NTT DATA’s sustainability progress lays the foundation for a decade of decisive action

In November 2021, we announced NTT DATA’s sustainability ambitions: a set of commitments for our business in response to the pressing need to act in the face of climate and biodiversity crises. No one can solve these problems alone, which is why our sustainability initiatives incorporate every aspect of our business, from the solutions we design to the individual actions of our people.

Our latest Sustainability Report shows how we are advancing toward our ambitious targets for net-zero, circularity, social impact, and diversity and inclusion across our global communities.

We express our ambitions through our commitments

Our approach to sustainability and positive action is guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We’ve identified the areas where our people, operations and solutions can have the greatest impact across three interconnected themes:

• Connected Planet: Using technology solutions to help protect, restore and regenerate the natural world, and conserve precious natural resources for future generations
• Connected Economy: Using our trusted technology to help organizations thrive and contribute to a sustainable and resilient digital future
• Connected Communities: Supporting communities where we operate so people can realize their potential

Using our technology and our employees’ paid volunteering days, we’re committed to addressing regenerative conservation, education and digital access across our global communities.

Making a positive difference as a business

Our greatest opportunity to make a positive impact is through our solutions and operations. The work we do with our clients, vendors and partners is helping organizations drive sustainable business performance through the smart solutions and services we deliver.

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I believe the 2020s must be the decade of decisive action. We all have to be well on our way to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 or it will be too late to meet the aims of the Paris Agreement: to keep the global temperature rise this century below 2°C more than it was during preindustrial times and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C.

We are one of the first companies to receive approval for our updated net-zero targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). They’ve determined that our greenhouse gas reduction targets are in line with the Paris Agreement. In just one year, we've reduced our carbon emissions by 21% or 1.6 million tons.

At the end of March 2023, our Global Data Centers business was running on 35% renewable energy. We have also developed a Data Waste Assessment to help organizations evaluate their data storage and eliminate duplicates, offering an effective means to reduce data clutter. The reduction in data storage requirements for organizations will result in reduced data center needs and lower emissions in the long run.

Passion makes progress

We drive our sustainability ambitions through our business, but we can’t do it without our people.

Their interests and projects help shape our commitments and how we effect positive change. Our employees have three days of paid volunteer leave a year. In the 2022 financial year, we contributed 2,825 days of volunteer time. On World Cleanup Day 2023, our employees collected more than 12,000 kg of litter – more than four times what we collected in 2022.

Our volunteers feel the difference they make: “I feel many things in volunteer actions, but the biggest one is happiness and the feeling that I can make a difference.”

We are also making progress in diversity, quality and inclusion (DE&I). We were awarded the EY Global Equality Standard certificate for our commitment to fostering DE&I within our organization.

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Where we are and where we’re going

We've had two solid years of setting out the governance structures and operating model that serve as strong foundations for our sustainability ambitions. I’m looking forward to seeing how we express this ambition as we come together as NTT DATA, Inc. in 2024. Our strategy will focus on being planet-positive, prosperity-positive and people-positive.

Bringing 190,000 people together in our company offers a real opportunity for ourselves and our clients to bring about cost savings, carbon savings and social impact.