About the Company
Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York City, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) has 8 offices in major U.S. cities. SCOA is the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, one of the world’s leading traders of goods and services. As an integrated business enterprise, Sumitomo Corporation has emerged as a major organizer of multinational projects, an expediter of ideas, an important international investor and financier, and a powerful force for the distribution of products and global communications through its network of offices worldwide.
While SCOA’s business areas include traditional industries such as tubular, transportation, steel, mineral resources, energy, real estate and chemicals – they have also established a premier focus on decarbonization activities, including the formation on the Energy Innovation Initiative, Americas (EIIA). The EIIA seeks out companies and new technologies that aid in the energy transition to a carbon neutral society. In the Americas they have a focus on areas strategically aligned with long-term global themes or strategic business units (SBU’s), including energy innovation, agriculture and social and civil infrastructure.
On Sustainability
Sustainability is a prime focus within the entire Sumitomo Corporation Group long before it was the “buzz word” we hear today. As their corporate message “Enriching Lives and the World” states, they aim to enrich the world, society and the lives of others through new value creation. This is based on their business philosophy “Benefit for self and others; private and public interests are one in the same,” which has been passed down over many years. Both SC and SCOA are signatories of the UN Global Compact, for which the Sustainable Development Goals have been a guidepost in the company’s approach to sustainability management.
In April 2017, the company identified “Six Material Issues to Achieve Sustainable Growth with Society” in the future. SC Group has positioned these material issues as important elements in developing business strategies and in the decision-making process. In 2020, the company introduced its Six Key Social Issues to enhance its sustainability management. These issues are: Mitigation of Climate Change; Circular Economy; Respect for Human Rights; Development of Local Society and Economy; Improvement of Living Standard; Quality Education. SC Group aims to address these issues through its business activities and has assigned specific goals to make quantitative progress in each area, such as the company’s commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050.