Message from the SDGs Promotion Officer
Promoting the SDGs
As a good corporate member of society, SoftBank Corp. regards contributing to the creation of a sustainable society as a vital management issue. We are working hard toward the attainment of the globally shared targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To respond to the concerns and expectations of a wide range of stakeholders, from communities to customers and business partners, we are building a framework for contributing to the SDGs through our corporate and business activities.
In addition to establishing the SDGs Promotion Committee as an advisory body to the Board of Directors, the SoftBank Corp. group has launched the SDGs Promotion Office, which promotes related efforts at the group level.
Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO, serves as the SoftBank Corp. group's Chief SDGs Promotion Officer, assuming the lead role in SDGs promotion, while I am responsible for promoting the SDGs group-wide as the Executive Officer in Charge of SDGs Promotion.
Responding to climate change
and other global environmental problems
SoftBank Corp. positions its response to global environmental issues as one of its key material issues.
We are advancing efforts based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and working hard to provide full and proactive disclosure. In May 2021, we announced the Carbon-Neutral 2030 Declaration, which pledges that SoftBank Corp. will reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero by 2030. SoftBank Corp. is working to switch the electricity it uses to 100% effectively renewable energy while making maximum use of cuttingedge technologies to advance responses to climate change, promote a recycling-based society and spread the use of renewable energy.
Furthermore, SoftBank Corp. is participating in the Energy Transition Initiative-Center for Global Commons (ETI-CGC), an industry-academia collaborative platform established by the University of Tokyo's Center for Global Commons (CGC) together with private-sector companies in November 2021 to discuss pathways and policies to achieve net zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century. While promoting digital transformation (DX) across a wide range of industries, SoftBank Corp. recognizes that, to reduce environmental impact and realize a sustainable society, broadly reducing the power use and increasing the energy efficiency of communications infrastructure and devices will be crucial, as will optimizing the energy supply-demand balance across social and industrial structures as a whole. Using the insights gained through such efforts, we are participating in the policy proposal drafting and other activities of ETI-CGC to help achieve the government of Japan's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
Meeting society's needs
In recent years, initiatives related to ensuring respect for human rights have been growing even more important. In accordance with such international standards as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, SoftBank Corp. is focusing closely on respect for human rights and related responses. Under SoftBank's Human Rights Policies, the company calls on all stakeholders, from employees to customers, business partners and the supply chain, to prohibit discrimination and harassment, and creates processes for human rights due diligence to respect the human rights of all stakeholders affected by its business activities.
To achieve dynamic and supportive work environments for all, we are focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion and creating opportunities and environments for diverse personnel to apply their individuality and skills regardless of age, sex, nationality or disability. In June 2021, SoftBank Corp. set the targets of increasing women's representation in senior management to 15% by FY2030 and 20% by FY2035, and in July 2021 we established the Advancement of Women Promotion Committee. With Junichi Miyakawa, President & CEO, as the committee chair and outside experts as advisors, the Committee has begun initiatives aimed at promoting women's professional participation and advancement in earnest. By fostering environments in which a diverse workforce of capable people can thrive and creating a dynamic and supportive organization, the SoftBank Corp. group aims for further business growth.
Furthermore, to foster each employee's individuality and respect diversity, we emphasize autonomous career development driven by employees themselves. Under our self-driven career development framework, rather than imposing a company-led uniform system of career development and training, employees themselves make selections based on their own career goals.
As part of our workstyle reform efforts, in 2017 we launched the Smart & Fun! Initiative, aimed at leveraging IT and other technology to create environments that enable employees to achieve a good work-life balance and invest in new initiatives and personal growth. As an enterprise whose businesses utilize the latest technologies, SoftBank Corp. has proactively adopted working from home and other telework styles, promoting advanced workstyles that help employees make the most efficient use of their time. In April 2021, to achieve further innovation in workstyles, the company moved its headquarters into a smart building in the Takeshiba area of Tokyo, seeking to maximize employee performance with an office environment equipped with cutting-edge, AI-driven technology. Through such efforts, we continue to promote innovative and creative workstyles unbound by constraints of time or place.
Strengthening governance
Achieving a sustainable society requires ongoing business growth and corporate value enhancement. For this, reinforcing corporate governance is essential.
SoftBank Corp. has built a sophisticated system of corporate governance, centered on the Board of Directors and the Audit & Supervisory Board, and is reinforcing these bodies' mutual monitoring functions. To ensure that all employees engage in highly transparent governance and sound business practices, we require strict compliance with the SoftBank Code of Conduct and work hard to instill these values in employees through training and a wide variety of other efforts. In this way we endeavor to guarantee transparency in all our corporate activities and improve and strengthen corporate governance to earn the trust of all stakeholders.
All employees contribute to the SDGs
Approximately 50,000 people work as part of the SoftBank Corp. group. As they execute their daily duties in their respective divisions, employees somehow wonder how or if their work benefits society. At such times, our material issues and the SDGs serve as a compass, guiding each individual employee. I believe it is vital that all employees share an awareness that, through the value provided by our businesses, they are contributing to the creation of a sustainable society.
I am confident that the work of every last person at SoftBank is relevant to the SDGs and makes a difference toward their achievement.
Fumihiro Aono
Executive Vice President, CHRO & Executive Officer in Charge of SDGs Promotion
SoftBank Corp.
September 2022