The Bridgestone Group Holistic Due Diligence Approach for Human Rights and Environmental Impact
| Components | The Bridgestone Group’s Approach and Actions | Dedicated Website Page | |
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| Scope of Due Diligence | The Bridgestone Group implements due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for the adverse human rights and environmental impacts, including those related to climate change, associated with our global business activities, in partnership with our business partners. | ||
| Risk Management System and Responsibilities | Responsibilities for Implementation and Oversight | Under the Global Executive Committee (Global EXCO), which is Bridgestone's highest-level committee overseeing its business strategy and execution, committees have been established based on management strategy and issues, with the Global CTO and Global CAO･Global CSO in charge, and each committee promotes initiatives to resolve issues across the regions and organizations. The Global CTO and Global CAO･Global CSO are responsible for the cross-functional and global optimization of these activities and they report and make recommendations to Global EXCO on management challenges of the respective business areas. Respective committees are also responsible for defining the Bridgestone Group’s global policies and human rights and environmental standards, and risk management processes. Under these committees, cross-functional and -regional working groups and task forces promote the policy implementation and conduct due diligence across the value chain of our global operations while continuously striving to strengthen measures by implementing PDCA cycles, advancing the progress management, targets and KPI and formulation of measurement criteria. Each committee regularly reviews focus items while reporting the progress of initiatives and proposing responses to emerging challenges to the Global EXCO. | |
| Board-Level Responsibilities | The Board of Directors enlists a corporate governance system aiming to realize the Mid-Long Term Business Strategy by exercising its supervisory function involving discussions with business divisions from diverse perspectives via business execution progress reports and information sharing from the business divisions. In sustainability areas, the Board of Directors receives and reviews regular reports on the status of sustainability initiatives. | ||
| Overall Due Diligence Approach | The Bridgestone Group believes that risk-based due diligence is essential for us to fulfill our responsibility to be a Trusted Partner for society, our customers, and all stakeholders involved in our businesses. We therefore conduct due diligence, to the extent possible, to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for adverse human rights and environmental impacts, including those related to climate change, across the value chain of our global operations, focusing on the most salient impacts. As a leading company in the tire and rubber industry, we focus on sustainable procurement of natural rubber, in light of its impact on society and our business. While natural rubber is an essential renewable resource for producing high-quality tires, it also provides Quality of Life opportunities for as many as 6 million smallholder farmers who are said to be involved in the cultivation of natural rubber around the world. We therefore prioritize addressing environmental stewardship practices, including deforestation, respect for human rights, support of fair labor practices, and increased transparency. We also acknowledge that the procurements of products, particularly raw materials such as 3TGs and cobalt, can potentially create environmental challenges and human rights impacts. To prevent and address those impacts, we work with our suppliers to ensure compliance with the Group’s Global Sustainable Procurement Policy as well as to conduct due diligence based on the ‘OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas’. We periodically review and improve our approach and processes by implementing PDCA cycle, in order to assess their effectiveness in responding to societal and stakeholder expectation as well as material changes in our business environment, operations, and relationships with our partners. Our approach and processes also include monitoring and considering geopolitical risks and events, such as conflicts and humanitarian crises, and their links to and possible impacts related to our business activities across the value chain. |
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| Respecting Human Rights and Environmental Standards | The Bridgestone Group’s policies Respecting International Standards | The Bridgestone Group defines global policies and standards for human rights, health and safety, and environmental risk management as well as those for sustainable procurement in compliance with national and regional regulations and guided by the internationally recognized standards including: ・International Bill of Human Rights ・ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work ・UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ・OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct ・ISO 45001 for health and safety ・ISO 14001 for environmental risk management |
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| Scope of Application | These policies and standards provide a set of rules for protecting the rights of Bridgestone Group ‘s stakeholders and preventing adverse human rights and environmental impacts, including climate change mitigation, which all Group Companies and our suppliers are required to comply with and implement in their operations. Our policies and standards are reviewed and updated as international standards and principles evolve and based on engagement with our stakeholders. | ||
| Policy Implementation across Own Operations | To support the effective implementation of our policies and standards and to prevent adverse impacts in our daily operations, we actively engage with our stakeholders, particularly our employees, through targeted communication, such as onboarding training, policy and grievance communication, compliance and risk training for managers, and job-specific safety and environmental training, etc. The Bridgestone Group conducts periodic assessments to monitor implementation of the policies and standards for human rights, health and safety, and environmental risk management across all of our own operations, including our subsidiaries. |
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| Policy Implementation in Partnership with Business Partners | The Bridgestone Group is also committed to upholding international human rights principles and environmental standards, including no deforestation policy, across our value chain based on collaborative efforts with our business partners. We provide the Bridgestone Global Sustainable Procurement Policy (GSPP) to all suppliers, who are our direct business partners supplying products or services (Tier 1 suppliers), such as natural rubbers. Our suppliers are required to comply with our GSPP and all applicable laws and regulations of countries and/or regions of their operations. We also require them to extend/share our GSPP with their suppliers as well as to ensure legal compliance of their upstream supply chain operations. To ensure their full understanding of our GSPP, we carefully communicate with our suppliers, such as by holding annual conferences in multiple regions, in which we operate. In addition, based on the prioritization considering the size and frequency of our purchases, we request our level 1* and level 2* suppliers to provide us a signed acknowledgement upon receiving our GSPP. Furthermore, and specifically, as natural rubber is the main commodities for producing tires with high exposure to human rights as well as environmental risks as a type of commodities, we pursue contractual assurance from our natural rubber