Climate Lobbying Overview: KDDI appears to have a broadly positive position on climate change in its top-line messaging but has continuously been unclear on its positions on climate and energy policy, with the exception of supporting a transition to renewable energy. The company has had low direct policy engagement, but retains memberships to a few key industry associations that engage on climate policy.

Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: KDDI appears generally supportive of action on climate change in its top-line messaging. In its 2020 Sustainability Report, KDDI appeared to support the goals of the Paris Agreement to hold the increase in global temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. In the same report, the company acknowledged the risks of climate regulation to its business continuity and growth but did not state a specific position.

Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: There is limited evidence of KDDI’s engagement on climate-related regulations. In its 2020 Annual Report, KDDI stated that regulations such as “energy efficiency standards, carbon taxes, and emissions trading” could pose risks for companies’ business activities but did not take a clear position on such policies. This position appears to have remained the same since 2018, when KDDI made a similar statement regarding the climate regulations in its Annual Report. In its 2021 CDP submission, KDDI did not disclose its position on climate change legislations, despite previously disclosing its engagement with carbon intensity reduction, cap and trade, and clean energy generation in its 2017 CDP submission.

Positioning on Energy Transition: KDDI does not appear to have a detailed position on the energy transition but has expressed top-line support for increasing renewables in the energy mix. In its 2019 Sustainability Report, KDDI stated that “renewable energy has not adequately spread throughout Japan” and urged for a concrete action plan. The company reiterated this in its 2021 Sustainability Report, recognizing the global movement toward carbon neutrality. On its corporate website in the same month, KDDI stated that the introduction of renewable energy is “indispensable” for the realization of a carbon-neutral and decarbonized society by 2050, particularly advocating for wind power generation.

Industry Association Governance: KDDI has a strong relationship with the Communications and Information Network Association of Japan (CIAJ) and Keidanren, with a corporate executive serving as Director of CIAJ and the president of KDDI heading a Keidanren committee. The company has a moderately strong relationship with the Central Japan Economic Federation (CJEF) as a direct member of the association. Both Keidanren and CJEF have lobbied negatively on numerous climate-related policies.

KDDI has not disclosed a full list of industry association memberships and engagement nor its climate-relevant policy positions and lobbying activities in its corporate reporting. In its 2021 CDP submission, KDDI disclosed its membership in Keidanren and the Telecommunications Carriers Association but only disclosed its policy position alignment with the associations on one policy area, that being the emission reduction target of the telecommunications industry .

InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q4 2022.