Sustainability Leadership Roundtable for Non-Executive Directors
The 2nd roundtable of the captioned event hosted by Kamakura Sustainability Institute was held on Monday, February 2, 2026, under the theme of “The Role of the Board of Directors in Climate Change,”with the participation of many Non-Executive Directors led by Corporate Action Japan.
In the first half, Akiyoshi Nagashima, Senior Fellow/Engagement Lead of CAJ gave a presentation on the trend related to climate change and decarbonization, presenting the current situation in Japan, stating that “The necessity of decarbonization remains steadfast despite political headwinds. There are three major directions: (1) emissions will become a tangible financial costs with the full-scale launch of the GX-ETS, (2) sustainability information will become a statutory disclosure under the SSBJ reforms, becoming critical decision-making material for investors, and (3) decarbonization will be integrated into ‘value-creation strategies (earning power)’ under ongoing corporate governance reforms”. In addition, important reports were shared as an overseas trend, such as “2025 State of Supply Chain Sustainability Report” by MIT in US, ”Navigating ESG and Climate Headwinds” by Climate Governance Initiative in UK, and ”How to set up effective climate governance on Corporate Board” by World Economic Forum.
In the second half, Yasunori Takeuchi, CEO/Representative Director of CAJ served as a moderator and actively exchanged opinions on (1) the gap between goals and implementation in climate governance, (2) co-creation with the supply chain for Scope 3 emission reduction, and (3) business narratives that talk about decarbonization as a “earning power”.
The stories based on the experiences of people who serve as Non-Executive Directors in companies in various industries with different business areas and business models were very insightful to each other.
The 3rd roundtable will be held on Monday, February 16 with the theme of “Explanation of the Sustainability x Corporate Governance Code” with Yuzo Fujishima (Senior Researcher, Governance Forum for Listed Company Officers) as a guest speaker. If you are interested in participating as Non-Executive Directors, please apply here. (There is a limit to the number of people)
