Message from the Executive Officer
in Charge of ESG Promotion
- Our mindset toward ESG management and our ESG promotion structure
- Initiatives related to climate change and biodiversity conservation
- Increasing corporate value through human capital management
- Increase corporate value by strengthening governance
- Continuing to bring out answers to social issues, aiming to become the corporate group needed most by people around the world
Our mindset toward ESG management and
our ESG promotion structure
We have designated the realization of a sustainable society through business operations and increased corporate value as requirements in our ESG management. We have established the ESG Promotion Office as an organization charged with spreading our mindset toward ESG management throughout SoftBank Corp. and our group companies. Also, in response to the expectations and requests of a wide range of stakeholders, we established the ESG Promotion Committee as an advisory body to the Board of Directors. Junichi Miyakawa, our President & CEO, serves as the Chief ESG Officer, while I am responsible for promoting ESG group-wide as the Executive Officer in Charge of ESG Promotion.
Initiatives related to climate change and
biodiversity conservation
In order to realize a sustainable society, we regard addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation, and natural capital and resource circulation as a social responsibility and recognize them as important management issues. Regarding climate change, we are working to bring greenhouse gas emissions from our business activities to net zero by 2030 in accordance with our declaration of "Carbon-Neutral 2030," while we reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout our supply chain, including our customers and suppliers, to net zero by 2050. The entire group is working as one toward this goal.
Also, for biodiversity conservation, we support the international community's goal of being nature positive. For example, we conduct forest conservation activities to reduce the impact of our business operations on ecosystems. When we have communications equipment such as mobile phone base stations in locations where biodiversity is important, we plant trees in an area twice as large as that taken up by our equipment as well as conduct other forest conservation activities. In addition, we conduct information disclosure on the impact of our business activities on natural capital based on the framework announced by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
We strive to use limited resources effectively and promote efforts to reduce waste generation and encourage resource recycling. Addressing global environmental challenges through initiatives related to natural capital and resource circulation is not only a contribution to social sustainability but also an essential factor in enhancing corporate trust and competitiveness, ultimately leading to increased corporate value.
Increasing corporate value
through human capital management
SoftBank Corp. regards our human resources as a key driver of our business growth, and we believe it is important to create environments and provide opportunities for diverse human resources to maximize the use of their individuality and abilities to bolster our corporate value. Our approach to human capital management is a mechanism whereby employees' growth leads to corporate growth, and the resulting achievements are returned to employees as opportunities for advancement, thereby generating a virtuous cycle that further drives growth. To maximize human capital, we have established programs that support self-development and promote autonomous career development. As a result, over 2,000 employees have passed the G Test (Generalist Examination), which assesses fundamental knowledge of AI and deep learning, and more than 1,000 employees have shifted to new domains—including generative AI services and cloud businesses—demonstrating an embedded culture of challenge and growth. We aim to become Japan's leading company in generative AI utilization. To that end, we are building the infrastructure for AI usage, providing learning opportunities in generative AI, and hosting a generative AI utilization contest across the entire SoftBank Group. To date, this contest has received over 210,000 submissions, and each employee's creativity and practical efforts have contributed to the organization's collective knowledge and growth.
Furthermore, we position the promotion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) as an important management issue and are advancing the creation of an environment where diverse talent—regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, nationality, or disability status—can fully demonstrate their capabilities. Specifically, to promote women's advancement, we have established the "Advancement of Women Promotion Committee" with external experts as advisors, and are implementing multifaceted initiatives such as career training for female employees and a mentoring program led by in-house managers. Through these initiatives, we aim to become an organization full of dynamism and vitality. Going forward, we will continue to proactively invest in our human capital and disclose relevant information, develop talent in line with business growth, and strive to remain a company chosen by all stakeholders in a changing era.
Increase corporate value by strengthening governance
Robust corporate governance is essential to improving corporate value. To create a high-quality governance system, raise management transparency, and conduct corporate governance with fairness and integrity, we have selected Audit & Supervisory Board Members and established the Audit & Supervisory Board to conduct effective audits on the status of the execution of duties by Board Directors. Also, we structured our Board such that our six Independent External Board Members came to comprise a majority (54.5%) of the total eleven members of the Board of Directors, improving managerial independence and transparency. We have formulated the SoftBank Code of Conduct, which is to be upheld through Board Members and individual employees so that they maintain strong ethics and a deep sense of responsibility in the execution of daily operations. Along with this, we aim to spread awareness of compliance, implementing diverse initiatives such as various training programs and our Compliance Awareness Month. Through this, we endeavor to guarantee transparency in every aspect of our corporate activities and create governance trusted by all stakeholders.
In addition, we have advanced human-rights initiatives such as the "SoftBank Human Rights Policy," which prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, place of origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, or illness for all stakeholders including employees, business partners, and our supply chain, as well as "Our Approach to Customer Harassment," which not only maintains good relations with valued customers but also protects our employees from abusive language and unreasonable demands to ensure a safe and secure working environment.
Continuing to bring out answers to social issues,
aiming to become the corporate group needed most
by people around the world
With our corporate philosophy of "Information Revolution – Happiness for Everyone" and our vision of "Becoming the Corporate Group Needed Most by People Around the World," we now aim to be a company that provides the necessary next-generation social infrastructure to develop a digitized society by 2030 as our long-term vision. SoftBank's brand symbol of two lines in an equal sign represents the corporate mindset of the SoftBank Group, a leader in the Information Revolution that strives to bring answers and solutions for various issues confronting our customers and society as a whole. Moreover, in 2024, we introduced our new slogan of "Answers to Social Issues," spreading our methods and underlying thoughts through initiatives focused on addressing existing, potential social problems. Our employees are conscious of how they can connect and contribute to the philosophy, vision and ideals shown in our brand logo through their own operations and daily activities, and our six important material issues form the compass guiding them. We are confident that the combined efforts of each employee will bring the realization of a sustainable society and increased corporate value.
July 2025
Fumihiro Aono
Executive Vice President, CHRO & Executive Officer in Charge of ESG
SoftBank Corp.