Corporate Social Responsibility
Our CSR strategy ensures that we have a positive impact on our people, the environment, our chosen charities and the community around us.
CSR at Sharp Europe
In 1973, Sharp outlined a bold business philosophy: “to contribute to the culture, benefits, and welfare of people throughout the world”. To achieve this aim "Sincerity and Creativity" are the guiding principles behind everything we do and we are completely committed to providing products and technologies that help make society a better place.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy is designed to ensure that we give back as much as possible and have a positive impact on our people, the environment, our chosen charities and the community around us.
charity: water
Restricted access to drinking water is the reality for four out of five families in developing countries. In the mountainous Tigray region of Ethiopia, it is not uncommon for people to walk an hour or more to fetch water, drawing it unfiltered from a murky, open well. So, back in 2019, Sharp Europe began working with charity: water to fund the creation of a water handpump.
The project was completed in June 2021 and is transforming the lives of over 65,000 local people by giving them access to clean and safe drinking water. It has been particularly significant during the COVID-19 pandemic as good hygiene and thorough cleansing are the first line of defence against infection, but this is almost impossible without clean water.
To ensure the sustainability of the project, the local community has also been encouraged to take responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the water supply, identify their sanitation challenges and establish long-term health and hygiene practices.
Read more about Sharp's work with charity: water: Sharp Europe & charity: water Providing Clean Water in Ethiopia
Reducing our carbon footprint
As a company sensitive to sustainability, last year Sharp signed-up for the “Registry of carbon footprint, offsetting and CO2 removal” run by the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
This registry helps coordinate the efforts of Spanish organisations in calculating and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions generated by their activity in order to reduce the impact on climate change.
At the same time, it provides them with the opportunity to offset all or part of their carbon footprint through a series of forestry projects located in national territory. These projects integrate numerous environmental and social benefits, including the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, also known as carbon sequestration.
We are currently registered for 2019 and 2020 and have the certificate of registration of "CALCULO", as we calculate and verify our direct emissions and those associated with energy consumption. Our target for the coming years is to achieve "REDUCE" or "COMPENSATE".
Taking care of the vulnerable
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on many people’s physical and psychological health, but especially the more vulnerable members of society.
The Catalonia Foundation, located outside Barcelona, Spain, aims to promote and encourage education, guardianship, vocational training, employment and socio-cultural care for people with intellectual disabilities, behavioural disorders or who are at risk of social exclusion. During the period of confinement due to COVID-19 they have suffered more than usual, as they have not received the special attention and directed activities they need.
As they are now getting back to normality, they have started to create promotional materials in their workshop, which is helping their residents to become more motivated and feel integrated into society by seeing their items used by well-known companies.
Sharp regularly gives away various marketing items during sales promotions, meetings and local events, so this year we chose the foundation to create some of our promotional material. We have already purchased some flip-flops, and we plan to order more items for dealer meetings in the future.
