19 consecutive years since it was established in 2007.

Reporting on progress toward decarbonization, the Kao Sustainability Report 2025 includes the results of a quantitative scenario analysis conducted in line with the TCFD^* framework for the first time. The analysis identifies opportunities related to climate risk mitigation, including products designed to save water and products made with less resources in the Consumer Products Business, as well as products helping to address climate change issues for customers and industry in the Chemical Business. In terms of opportunities related to climate risk adaptation, the analysis identifies new business opportunities such as the skin protection business.
* The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, launched in 2015, provides a framework enabling companies to more effectively disclose climate-related risks and opportunities through their existing reporting processes.

Related Information
News Release from April 2019
Kao launches new ESG Strategy “Kirei Lifestyle Plan” to support consumer lifestyle changes
Kao sustainability website
Kao Integrated Report 2025

About the Kirei Lifestyle Plan
Over the past 130 years, Kao has worked to improve people’s lives and help them realize more sustainable lifestyles—a Kirei Lifestyle. The Japanese word “kirei” describes something that is clean, well-ordered, and beautiful all at once. For Kao, this concept of “kirei” not only describes appearance but also attitude—a desire to create beauty for oneself, for other people, and for the natural world around us. Aiming to realize a more sustainable way of living, in April 2019, the Kao Group established its ESG strategy known as the Kirei Lifestyle Plan. By 2030, Kao aims to empower at least 1 billion people, to enjoy more beautiful lives. Kao also strives to have 100% of its products leave a full lifecycle environmental footprint that science says our natural world can safely absorb.
Please visit the Kao sustainability website for more information.

About Kao
Kao, a Japan-based manufacturer of personal care and household products, cosmetics, and specialty chemicals creates high-value-added products and services that provide care and enrichment for the life of all people and the planet. Through its brands such as Attack laundry detergent, Bioré and Jergens skin care products, Laurier sanitary products, Curél, SENSAI, and MOLTON BROWN cosmetics, and Oribe hair care products, Kao is part of the everyday lives of people across Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Combined with its chemical business, which contributes to a wide range of industries, Kao generates about 1,630 billion yen in annual sales. Kao employs about 32,600 people worldwide and has more than 130 years of history in innovation. As an enterprise that provides products people use on a daily basis, the Kao Group takes responsibility to actively reduce the environmental footprint of its products throughout the product lifecycle. This is laid out in Kao’s ESG strategy, the Kirei Lifestyle Plan, which launched in 2019.
Please visit the Kao Group website for additional information.

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Public Relations
Kao Corporation
corporate_pr@kao.com

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