Message from the President
Maximizing “Value for Sojitz” and “Value for Society” to Create a Future of Prosperity
At Sojitz, sustainability management is based on our vision of becoming a “general trading company that constantly cultivates new businesses and human capital." In accordance with this vision, we aim to maximize our two types of value—“value for Sojitz” and “value for society.” By striving to achieve sustainable growth both for Sojitz and society, we can realize long-term sustainable growth for Sojitz and continue to raise our corporate value further.
In order to achieve our vision for 2030 to become a “general trading company that constantly cultivates new businesses and human capital,” we will reinforce our business bases and enhance our human capital under the current Medium-term Management Plan 2026. Based on this plan, we will create a Sojitz growth story that generates competitive business clusters to realize high returns and value creation.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) is held annually as an international forum to discuss climate change, and the sustainability movement is underway with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in accordance with the Paris Agreement. Against this backdrop, Sojitz has focused its efforts on both realizing a decarbonized society through its business activities and upholding human rights within its supply chains in order to realize the Sustainability Challenge, the company’s long-term sustainability vision leading up to 2050, which was announced in 2018.
Under the previous Medium-term Management Plan 2023, Sojitz reduced thermal coal interests and the Group’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions, implemented measures to address Scope 3 emissions, and developed renewable energy and energy-efficiency businesses in order to the contribute to a decarbonized society. On the human rights front, Sojitz identified “high-risk businesses” and then carried out analysis and evaluation to create countermeasures that address these risks. We have also continued to promote awareness and education programs related to Sojitz Group’s human rights policies. At Sojitz, we have worked to address new sustainability issues, approaches, and needs as the sustainability landscape continues to evolve at a rapid rate.
Under Medium-term Management Plan 2026, we will continue our Sustainability Challenge initiatives to reduce Group emissions while simultaneously expanding new energy and other sustainable businesses that will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society. Additionally, in the human rights field, Sojitz will conduct a PDCA cycle for human rights risk assessments to understand and further enhance its ability to address human rights issues on-site at the individual business level.
I assumed my role as Sojitz president at the same time we launched Medium-term Management Plan 2026. As president, I recognize decarbonization is one of the most important management issues as decarbonization will greatly impact sustainable growth both for Sojitz and society. In January 2024, we established the Energy Transformation Department with the aim of promoting decarbonization businesses such as new energy through company-wide engagement. The Energy Transformation Department will operate under my direct supervision along with other senior management, and the department will collaborate closely with each business division and the Corporate Sustainability Department to advance decarbonization-related businesses.
We will continue to promote sustainability management moving forward and look forward to your continued support of Sojitz Group.
President & COO
Kosuke Uemura
*Sojitz Group’s aims to promote sustainability through its business activities, which support international standards such as the 10 principles of the United Nation’s Global Compact, COP21’s Paris Agreement, and Sustainable Development Goals.