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SoftBank will contribute to the creation of a sustainable society and realize its management philosophy. SoftBank will contribute to the creation of a sustainable society and realize its management philosophy.

Contributing to the creation of a sustainable world

Guided by the corporate philosophy “Information Revolution — Happiness for everyone,” SoftBank Corp. has contributed to society by providing innovative businesses and services. Today, as a good corporate citizen, SoftBank Corp. regards contributing to the creation of a sustainable world as one of its most essential management issues. Guided by the concept of “a world where all things, information and minds are connected,” SoftBank Corp. has identified six material issues with which it must engage in order to advance the development of a sustainable world. The standards we apply in identifying these material issues include not only their importance to SoftBank Corp., but how closely they relate to international guidelines and the concerns of stakeholders. By taking on these challenges as we pursue our “Beyond Carrier” strategy, we aim to enhance our corporate value and contribute to the realization of a sustainable world.

Our responsibility
as a communications infrastructure company

Communications infrastructure is an indispensable lifeline for society. As a telecommunications carrier that provides that infrastructure, SoftBank Corp. has a responsibility to provide stable and highly reliable communications services. In addition to further enhancing our services, such as by developing standalone 5G, in order to realize a world in which everyone has equal and adequate access to the information they want, we are advancing initiatives in non-terrestrial network (NTN) solutions, such as stratosphere-based high-altitude platform station (HAPS).
More than a decade has passed since northeastern Japan was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake, but I will never forget my frustration at the fragility of our recovery framework when leading the on-site recovery efforts in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Since then, we have worked tirelessly to expand our service area and make our network more resilient. SoftBank Corp. will continue to build infrastructure that is resistant to disasters and fortify support measures to be prepared for disasters.

Addressing environmental problems

We believe that contributing to decarbonization through business activities and corporate activities is important. We have endorsed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Paris Agreement, an international framework for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2020 onward. Accordingly, we are advancing efforts to reduce our GHG emissions and disclose climate change-related information. In the current fiscal year, SoftBank Corp. has made the decision to expand its Net Zero initiatives to include its group companies. Through these initiatives, we are working to reduce GHG emissions from business activities to zero throughout the supply chain by 2050.
SoftBank Corp.'s mainstay communications business consumes a great deal of power. Based on our belief that the continuation and expansion of our business must never be allowed to cause environmental destruction, we are advancing a variety of initiatives, such as using advanced technology to save power and utilizing renewable energy. We have set the concrete target of using renewable energy for 100% of power used in our business activities by 2030 (including 50% or more renewable energy with additionality). As part of efforts toward this target, in May 2023, we formed new renewable energy procurement contracts with power producers and announced our commitment to securing a stable supply of renewable energy. With this move, we aim to shift to a business structure that will be less susceptible to the impacts of rising electricity prices while contributing to decarbonization.

Human Capital Management Initiatives

Amid population decline and labor shortages, human capital management is more important than ever to secure competitiveness and the talent to handle evolving technologies. Seeking to promote medium- to long-term business strategy in concert with employee growth, we aim to make SoftBank Corp. an even more vibrant and dynamic company though multifaceted investment in human capital. To this end, we regard people as the most crucial driving force of corporate growth. We are shifting from a conventional view of employees as “assets” to be managed to instead regard them as kind of non-financial “capital,” a source of future value. Accordingly, we are working to better utilize the talents of our human resources, more proactively support their growth and further encourage them to take on challenges. We are also actively advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, such as initiatives to promote the active professional participation of women, aiming to foster a corporate culture in which everyone can thrive while being true to themselves.

In closing

The emergence of generative AI, most famously ChatGPT, has rocked society, and I feel that the so-called “singularity,” the point at which AI transcends human intelligence, is at last upon us. In addition to partnering with IT companies that provide generative AI to help our clients implement these technologies in their systems, we are working to develop generative AI in-house. While providing new value to the world, we will continue to reinforce efforts to promote the six material issues to advance sustainability. By doing so, we will fulfill our corporate responsibility to solve social issues and contribute to the realization of a sustainable world.

August 2023
Junichi Miyakawa
President & CEO
Chief ESG Officer
SoftBank Corp.