Kao
Kao earns a top-tier place because governance, traceability, and supply-chain ethics are unusually mature, even if the climate and product-circularity story is less consumer-visible than some rivals.
Score
88
Industry
Beauty
Country
Japan
Report year
2026
Badge
Eligible to use the sustainablereports badge
Score breakdown
Resource efficiency
86The strongest resource signal is upstream traceability, especially in palm sourcing, rather than a simple refill-led consumer packaging story.
Impact on environment
89Lifecycle CO2 is down 15% versus 2017 and the company has a long-range carbon-zero and carbon-negative pathway, though the pace is more gradual than the very top scorers.
Social responsibility
90Smallholder support, grievance systems, and human-rights management make Kao stronger than average on supplier-side responsibility.
Economic benefits
87Kao's sustainability work is structured like an operating system for resilient premium beauty and personal-care growth, not just a packaging campaign.
Certifications and signals
Evidence and sources
Kao Sustainability Report 2026
Kao
Covers fiscal 2025 progress and reports climate, governance, and materials performance under the Kirei Lifestyle Plan.
View sourceKao Sustainability Report 2025
Kao
Provides prior-year context for climate, water, and palm traceability performance.
View sourceRelated reports
Related rankings
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