[Excerpt translation from Japanese to English provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

We talked to Shigeru Sugimoto, ANA Holding's [ANA] Corporate Brand & CSR Manager, about the process and objectives of publishing its human rights report...

In 2014, ANA created a TV commercial that featured inappropriate stereotypes of non-Japanese people. Soon after, we realized the importance of increasing employee awareness around this issue and implemented human rights education in our marketing division.

…Another reason why we published the human rights report is that we became an official partner of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games…As a company that operates around the world, we determined that it was important to deepen our understanding of “business and human rights” as required by the international community. Since 2015, we have held a series of discussions with non-profit organizations and experts on this subject.

…Since 2015 when the U.K. passed the Modern Slavery Act, other countries have seen legal developments on forced labour. This trend will continue to strengthen, and we expect that human rights disclosures will eventually be required in all countries…

…When we began meetings with ANA management members, including executives, to discuss the publication of our first human rights report, some voiced concern that the document itself would carry risks.  In response, we talked to people from various standpoints, including experts abroad as well as domestic and overseas investors, to get an objective view of the situation. From these discussions, we arrived at a common understanding that publishing the human rights report is, in and of itself, risk management.

…In 2016, we conducted our first human rights impact assessment. Through this process, we identified three important themes on human rights: “working conditions of foreign workers in Japan”, “strengthening supply chain management for in-flight food”, and “prevention of bribery”. Later, based on reviews from experts, we added a fourth theme—“prevention of the use of airplanes in human trafficking”—in 2017. 

…One possible reason [why human rights awareness has not grown among Japanese companies] is that there are gaps between the contents of human rights education in Japan and international standards.

…[W]hat we can do as a company is based on the UNGPs and is to continue cooperating with various external organizations, such as the Caux Round Table Japan…, and to communicate with overseas experts and investment firms in order to accurately assess global trends and needs on business and human rights…These processes builds up the company's effort in risk management. We still need to make further improvements in disclosing information in future Human Rights reports.  

…Hiroshi Ishida, Executive Director of Caux Round Table Japan, says, “…We encourage companies to apply the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in ensuring that their operational strategies are...aligned with these standards…In fact, ESG investors are placing strong emphasis on companies that have taken steps to align with the UN Guiding Principles…”…