At Sojitz, we aim to generate two types of value based on our corporate statement of creating “value and prosperity.” One type is “value for Sojitz,” the value we gain as a company by expanding our business foundations and pursuing sustainable growth. In addition to creating value for Sojitz, we also provide “value for society,” which includes our contributions to the development of local communities and efforts towards environmental preservation.

Sojitz has continued to expand its business foundations and pursue growth by providing solutions to social problems and turning these businesses into the company’s strengths. In response to the challenge of securing and supplying energy, Sojitz is engaged in numerous resource businesses both in Japan and overseas as part of its efforts to contribute to energy solutions while simultaneously connecting these businesses to profits. Climate change is an urgent global issue that must be addressed. As the movement towards carbon neutrality gains momentum, we are seeing calls for a transition from the simple use and supply of energy to new ways of using and supplying green energy. At the same time, there are higher expectations for companies to address social problems such as business and human rights.

In 2018, Sojitz announced its “Sustainability Challenge,” the company’s long-term sustainability vision leading up to 2050 based on the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Sojitz will strive to realize a decarbonized society through its business activities and support the respect for human rights—including within the company’s supply chains— to pursue sustainable growth both for Sojitz and for society.

We set Medium-Term Management Plan 2020 as the preparation period for executing Sojitz’s Sustainability Challenge. At Sojitz, we established decarbonization policies with concrete targets. Additionally, as part of our business and human rights initiative, we have identified and assessed Sojitz Group’s high-risk business industries, as well as conducted surveys to evaluate potential human rights and environmental risks throughout our supply chains. During this process, sustainability-related awareness has increased at a speed that has surpassed our expectations.

Sojitz has embarked on Medium-Term Management Plan 2023 – Start of the Next Decade – from April 2021. Under this plan, Sojitz will begin full-scale efforts to carry out and accelerate initiatives for the Sustainability Challenge. With regard to decarbonization, Sojitz will reduce thermal coal interests to half or less as well as reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, address Scope 3 emissions generated in supply chains, and promote measures to realize these stated decarbonization policies through a variety of business opportunities. In terms of human rights, “high-risk areas” have been identified and measures to address these risks will be enhanced. We will also widely disseminate and increase awareness of Sojitz Group’s human rights policies. Sojitz will flexibly respond to new norms, ways of thinking, and diversifying needs in the rapidly changing sustainability field.

With the announcement of Medium-Term Management Plan 2023, we set out our vision for 2030 as a “General trading company that constantly cultivating new businesses and human capital.” We continue to see advances in digitization, increased ESG awareness, and greater diversification of values and needs, among other structural changes in society. Amidst these changes, Sojitz’s mission as a general trading company has remained to deliver goods and services to places where necessary. We seek to increase corporate value by continuing to create business and develop human resources capable of responding to market needs and social issues. To realize this vision, we will concentrate our efforts on organizations and human resource development, and I hope that together we can build a Sojitz identity defined by sustainable growth.

Sojitz will keep sustainability as a central focus of management moving forward in order to maximize both “value for Sojitz” and “value for society” and meet the expectations of our stakeholders. We look forward to your continuing support of Sojitz Group.

 

President & CEO　 　　 　　　　
Masayoshi Fujimoto　　　　 　　

 

*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.

Integrated Report 2021 (Ended March 31, 2021) Message from the President