Environmental Management

SoftBank considers global environmental problems to be important management issues and has established environmental action guidelines and built an environmental management system and management structure to promote efforts by all executives and employees to reduce our environmental impact.

Environmental action guidelines

SoftBank has established these guidelines under the oversight of our Board of Directors to ensure that all of our directors and employees work together to reduce our environmental impact and contribute to the continuous development of a sustainable society by proactively working to maintain and preserve the global environment through our business activities.
Business activities covered by these guidelines include all facilities and equipment, distribution and logistics in general, business expansion through M&A and the establishment of JVs, and entry into new businesses.

  • Comply with environmental laws, ordinances and other regulations and requirements.
  • Establish an Environment Committee under the oversight of the Executive Officer in Charge of ESG to establish an environmental management system, set environmental targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy saving, resource saving, waste reduction, and water use reduction, and to continue to improve our environmental performance to solve issues such as climate change countermeasures and resource depletion.
  • Promote environmental-friendly green procurement in our purchase of office equipment and supplies.
  • Strive to provide telecommunications services, etc. which help reduce the environmental load and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across society as a whole.
  • Take into account the business impact on ecosystems and promote initiatives to conserve biodiversity.
  • Strive to provide environmental education to employees while also announcing the details of these guidelines and our environmental information both internally and externally to reduce the environmental load together with stakeholders including group companies, business partners, and suppliers.

Environmental management system

SoftBank has formulated environmental action guidelines and established an environmental management system and administrative framework to promote environmentally-conscious business activities and actively engage in environmental conservation activities. We are aiming to improve the environmental friendliness of our business activities by focusing on the prevention of global warming which is particularly important for its impact on the environment, promotion of mobile phone recycling, conservation of resources, restriction of the usage and inclusion as well as the emission of specified toxic substances defined in the RoHS Directive*.

Moreover, as the public awareness of environmental issues grows, corporations are facing more diverse demands to provide environmentally-friendly products and services and implement smarter business practices through regulations governing environmental conservation, energy conservation, and resource saving.
As public awareness of environmental issues grows, corporations are facing more diverse demands to provide environmentally friendly products and services, to adhere to regulations governing environmental protection, and to achieve energy conservation and resource saving through smart business practices. To respond swiftly to these trends and demands, SoftBank has incorporated a PDCA (plan, execution, confirmation, improvement) cycle to guide our environmental management system and improvements are made on a continuous basis.

In order to promote our environmental management system, we have obtained ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management systems, for our 19 business sites, including our head office building, network center, and data center, which are designated as Type 1 or Type 2 energy management designated factories, etc.

[Note]
  1. *
    EU regulations which prohibit the inclusion of toxic substances in electrical and electronic devices.
 Environmental management system

For more information on environmental management system certification organizations and our status of acquisition, see here.

Environmental management structure

To promote group-wide environmental conservation activities, SoftBank has established the Environment Committee covering environmental matters under the supervision of the Executive Officer in Charge of ESG, which complies with ISO14001 international standard.

Environmental management structure

Compliance with environmental laws and regulations

SoftBank strives to comply with environmental laws and regulations based on an environmental management system framework. There were no violations of environmental laws and regulations, including those related to air pollution, water contamination and soil contamination prevention in fiscal 2022.

We conduct regular internal audits to verify that the environmental management system conforms to the requirements of ISO14001 and is being effectively implemented based on environmental targets. In addition, based on those results, we identify issues, implement corrective measures, and revise the environmental management system for continuous improvement. As a result of external audits we continued to receive ISO 14001 certification in fiscal 2022.

Environmental targets and results

We establish targets as a company in order to promote corporate activities which run the environmental management system in a manner which is appropriate to the maintenance and improvement of the global environment.

FY2023

Category Objectives Main measures
Climate Change Measures Ratio of renewable energy for base stations: 80% or more (FY2023)
  • Procurement of Environmental Value Certificates
Ratio of renewable energy to electricity used by the company: 50% or more
  • New procurement from renewable energy generation
  • Net zero emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3) (FY2050)
  • Carbon neutrality (Scope 1, 2) (FY2030)
  • Procurement of Environmental Value Certificates/Implementation of various energy conservation measures

Office etc.

  • Implementation of measures in cooperation with building owners

Network Center and Data Center etc.

  • Reduce electricity consumption (basic unit) by 1% in one year
Promoting a recycling-oriented society Mobile phones collected for reuse or recycling: 12 million (FY 2020-2025)
  • Establishment of a system
  • Dissemination of information
Percentage of decommissioned base stations going to landfill: 1% or less
  • Ensure recycling
Preservation of Biodiversity
  • Promote initiatives related to conserving biodiversity/natural capital
  • Reducing the impact of land development on biodiversity
  • Promote initiatives to reduce the impact of business on biodiversity
  • Coral Preservation Activities in Onna Village
Compliance with environmental laws and regulations Proper handling of industrial waste

Office

  • Implementation of employee training
  • Preparation of manuals and contract templates
  • Establishment of a consultation desk and other systems

Promotion of electronic processing

  • Promotion of computerization of processing operations
  • Thorough compliance with laws, regulations, and ordinances
Proper handling of waste CFCs

Promotion of electronic processing

  • Promotion of computerization of processing operations
  • Thorough compliance with laws, regulations, and ordinances
Proper management of plastics
  • Curbing plastic usage
  • Set recycling targets
  • Publication of target results
  • Grasping the amount of plastic waste generated

FY2022

Category Objectives Result
Climate Change Measures Ratio of renewable energy for base stations: 70% or more (FY2022)
  • Base Station Renewable Energy Ratio: 72.1%
Carbon neutrality (Scope 1, 2) (FY2030)
  • Promoting switchover to renewable energy
  • Consideration of technology-based energy conservation measures
  • Consideration of introducing renewable energy with additionality
Promoting a recycling-oriented society Mobile phones collected for reuse or recycling: 10 million (FY2020-2025)
  • Cumulative total of 7.3 million units (FY2020 - FY2022)
Percentage of decommissioned base stations going to landfill: 1% or less
  • 0.04%
Preservation of Biodiversity Promote initiatives related to conserving biodiversity/natural capital
  • Number of coral seedlings planted by the “Future and Coral Project”: 136
Compliance with environmental laws and regulations Proper handling of industrial waste
  • Ensure thorough compliance with laws and regulations
  • Ensure the use of electronic manifests in accordance with regulations
Proper handling of waste CFCs
  • Ensure thorough compliance with laws and regulations
  • Thorough management of waste CFC processing during the disposal of air conditioning equipment

Major initiatives

Environmental education

SoftBank provides environmental education through an e-learning program to help employees acquire basic knowledge and raise awareness of environmental issues.
Each employee can learn extensively about SoftBank's environmental management.

Employees can also access these e-learning courses on demand from their iPads or iPhones. The percentage of all employees taking environmental education in FY2022 was 75.4%.

In the contribution assessment that evaluates the achievements and contributions to the organization, factors such as “contribution to overall CO2 reduction in society,” which are material issues KPIs related to climate change, are taken into account. The results of this assessment are considered in determining employee bonuses.