Make sustainability a competitive advantage. Corporate Strategy for 2030

Stakeholder Dialogue 2025

Since 2010, Fujitsu has engaged in dialogues with various external experts in order to leverage stakeholder opinions in management decisions. In a dialogue held in October 2025, we exchanged opinions with Mr. Peter Bakker, President & CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development , on the changing external environment and corporate strategies to integrate sustainability into business.

Expert

World Business Council for Sustainable Development
President & CEO
Peter Bakker

Mr. Bakker has been President and CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD [1]) since 2012. He has also held a key position in corporate sustainability advisory. Before assuming the role in the WBCSD, he served as CEO of TNT NV, an international logistics company. He was listed in the 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business for 2023 in TIME100 Climate.

Fujitsu

Hidenori Furuta

Non-Executive Chairman

Takahito Tokita

Representative Director, CEO

Takashi Yamanishi

Corporate Executive Officer, EVP, CSSO (Chief Sustainability & Supply Chain Officer)

*Title in FY2025

Introduction

Modern corporate management is in the midst of megatrends, complicated by multi-regional markets due to geopolitical risks, escalating climate change, and the rapid evolution of AI and other technologies. In the FY2025 dialogue, we discussed from multiple perspectives the impact these changes in the external environment have on business. In particular, the critical perspective that “while AI and digital technologies enhance business transparency and transform fundamentally value creation, Human Centric governance is indispensable for their evolution”, was shared. We also discussed how sustainability has shifted significantly to become a core management issue that will determine a company's competitiveness, and how financial markets are also beginning to assess risks and opportunities based on new value criteria.

Participants actively discussing around a round table in a meeting room

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Issues surrounding sustainability

President & CEO Peter Bakker_voicing his thoughts

Mr. Peter Bakker (hereinafter “Bakker”)
We are living through a period of rapid change. The global economy is becoming more multi-regional, shaped by geopolitics, trade dynamics, and diverging regulatory approaches. For businesses operating globally, this is creating new complexity – but also new opportunities to rethink resilience, competitiveness, and long-term strategy.

Climate change remains a fundamentally global challenge. While regions may pursue different policy pathways, the underlying risks to economies, supply chains and societies are shared. No country or company can address these challenges alone, and progress will depend on continued cooperation, aligned on shared goals, credible standards, and interoperable systems. The ability for business – including in Japan – to collaborate across regions will be essential to sustaining long-term competitiveness.

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Tokita
In that sense, Japan is in a difficult position right now. However, if we take this as an opportunity, Japan is in a key position amid a turbulent international situation involving the U.S., China, the Global South, ASEAN, South America, and Africa. Many initiatives arising from Japan may contribute to the world. As one of Japan's leading technology companies, Fujitsu has a greater responsibility than other companies.

Furuta
The WBCSD has addressed rapid changes in the global situation on several occasions, and we should also keep an eye on them. In addition to the global situation, WBCSD also identifies as an urgent issue physical risks in the supply chain. In the most recent movement, WBCSD’ CEO Handbook [2] has been published; we would like to use it within Fujitsu to inform how management should respond to physical risks.

Bakker
Increased physical risks, including floods, typhoons, and droughts, are already pressing challenges. These risks are closely related to the accumulation of excess greenhouse gases (derived from fossil fuels, etc.) in the atmosphere.
At Climate Week NYC, one of the world's most significant global climate action forums, a clear message emerged – physical risks increase exponentially with rising temperatures. Extreme weather, water stress, and heatwaves are disrupting supply chains, increasing costs, and threatening resilience. This fundamentally changes the risk landscape for business.
For global supply chains, physical risk is no longer limited to direct damage from extreme weather events. Secondary and cascading impacts are becoming just as material. These include rising insurance premiums and reduced insurability in high-risk regions; deteriorating working conditions due to extreme heat, leading to productivity losses and health impacts; and declining agricultural yields, which disrupt food systems and land-based transport networks.

WBCSD’ CEO Handbook on Physical Risk and Resilience in Value Chains [2] was designed to support CEOs and executive teams in responding to these challenges. It provides a practical framework to identify, assess, and manage physical risks across a company's value chain – helping leaders move from awareness to action. I encourage companies to actively use this guidance.

