Message from the Executive Officer
in Charge of ESG Promotion

Our mindset toward ESG management
and our ESG promotion structure

SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) positions the realization of a sustainable society through its business activities and the enhancement of corporate value as essential to our ESG management. As we move toward the realization of an AI-driven society, SoftBank has positioned its AI strategy at the core of its management and set forth in its Long-term Vision for 2030 that providing Next-generation Social Infrastructure is essential to the development of a digital society.
To realize this vision, SoftBank is advancing ESG initiatives based on material issues while executing its Medium-term Management Plan. SoftBank established the ESG Promotion Office to embed this ESG management approach across the company and into its group companies (“the Group”). In addition, to address the expectations and requests of a wide range of stakeholders, SoftBank 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 serve as the Executive Officer in Charge, leading ESG initiatives across the Group.

Initiatives to address climate change,
green transformation, and biodiversity conservation
with view to realizing an AI-driven society

In order to realize a sustainable society, we regard addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation, and natural capital and resource circulation as social responsibilities and recognize them as important management issues. Regarding climate change, we are working to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from our business activities by 2030 in accordance with our "Carbon-Neutral 2030" declaration while reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout our entire supply chain, including our customers and suppliers, to net zero by 2050. The entire Group is working as one toward this goal.
To respond to the increase in electricity demand driven by the widespread adoption of AI, SoftBank is promoting the development and deployment of distributed AI data centers. Through these initiatives, we aim to achieve local production and consumption of energy, optimize the allocation of computing resources, enhance resilience, and develop highly energy efficient infrastructure. At the same time, SoftBank positions green transformation as a key growth strategy to accelerate both the transition of its energy structure and business growth, and is accelerating the use of renewable energy and the introduction of energy saving technologies.
In biodiversity conservation, SoftBank supports the global goal of achieving a nature positive society and is committed to reducing the impact of its business activities on ecosystems. The development of base stations and data centers inherently requires land use and the utilization of natural capital. Accordingly, when installing telecommunications equipment such as mobile base stations in areas of high biodiversity importance, we conduct forest conservation activities, including tree planting on land at least twice the size of the area used.
In addressing resource circulation, we are promoting the effective use of limited resources while advancing initiatives to reduce waste generation and enhance recycling. Through initiatives related to natural capital and resource circulation, we recognize that addressing global environmental challenges is not only essential for contributing to the sustainability of society, but also a critical driver for enhancing corporate credibility and competitiveness, ultimately leading to the sustainable growth of corporate value.

Increasing corporate value
through human capital management

SoftBank regards its human resources as a key driver of 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 2,600 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 a culture that is embedded with taking on challenges and professional 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 Group. To date, this contest has received over 260,000 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.

Enhancing 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 compliance awareness, 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 a governance system trusted by all stakeholders.
To maintain a robust management structure, SoftBank advances management renewal while proactively addressing emerging risks. For example, the realization of an AI-driven society inherently gives rise to new risks associated with AI. SoftBank has established an internal governance framework through the formulation of AI ethics guidelines and the establishment of an AI ethics committee. In the development phase, it incorporates fairness, explainability, and transparency into system design, while in the operational phase it defines the scope and impact of AI usage and conducts appropriate risk assessments. In addition, given the nature of its business involving personal data, SoftBank recognizes strengthening information security as a key management priority. We are continuously preparing for evolving security risks and have established a Risk Management Office reporting directly to the President to strengthen awareness and preventive measures for risks and opportunities across the Group, including subsidiaries.
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 from customers to ensure a safe and secure working environment.

Continuing to provide answers to social issues,
aiming to become the Corporate Group needed most
by people around the world

SoftBank is guided by its corporate philosophy of "Information Revolution — Happiness for everyone" and its vision of "Becoming the Corporate Group Needed Most by People Around the World." Looking ahead, the integration of AI, green transformation and digital infrastructure will be essential to building a new industrial foundation. SoftBank views social issues as growth opportunities and will accelerate strategic investment and disciplined execution to achieve both a sustainable society and a significant enhancement of corporate value.

To provide answers to social issues, SoftBank will drive ESG management and its AI strategy as two core pillars in its pursuit of its goal to become the company needed most by people around the world.