Seven & i Group is utilizing the characteristics of the retail business, which is used by approximately 22.3 million customers every day in Japan alone, to promote environmental activities along with its customers. Moreover, we emphasize collaboration with various stakeholders through participation in the activities of external organizations and communication with NPOs. Further, to promote environmental activities, it is necessary for each and every one of our more than 80,000 employees in Japan to take action, so we are also focusing our efforts on awareness-raising activities for employees.

Seven & i Group is committed to environmental activities that take advantage of the distinct ability of the retail business to interact directly with many customers.

As part of this commitment, to coincide with Environment Month in June 2023, we introduced our development of products which combine environmental friendliness and quality via in-store posters and a dedicated website, with the aim of raising customer awareness of environmentally friendly products and of creating opportunities to reflect about and act together in relation to the environment.

Ito-Yokado additionally began an initiative for the collection and recycling of used cooking oil generated in households using special returnable bottles in 2023, with all stores in Tokyo subsequently implementing the initiative in 2024. The used cooking oil collected is being utilized, for example, in the production of soap and ink solvents.

Seven & i Holdings continues to make donations to various environmental organizations such as the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, which promotes wider awareness of biodiversity and supports the nature protection projects of NGOs in and outside of Japan, as well as WWF Japan, environmental and wildlife preservation group. In addition, with regard to climate change, we joined the Japan Climate Initiative (JCI), the Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLP), and the TCFD Consortium, and for plastic issues, we joined the Japan Clean Ocean Material Alliance (CLOMA). We are making efforts to promote environmental activities in cooperation with various companies and organizations.

In addition, Seven-Eleven Japan has been conducting environment-themed social contribution activities together with franchised stores through the Seven-Eleven Foundation since 1993. Based on contributions from customers collected through collection boxes placed at the counters of 7-Eleven stores, along with donations from Seven-Eleven Japan and other funds, the Seven-Eleven Foundation engages in environmental citizenship activity support projects, natural resource protection and conservation projects, publicity projects, and disaster recovery assistance projects. One of the major pillars of the environmental citizenship activities is the funding of NPOs and civic groups conducting regional environmental activities. The foundation has been calling for applications each year since 2001, with the goal of seeing regional donations used to support regional environmental activities.

The Seven-Eleven Foundation operates the Kokonoe Furusato Nature School located in Kokonoe Town, Kusu District, Oita Prefecture and the Takao Forest Nature School in Hachioji City, Tokyo, based on the principle of “Learning from nature: how to promote coexistence and mutually beneficial relationships between people and nature and the natural environment and local communities.” The Kokonoe Furusato Nature School is engaged in projects to protect and preserve the abundant nature cultivated by the region as well as its ecosystems, history, and culture. The school’s efforts to promote creation of rice fields that coexist with nature and where living things can thrive has been designated as a project in coordination with the Japan Committee for the United Nations Decade of Biodiversity (UNDB-J). Moreover, The Takao Forest Nature School is a collaborative project with the Tokyo metropolitan government, operating in a forest of approximately 26.5 ha owned by Tokyo metropolitan government. The school’s programs include bird watching, volunteer experiences in the forest, flora observation, and craft work.

Seven & i Group receives and responds to opinions and requests relating to the environment from customers and civic groups at the customer support departments of each Group company and at the Sustainability Development Department of Seven & i Holdings. In 2022, when we revised the material issues that Seven & i Holdings should address, we identified our material issues upon engaging in dialogue with stakeholders including customers, business partners, shareholders, and other investors, as well as sustainability experts.

In order to raise the environmental awareness of employees, Seven & i Group regularly holds training, events, and more with the aim of instilling basic knowledge and facilitating understanding of environmental matters in line with the characteristics of each of their businesses.

In response to the “GREEN CHALLENGE 2050” environmental declaration announced in May 2019, Seven & i Group has conducted Group-wide e-learning every year since 2020. In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2024, this e-learning was implemented for all Seven & i Group employees in Japan, with content that focused on introducing the status of the Group’s initiatives for the achievement of the targets in the “GREEN CHALLENGE 2050” environmental declaration, and activities that can contribute to the achievement of the targets through work and daily life.

Since the fiscal year ended February 28, 2015, Seven & i Group has been encouraging employees to pass the Certification Test for Environmental Specialists (Eco Test)* as a training tool for systematically acquiring a broad knowledge about increasingly diverse environmental problems. Each group company supports test takers by subsidizing test fees, holding study sessions, and so forth. 

Seven & i Group holds internal environmental events to provide opportunities to raise the environmental awareness of employees. For example, the Group employees participate alongside 7-Eleven franchisees in volunteer activities organized by the Seven-Eleven Foundation. Major activities include such conservation efforts as forest care operations ranging from tree planting to tree thinning and undergrowth cutting at “Seven Forests” in 19 locations throughout Japan, and marine afforestation initiatives to cultivate eelgrass habitats, which purify water and reduce CO2, thereby enriching the marine environments in Tokyo Bay and Osaka Bay. Personnel from Seven-Eleven Japan franchised stores and Head Office employees as well as the Group employees take part in these activities.

Additionally, we are engaged in various activities to raise employee awareness, particularly in October, which has been designated as Environment Month. In the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024, we conducted a food drive, involving households bring in surplus food to donate to a food bank, and tested an app that encourages environmentally friendly behavioral changes. In March 2024, this app commenced full-scale operations and, as of September 2024, 15 Group companies are providing employees with opportunities to reflect on environmental and societal issues as matters which directly concern them.