Material Issues
The Yamaha Group incorporates material sustainability issues into its sustainability policy to contribute to social sustainability and enhance corporate value over the medium to long term. The Group advances and manages activities based on this policy.
Identified Material Sustainability Issues
Environment
Response to climate change
- Reduction of CO2 emissions from business sites (Scope 1 and Scope 2)
- Reduction of CO2 emissions from procurement, logistics, and product use (Scope 3)
Sustainable use of timber
- Sustainable sourcing and utilization of timber
- Promotion of forest cultivation
Resource savings, reduction of waste and hazardous substances
- Resource savings and improved resource recycling of products and packaging
- Reduction of hazardous chemical substances (volatile organic compounds (VOCs), etc.)
Society
Contribution to an equal society and comfortable lives
- Mental and physical safety and health
- Remote communication
- Consideration for universal design and accessibility
Respect for human rights in the value chain
- Human rights of workers at suppliers, etc.
Culture
Spread and development of music culture
- Products, services, and activities that contribute to the promotion and development of music culture
- Contribution to the development of the next generation
Human Resources
Foster a creative and ambitious organizational culture
- Human resource development; employee engagement surveys; creation of opportunities for dialogue; promotion of work-life balance, safety and health; etc.
Respect for human rights and DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion)
- Initiatives to respect the human rights of people who work with Yamaha (human rights education and due diligence)
- DE&I promotion (gender, nationality, etc.)
Material Sustainability Issues, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and Targets
Major Sustainability KPIs, Targets and Progress of Rebuild & Evolve (Medium-Term Management Plan)
| Category | Material issues | KPIs and targets | Fiscal 2026 results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | Response to climate change | Reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions by 30% (compared with fiscal 2018) with fiscal 2018 Management target | 39.0% reduction |
| Resource savings, reduction of waste and hazardous substances | Reduce use of Styrofoam packaging by 25% (compared with fiscal 2023) Management target | 28.8% reduction | |
| Sustainable use of timber | Increase rate of sustainably sourced timber use to 80%Management target | 71.3% | |
|
Cultivate and preserve scarce tree species necessary for musical instrument production (Otonomori Activities) Plant and preserve 20 thousand trees in Tanzania in the final year of the plan Produce and present musical instruments made using Sakhalin spruce in Hokkaido Introduce pilot tree planting project in India Develop preservation model for one species of tree in Latin America |
Tanzania: Planted six thousand trees annually Hokkaido: Musical instrument prototyping India: Conclusion of cooperation agreement with local partners, selection of areas for tree planting tests, and establishment of nurseries Latin America: Selection of tree species and collection of wide-ranging information |
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| Society | Respect for human rights in the value chain | Conduct on-site audits of 60 suppliersManagement target | Developed a training plan for second-party auditors*1 |
| Contribution to an equal society and comfortable lives | Develop 20 use cases for resolving social issuesManagement target | Eight cases | |
| Culture | Spread and development of music culture | Engage in 12 thousand music culture support activities under the Community Building with Music initiative (activities to create opportunities for people to connect through music)Management target | 3.6 thousand times |
| Provide music education opportunities to aggregate total of 7 million children through the School ProjectManagement target | 5.04 million children | ||
| Human Resources | Respect for human rights and DE&I | Achieve ratio of female managers of 24% Management target | 19.6%*2 |
| Conduct global positioning of 40 individuals | Seven individuals | ||
| Foster a creative and ambitious organizational culture | Continue improving ratio of employees offering positive responses regarding job satisfaction on employee engagement surveys | Positive response rate of 67%*3 | |
| Increase human capital investment by 50%Management target | 1.14 times |
- 1Preparations for introducing in-house supplier audits (second-party audits) in addition to third-party audits
- 2Certain Group companies are excluded from the aggregation due to legal or regulatory constraints
- 3Transitioned to a new survey with revised questions
Material Issue Identification Process
The Yamaha Group continuously assesses and reviews the material issues it has identified based on social trends, sustainability issues, and stakeholder expectations.
1. Identification of Important Stakeholder Groups
Important stakeholder groups were identified to compile the sustainability issues to be assessed and guide priority assessments of social issues.
2. Compilation of Sustainability Issues to Be Assessed
A list of around 110 sustainability issues was prepared based on the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on global risk reports, global risks, and other risks. Redundant issues and issues deemed to be of low materiality to Yamaha and to the stakeholder groups identified in Step 1 were excluded for the list. Then, certain sustainability issues were divided into risks and opportunities and sustainability issues unique to the Yamaha Group were added to compile a list of approximately 60 sustainability issues that were subject to materiality assessment.
3. Assessment of Materiality of Sustainability Issues
The sustainability issues compiled in Step 2 were divided into risks and opportunities and mapped through materiality assessments of the impact on Yamaha and Yamaha’s impact on the environment and society conducted based on the perspectives described under (1) and (2) below.
(1) Business Perspective (Materiality to Yamaha, Impact on Yamaha)
A cross-Company assessment team was assembled to score the materiality of the identified sustainability issues from the perspectives of profits, losses, costs, reputation, compliance, corporate philosophy, and management and business continuity.
(2) Stakeholder Perspective (Materiality to Stakeholders, Yamaha’s Impact on the Environment and Society)
Customer input, employee surveys, and other methods were used to identify the needs and opinions of the stakeholder groups identified in Step 1. The materiality of the identified sustainability issues was then scored based on this information, the requirements of industry initiatives, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluation criteria (of FTSE Russell, MSCI, and other institutions).
![[Image] Assessment of Materiality of Social Issues](/en/sustainability/overview/materiality/images/process_01.jpg)
4. Identification of Material Issues
Sustainability issues deemed to be of high materiality based on the mapping in Step 3 were grouped to make a number of material issues, which were then further categorized and organized into the areas of environment, society, culture, and human resources.
5. Approval
The identified material issues were discussed by the Sustainability Committee, which is chaired by the President and Representative Executive Officer, and then approved by the Board of Directors.