Environmental Management

Our Policy and Approach

Basic Policy

The NTT Group is committed to achieving a new level of prosperity where humanity can coexist and preserve nature for generations to come. To this end, we will work to balance solving ecological problems and improving economic development by reducing the environmental impact of our business activities and creating new technologies and innovations.

^*This policy applies to all of our business activities as well as investment-related due diligence and M&A.

Organization for Implementation

Sustainability-Related Governance

The NTT Group regards the promotion of sustainability as an important management issue, and items of particular importance, such as creating environmental targets for the entire Group, are decided based on discussions held with directors.

Under the governance structure overseen by the Directors, we have established a Sustainability Committee (chaired by the President) directly reporting to the Board who manages the activities policies throughout the Group as well as their progress.

This committee is responsible for managing the policy direction and progress of sustainability initiatives across the entire Group. Policies related to sustainability (the Charter and creating and abolishing accompanying policies, particularly deciding critical indicators) will be decided by the Board of Directors via the Sustainability Committee.

In FY2021, for the processes selected as key issues and activities to be addressed from among the sustainability-related issues, we used evaluation organizations like third party institutions, ISO 26000 and GRI Standards, global trends, internal workshops, and materiality at other companies as a guide to identify material issues through comprehensive review of new problems related to sustainability, in order to discuss and select issues that the NTT Group should address on a global scale. In addition, NTT assessed the priorities to be addressed based on their impact on two aspects, "Growth as a company" and "Solving social issues." To achieve management that simultaneously helps resolve social issues and achieve business growth, NTT assesses priorities by incorporating the opinions of outside experts.

The validity of the issues involving sustainability and their level of priority is subject to an annual review by the Board of Directors, following discussions within the Sustainability Committee, and are reexamined as required.

Additionally, our four key categories for sustainability are 1) Climate Change, 2) Human Capital, 3) New Value Creation, and 4) Resilience.

Environmental Management Systems (EMSes) are assembled and operated in each of the NTT Group companies as systems that respond to global environmental issues and contribute to the sustainable development of society.

EMSes establish concrete targets, assessment systems, and more, making them systems that aim to effectively promote environmental conservation efforts by way of the PDCA cycle. We acquire the ISO 14001 certification, an international EMS standard, and carry out target management and operation based on our own EMSes in accordance with ISO 14001.

Additionally, 100% of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's research centers are ISO 14001 certified.

Major Efforts

Thoroughly implementing environmental assessment

The NTT Group adheres to its Green Design Guideline for Buildings when constructing new data centers or other buildings, and endeavors to reflect the necessary aspects in the facility's design.

Communications equipment, data centers and other buildings as well as solar panels required for the NTT Group's business activities present an impact on the environment. In light of this, facilities are designed to minimize impact on the ecology.

Specifically, when planning to construct new data centers or other buildings, we research the historical, social, geographical, biological, and environmental attributes of the prospective building site and surrounding district based on our NTT Group Sustainability Design Guideline for Buildings, and endeavor to reflect the necessary aspects in the facility's design. We use native plant species as vegetation for greening our data centers, which have in recent times become the core components of ICT infrastructure.

When drawing up proposals for the construction of new data centers for customers, the NTT Group applies the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE¹) and submits proposals designed to obtain the highest CASBEE rank of S. While paying due consideration to the environment in this way, we also take care to minimize noise and vibration and maintain the scenic appeal of the district during construction while endeavoring to ensure that exhaust heat and noise from the air conditioning outdoor units and emergency generators of functioning data centers will have minimal impact on neighboring areas.

¹CASBEE: A system for the comprehensive assessment of the quality of a building from such perspectives as environmental performance, interior comfort, and scenic appeal

Disseminating Environmental Activities Policies and Measures among Employees

NTT Group conducts environmental education to disseminate NTT Group policies and measures among employees and develop a shared understanding of Group-wide activities for promoting environmental protection. In fiscal 2023, we also provided training related to the Group's environmental activities for all employees, such as group training and e-learning. The NTT Environmental Protection Office organizes environmental education for staff in charge of environmental issues at each Group company and has been holding study sessions every year since fiscal 2001. Along with lectures for disseminating our environmental policies and sharing outstanding issues, we invite outside lecturers to speak on recent topics. These study sessions are intended for the NTT Group throughout Japan and are therefore offered via a teleconferencing system so that staff in remote areas can attend and ask questions through twoway connections. This paperless approach is also another way the NTT Group is helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from holding meetings.

In fiscal 2023, we invited experts on environmental management and sustainability as lecturers to deliver talks explaining SDGs and ESG, as well as environmental management. Furthermore, we spread the NTT Group's policies regarding climate change, energy conservation, resource recycling (waste recycling, waste disposal), and natural capital (biodiversity, the appropriate management of water resources) while also having persons in charge at each company introduce efforts relating to the environment, working to promote environmental activities at all companies in the NTT Group.

Compliance with Environmental Laws and Regulations

The NTT Group complies with laws and regulations related to the environment and works to reduce its impacts on the environment. We have established a mechanism that can deal with cases of legal violations on a Group-wide basis by reporting to the Global Environmental Protection Promotion Committee. There were no legal violations nor payments of penalties in fiscal 2022, following the same result for fiscal 2021. As part of its environmental management measures, the Group also tracks the number of complaints related to the environment for each fiscal year.

In fiscal 2023, no complaints related to environmental impact were submitted, handled or resolved through our systems for dealing with complaints. Going forward, we will maintain compliance with existing laws and regulations as well as set up a working group, etc. on environmental laws and regulations to help step up our preparations for complying with laws and regulations under review or scheduled to take effect.