Sony's Sustainability Vision Established in 2024

To start, Mitsu Shippee, Senior General Manager of Sony's Sustainability Department, provided an overview of the company's sustainability efforts.

Shippee emphasized that Sony's purpose, "to fill the world with emotion through the power of creativity and technology," is founded on the premise of a society and a healthy global environment in which people can live with peace of mind. Sony aims to enhance corporate value and contribute to a sustainable society through innovation and sound business practices.

She then highlighted the diversity of sustainability challenges, including increase in the frequency of natural disasters, greater risks to human rights, evolving regulatory landscape such as information disclosure requirements, and growing expectations from stakeholders. In response to the aforementioned, Sony established "Sony's Sustainability Vision" in 2024 to clearly articulate its direction and effectively communicate the core philosophy of its sustainability efforts to a diverse range of stakeholders. Shippee added, "This vision was crafted to evoke emotion through our sustainability activities and to take action to create a future brimming with inspiration."

Next, she outlined four key areas for Sony's initiatives: "Climate Change," "Diversity, Equity & Inclusion," "Respect for Human Rights," and "Technology for Sustainability." She detailed actions aligned with each business's strengths and characteristics, with examples including accessible products and services from the Entertainment, Technology & Services segment, as well as mental health support for artists, creators, and staff within Sony Music Group in the U.S. and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Shippee also introduced Arc & Beyond, a general incorporated association established in April 2024, as a new initiative to tackle social issues.

Progress of Sony's Medium-Term Environmental Targets, "Green Management 2025"

Keiko Shiga, General Manager of the Environmental Section, discussed the progress of Sony's environmental initiatives.

Sony developed the long-term environmental plan, "Road to Zero," in 2010, aiming to achieve a zero eliminate the environmental footprint of its business operations and product life cycles by 2050 from the four perspectives of "climate change," "resources," "chemical substances" and "biodiversity." In pursuit of this goal, Sony has set medium-term environmental targets, known as "Green Management (GM)," every five years, and, in recognition that addressing climate change is becoming a particularly urgent issue among the four perspectives, pushed its climate change targets ten years forward in 2022. Additionally, Sony seeks to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its entire value chain by 2040, encompassing Scope 1 (direct emissions) to Scope 3 (indirect emissions outside of its operations).

Regarding the current "GM2025" medium-term environmental targets, Shiga reported that about 70% of the targets were on track as of the end of fiscal year 2023. Notably, Sony achieved a goal of 35% renewable energy use across its business locations two years ahead of schedule in fiscal year 2023.

Shiga explained that approximately 95% of Sony's total GHG emissions come from Scope 3, primarily from the "use of sold products" and "purchased goods and services." She introduced energy-saving technologies in Sony's BRAVIA® TVs that reduce power consumption during viewing and highlighted Sony's Partner Eco-Challenge Program, which is promoting energy-saving and renewable energy initiatives by sharing expertise with suppliers to reduce GHG emissions within the supply chain.

Panel Discussion Focused on Entertainment Businesses

Following the presentations, Shippee and Shiga participated in a panel discussion moderated by a facilitator, focusing on Sony's efforts in the entertainment business.

Shippee explained that, with the headquarters of Sony's entertainment businesses located primarily in the U.S., diversity and social justice are key focus areas. She introduced the "Global Social Justice Fund (GSJF),which supports initatives to promote social justice and human rights and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within Sony and beyond. Through the GSJF, Sony Interactive Entertainment offers scholarships and career paths in the technology and gaming industries, while Sony Music Group supports employee-driven programs in areas such as corporate social responsibility, pandemic recovery, social justice, and disaster relief. Sony Pictures Entertainment has also established programs to enable people from diverse backgrounds to work in production, by providing knowledge and opportunities in the art and television industries.

Showcasing Sony's Proprietary Materials for a Circular Economy

Sony is committed to "minimizing resource input" and "maximizing the use of recycled materials" through its business activities and product life cycle. Sony collaborates with recyclers to recycle end-of-life products collected worldwide and actively pursues the use of recycled materials in its products. In light of the growing importance of a circular economy, Sony showcased four proprietary materials designed with consideration for their environmental impact - Original Blended Material, Triporous™, SORPLAS™, and a unique recycled plastic that is both environmentally conscious and conducive to creating high-quality audio products - with physical samples on display to be viewed at the venue.