Based on our Corporate Creed*¹ to be a sincere business enterprise that earns the trust of all stakeholders including customers, business partners, shareholders, local communities, franchisees, and employees, the Seven & i Group aims to realize a sustainable society as stated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)*² without being hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To meet the expectations and needs of society, the Seven & i Group supports the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact*³ which we signed in 2012 and strives to put them into practice through our main business. We also identified material issues that are particularly important for society and the Group through dialogue with stakeholders. To address these issues, we are working to realize retail services that can grow sustainably, seeking to balance the solutions to social issues and the improvement in corporate value. The daily lives of our customers are changing significantly due to the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, our business environment is also changing. Under such circumstances, I think that staying close to the lives of our customers and generating ideas based on customers' lifestyles are the origins of business activities and principles when pursuing sustainability.
In our GREEN CHALLENGE 2050 Environmental Declaration announced in 2019, we stated our vision and specific targets for 2030 and 2050 as well as established four themes*⁴ to achieve the vision and targets. We also established innovation teams for each of the four themes. The Group is working united as one to reduce environmental impact, with each team working on initiatives that utilize our limited global environment and resources and preserve them for future generations, such as the introduction of various new technologies and the development of a circular economy in coordination with customers, business partners and local communities.
Going forward, the Seven & i Group will continue to respond to the changes in customer needs and work toward solving social issues through our business activities even in the COVID-19 era so as to be a Group that is essential to the lives of our customers.