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Yamanishi
As Fujitsu's Chief Sustainability & Supply Chain Officer (CSSO), I engage in both sustainability and supply chain. The two are closely related; for example, climate change-induced disasters have damaged the supply chains, and human rights issues in supply chains have affected procurement. Since our supply chain is globally spread, in order to maintain a stable supply chain, we need to take a multifaceted perspective on the issue of sustainability itself.

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Building trust in the age of AI

Tokita
Fujitsu’s purpose is to “Make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation”. This is an important guiding principle for our employees, as well as for our commitment to our customers and society. As a technology company, the term "through innovation" has a profound meaning.

In the age of AI, we need to continue growing while innovating, leveraging cutting-edge technologies, including AI. And when we do that, it's vital to be Human Centric, since we believe technology exists for human growth and evolution.

We launched this purpose in 2020 and we placed it at the center of our Fujitsu Way corporate philosophy. In order to realize the purpose, "Our Values" indicate a critical action cycle consisting of 'Aspiration', 'Trust', and 'Empathy'.
Aspiration is the action and attitude that great companies should demonstrate in today's chaotic world. Fujitsu celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025 since its founding in Kawasaki City. Today, the world is in the age of digital transformation and AI. We will focus on cutting-edge technologies, such as supercomputers and quantum computers, to provide valuable services and solutions to our customers and society.

Bakker
AI is a game-changer for society, with enormous potential. Its advanced data analysis capabilities can help address complex challenges. At the same time, AI is resource-intensive, requiring significant energy and water, with its full societal impact not yet well understood.

One growing concern is that AI development risks becoming a technological race between the U.S. and China, where speed and scale may take precedence over shared outcomes. If the pursuit of artificial super intelligence becomes an end in itself, we risk losing sight of what matters most. The essential question is not who gets there first, but how AI is used. Its development must serve the broader interests of humanity, not the narrow advantage of a few.

Without vigilance, AI risks becoming a competition without empathy or a Human Centric perspective. Governance frameworks are already struggling to keep pace with the speed of technological change. Ensuring responsible, inclusive, and sustainable AI will require collaboration and leadership between governments, business, and society.

Companies operating in the AI field, including Fujitsu, understand that trust is a critical factor in the relationship between people and technology. If trust is one of Fujitsu's core values, then developing AI responsibly requires careful reflection on how to maintain and strengthen that trust – not just locally, but globally. Ensuring transparency, accountability, and human-centric design will be essential to building confidence in AI and unlocking its full potential for society.

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President Tokita_listening intently to the discussion

Tokita
I think humanity is facing a challenge right now. For the past 10 to 20 years, technology has always played an auxiliary role to humans. However, with the age of AI upon us, it is undeniable that AI is outpacing human thought and behavior and could pose a threat in 10 years. Even so, as CEO of a technology company, I will drive the growth and evolution of new technologies, including AI. Even in this context, it is essential to adhere to the Human Centric concept.

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Bakker
I agree with you. Fujitsu and many other companies continue to invest heavily in AI. This is already a competition, and if we don't speed up, we will lose our competitive edge. Companies like Fujitsu will be able to implement good governance and maintain a Human Centric approach. However, geopolitical risks are a concern. Who can build that governance framework in an increasingly competitive environment and in the face of a lack of dialogue? I expect Fujitsu to deeply examine how to maintain trust between rapidly evolving AI and people.

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Chairman Furuta_listening intently to the discussion

Furuta
Trust is a very important factor in AI. Fujitsu Research, a key Fujitsu R&D organization, has been exploring and developing AI for over 30 years. A significant focus in this endeavor is the enhancement of AI reliability and ethics.

Tokita
Fujitsu has been actively addressing AI Ethics since 2019. For example, we are a member of AI4People, an organization promoting this field, and have established international partnerships with academic and industry partners, including Oxford University. In addition to discussing the ethics surrounding AI, we are also implementing relevant principles on our AI platform. As a technology company, trust is the foundation that underpins everything we do as we stand at the center of the society and lead new technologies. Building trust in a world of uncertainty, not only in the technology sector but also in geopolitics, is an important issue we need to address.

