Environmental Management

Environmental Management 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 fulfill our accountability for the implementation of these policies. We proactively work to maintain and preserve the global environment through our business activities, contributing to the continuous development of a sustainable society.
The scope of these guidelines includes group companies, suppliers, and business partners, covering 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.
  • We strive to provide environmental education to our employees while also announcing the details of these guidelines and our environmental information both internally and externally. We will consult with external stakeholders regarding the implementation of these guidelines and work together to reduce our environmental impacts.

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 2024.

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 2024.

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.

FY2025

Category Objectives Main measures
Climate Change Measures

Ratio of renewable energy: 65%

[Note]
  1. *
    The target companies are SoftBank Corp. and its major subsidiaries (in accordance with the boundaries specified in the ESG Data Book)
  • Procurement of Environmental Value Certificates
  • New procurement from renewable energy generation
  • 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
Ratio of renewable energy to electricity used by the company*1: 50% or more (FY2030)*2
  • Net-zero emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3*3) (FY2050)*4
  • Carbon neutrality (Scope 1, 2*3) (FY2030)*4

Contribution to CO2 emission reduction:

  • Spread and expand household energy saving services through electricity management apps, etc.
  • Establish and expand climate change-related businesses
Realize a prosperous society through the spread of renewable energy Promotion of renewable energy power provision through offerings such as renewable energy power plans
  • Provision of renewable energy based on “Shizen Denki” for individual / corporate customers.
Promoting a recycling-oriented society Mobile phones collected for reuse or recycling: 14 million (FY2020-2025)
  • Establishment of a system
  • Dissemination of information
  • Ensure recycling
Recycling rate of decommissioned base stations: 99% or higher (annually)

Industrial waste recycling rate: Increase by 1% annually

Preservation of Biodiversity

Achieving Nature Positive by 2030:

  • Promotion of forest conservation by conserving more than double the area of land that was developed by our Company within Key Biodiversity Areas
  • Promotion of initiatives such as tree planting to contribute to water source replenishment equivalent to 1%*5*6 of water usage for newly developed data centers
  • Promote initiatives to reduce the impact of business on biodiversity
  • Forest conservation activities
  • Coral Preservation Activities in Onna Village
Promotion of initiatives related to conserving biodiversity / natural capital
Compliance with environmental laws and regulations Proper handling of industrial waste The thorough compliance with laws and regulations
Proper handling of waste CFCs
Proper management of plastics
Proper disposal of PCBs
[Notes]
  1. *1
    Total ratio for the Company and Wireless City Planning, Inc.
  2. *2
    Procurement of renewable energy such as wind, solar, etc.
  3. *3
    Scope 1: Direct greenhouse gas emissions produced by the Company itself
    Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies
    Scope 3: Indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 2, occurring in the value chain associated with the company's business activities
  4. *4
    Boundary: Our corporate group
  5. *5
    Equivalent to 1% of the daily water usage of a data center
  6. *6
    Equivalent to the usage of one unit based on the calculation model of our company (tree planting required for replenishment is over 2 hectares)

FY2024

Category Objectives Result
Climate Change Measures Ratio of renewable energy for base stations: 90% or more 92.6%
Ratio of renewable energy to electricity used by the company*1: 50% or more (FY2030)*2 In progress of developing renewable energy power plants at a power generation plant operator
  • Net-zero emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3*3) (FY2050)*4
  • Carbon neutrality (Scope 1, 2*3) (FY2030)*4
  • Scope 1, 2: progress in emissions reduction in line with SBTi standard, alignment with IPCC 1.5℃ pathway
  • Scope 3: increase in emissions due to expanded calculation boundary and business growth
  • Contribution to CO2 emission reduction:

    • Spread and expand household energy-saving services through electricity management apps, etc.
    • Establish and expand climate change-related businesses

    Promotion and expansion of energy-saving services for households through electric apps, etc.:

    • Number of households served: Approximately 1.2 million

    Establish and expand climate change-related businesses:

    • Expansion of renewable energy plans
    • Sale of proxy purchasing services for non-fossil certificates
    • Sale of CO2 emission calculation tools
    • Sale of energy-saving services
Promoting a recycling-oriented society Mobile phones collected for reuse or recycling: 12 million (FY2020-2025) 12.5 million
Recycling rate of decommissioned base stations: 99% or higher (annually) 99.9%
Industrial waste recycling rate: Increase by 1% annually Improved by 1.2%
Preservation of Biodiversity

    Achieving Nature Positive by 2030:

  • Promotion of forest conservation by conserving double the area of land that was developed within Key Biodiversity Areas
  • Promotion of initiatives such as tree planting to contribute to water source replenishment equivalent to 1%*5*6 of water usage for newly developed data centers
  • Implementation of forest conservation by conserving more than double the area of land that was developed within Key Biodiversity Areas (2,132m2)
  • Implementation of tree-planting and other initiatives contributing to water source conservation equivalent to one base station (2.5 hectares)
Promotion of initiatives related to conserving biodiversity / natural capital
  • “Future and Coral Project,”: 5 corporate sponsors, 29 supporting companies, and 57 people participated in a beach clean-up activity in Onna Village, Okinawa
  • Biodiversity survey completed at the Hokkaido Tomakomai Brain DataCenter
Compliance with environmental laws and regulations Proper handling of industrial waste Implementation of appropriate actions in accordance with laws and regulations
Proper handling of waste CFCs
Proper management of plastics
[Notes]
  1. *1
    Total ratio for the Company and Wireless City Planning, Inc.
  2. *2
    Procurement of renewable energy such as wind, solar, etc.
  3. *3
    Scope 1: Direct greenhouse gas emissions produced by the Company itself
    Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies
    Scope 3: Indirect emissions other than Scope 1 and Scope 2, occurring in the value chain associated with the company's business activities
  4. *4
    Boundary: Our corporate group
  5. *5
    Equivalent to 1% of the daily water usage of a data center
  6. *6
    Equivalent to the usage of one unit based on the calculation model of our company (tree planting required for replenishment is over 2 hectares)

Major initiatives

Environmental education

We provide environmental education for our employees via e-learning to acquire and raise awareness of foundational knowledge about environmental concerns. These courses cover key topics such as energy consumption reduction, waste reduction, and water efficiency. Through this training, employees gain a comprehensive understanding of our environmental management initiatives, while also enhancing their individual awareness and understanding of each of these specific environmental challenges.

These e-learning courses are accessible on iPhones and iPads, enabling effective time management. In FY2024, the participation rate for environmental education among employees was 71.4%.

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