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Corporate activities with an eye toward the future society

Importance of collaboration

Bakker
How we address sustainability remains a key issue for business. Although we have enough data and information, we need to find a better way to implement the solutions we seek. It is clear that no individual company can meet this issue alone.
A few years ago, we made a commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. From now on, how companies work together in the value chain and with policymakers to create dynamic policymaking environments will be critical.

WBCSD has 250 member companies that emit significant amounts of greenhouse gases through their business activities. If these 250 companies can work together, they should be able to reduce emissions quickly. Many companies – like Fujitsu, already have solutions; others need access to them. Our role is to connect businesses, facilitate shared action, and ensure that these solutions are scaled effectively across industries and geographies.

Furuta
Fujitsu has supported the WBCSD's Emissions Reduction Accelerator (ERA) Initiative to promote decarbonization of its business value chain and hopes to leverage the power of technology to help reduce GHG emissions across the value chains of 250 WBCSD member companies.

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Sustainability as a Business Strategy

Bakker
We are at a tipping point for the entire sustainability industry. Until recently, people appreciated companies that set high goals and made firm commitments, but we don't need more goals – we need action and concrete steps to achieving these commitments. For Fujitsu, it is vital you continue to drive your sustainability efforts forward and take action over the next five years, focusing on what your company will do to accelerate its execution. It's not about what you want to do in 2050, but what you can achieve in the next 5 to 10 years.

Tokita
Fujitsu's Uvance is truly a business model that looks ahead to the next 5 to 10 years. Assuming a society in 2030, we backcast from there to identify seven priority areas necessary to solve social issues, and aim to contribute to solving them through cross-industry collaboration.

Bakker
At the same time, you need to develop sustainability into a business strategy in the context of the financial markets. When financial markets face uncertainty, we tend to focus only on short-term financial results. For example, investor briefings report only on financial conditions, not long-term value or sustainability.

There are disclosure frameworks for the social impact of business, but they are not for management issues and have become merely compliance work. When creating social impact and improving corporate performance alignment, financial markets provide the information necessary to understand such performance. It becomes clear that embedding sustainability into business is the very essence of corporate competitiveness.

Tokita
At Fujitsu, we are currently discussing our strategy for the next 10 years and our next mid-term management plan; the key issue is which sustainability issues we should focus on. Many investors and shareholders expect significant financial contributions and results. Many people think that sustainability is not equal to business growth; that is a misconception. As a member of society, we must demonstrate positive progress and results to society through our business. As a corporate representative, I have been in dialogue with other company leaders, many of whom are aware of what is going on and are discussing the right path to an alternative to shareholder capitalism: multi-stakeholder capitalism. Again, sustainability initiatives are of great importance.

Bakker
Fujitsu’s next sustainability strategy should be a sustainable business strategy. If you get that strategy right, Fujitsu as a company will be more competitive as a result. Today, sustainability issues are no longer moral questions like “We must save the world” or “We must protect polar bears.” The questions are: “Why is it good for the business to do this?” and “Does it provide management benefits?”

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Conclusion

Bakker
Companies are not resisting change but actively embracing it and are seriously tackling the question of how to transform capitalism going forward. But at the same time, the landscape around us is not simple enough for companies to make easy choices.

If a leading company like Fujitsu, which plays an important role in the technology sector, embraces the Human Centric philosophy and takes a serious approach to governance, it may help avoid the worst-case scenario the world may face.

Tokita
Thank you. Building trust with companies and society is critical to leading the research, development, and implementation of new technologies like AI. In today's highly uncertain world, building trust is a big aspiration, but as a technology company, we will tackle it head-on. I would also like to work with WBCSD to continue our sustainability and peace efforts and contribute to society.

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Note

[1] WBCSD is an international community working together to accelerate systems change to achieve a net zero, coexisting with nature and equitable future. More than 250 of the world's leading sustainable business companies are participating.
[2] Physical Risk and Resilience in Value Chains - A CEO Handbook for executive engagement