suppliers to ensure our sustainable procurement standards, including the principles outlined in our no deforestation policy, are respected in their operations. Based on the results of the prioritization process, we have started with Level 1 suppliers to monitor their compliance with our GSPP through a third-party assessment. The assessment encompasses the key themes of Environment, Labor Practices, Fair Business Practices and Sustainable Procurement. The Group’s Global Sustainable Procurement Policy covers all materials, including conflict minerals (tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold) and cobalt extracted in conflict areas such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and adjoining countries. The Group has traced 100% of the smelters from which it sources tire-product materials globally. All are compliant with the Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP), which is certified by RMI. If smelters are suspected or confirmed of non-compliance with the relevant RMAP, suppliers are required to make their best efforts to identify and deploy actions for alternative sourcing or mineral substitution. *Level 1 supplier: Direct material suppliers, providing material used in final products *Level 2 supplier: Indirect material suppliers that providing products and services that directly enable production. |
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| Identifying and Assessing Actual and Potential Adverse Impacts | Risk Mapping across Own Operations | The Bridgestone Group, including 231 subsidiaries (as of Jun. 2025) with multiple operational locations across the globe, engages in a wide range of operations from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, services, sales, etc. As part of the risk mapping and evaluation process, we take into account of the nature and inherent risk of each type of operations, including geographical risks and size of operations. We rely on various data sources for identifying and evaluating potential human rights and environmental risks, such as industry benchmarks and standards, external geographic risk data, and internal assessment results. |
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| Prioritizing Risks across Own Operations | Based on results of risk mapping and evaluation through survey-based assessment, the Bridgestone Group prioritizes risks, considering likelihood and severity, including scale, scope and irremediability, of the potential adverse impacts. | ||
| Conducting In-Depth Assessments across Own Operations | Based on the prioritization, we conduct in-depth assessments for identifying actual adverse human rights and environmental impacts. During the assessment process, we consult and engage with rightsholders, such as workers, their representatives, or unions to gather information on adverse impacts and risks, taking into account potential barriers to effective stakeholder engagement. | ||
| Risk Mapping and Prioritization across Supply Chain | In order to initially evaluate and prioritize the risk in our supply chain broadly, we conduct risk mapping based on environmental and social standards with the support of a 3rd party, utilizing industry research, micro-data, and public information as well as supplier information. We conduct risk mapping based on environmental and social risk assessment with the support of the 3rd party. We then categorize suppliers based on the result of the sustainability assessment and apply adapted measures accordingly. |
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| Risk Assessment across Supply Chain | We primarily work with our trusted Tier 1 suppliers, making sure they uphold the Global Sustainable Procurement Policy (GSPP), monitoring their social as well as environmental risk situation and their risk management system for their suppliers. We are establishing procedures to work closely with our direct suppliers, when we identify risks beyond Tier 1 suppliers, we are providing them support in addressing the risks and putting in place mitigation measures. Level 1 suppliers: Direct material suppliers, providing material used in final products As for our Tier-1 direct material suppliers, we receive GSPP acknowledgements and work toward their policy alignment and evaluate their risk situation through third-party risk assessments. Based on the results, we then engage with the high-risk suppliers and conduct in-depth assessments. If adverse impacts are found, remediation should be considered. Mitigation actions should be identified and monitored where risks are identified. Level 2 suppliers: Indirect material suppliers of products and services that directly enable production We also receive a GSPP acknowledgement from the Tier 1 indirect suppliers and work towards their alignment to our policy. Based on the results of the prioritization process, we are conducting risk assessments starting with Level 1 suppliers; however, we are also gradually proceeding with assessments for Level 2 suppliers. If adverse impacts are found, remediation should be considered while mitigation actions for identified risks should be identified and monitored. Natural rubber suppliers 100% of Tier-1 suppliers of natural rubber - considered highest priority for risk management - undergo third-party online assessments and on-site inspections, supplemented by self-assessment questionnaires, in an effort to ensure our business partners uphold the sustainability standards defined in the GSPP. We work with the Tier 1 natural rubber suppliers to conduct survey-based risk assessments as well as in-depth assessment wherever appropriate, based on the survey results and work to mitigate if any adverse impacts are found. Conflict Minerals & Cobalt Our suppliers are required to assess risks of conflict minerals, including 3TG and cobalt, across the whole value chain in line with Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP), which is certified by RMI. |
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| Ceasing, Mitigating, and Remediating Adverse Impacts | Addressing Identified Actual Adverse Impacts across Own Operations | The Bridgestone Group has a systematic process to work to cease and remediate actual adverse impacts on human rights and the environment identified as part of our due diligence process for our own operations. We analyze the cause or activities contributing to, and the nature of the identified adverse impact, in order to develop a plan to cease, mitigate, and prevent the impact. We also consult and engage with impacted stakeholders and/or their representatives to devise appropriate actions and implement the plan. | |
| Addressing Identified Actual Adverse Impacts across Supply Chain | Based on our assessment of our Tier 1 suppliers, if the Bridgestone Group finds actual adverse impacts, we engage with the suppliers to develop a plan to cease the impact with the support of third-party experts with appropriate stakeholder engagement and actively monitor and support their continuous improvement. We may review the business relationship if the supplier does not show adequate signs of improvement. | ||
| Grievance Mechanisms | BridgeLine | The BridgeLine is a publicly available hotline for all stakeholders of the Bridgestone Group to confidentially and anonymously, where legally permitted, report any ethical concerns, suspected criminal misconduct or violations of our policies. We prohibit retaliation and have zero tolerance for acts of reprisal of any kind against anyone who makes a report. To encourage speaking up, BridgeLine is reiterated in various Group policies, on the Group website and is prominently displayed at all of our facilities. |
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| Grievance Mechanism for Natural Rubber Supply Chain | As a leading company in the tire and rubber industry, the Bridgestone Group is focusing on sustainable procurement of natural rubber, in light of its impact on society and business. To support implementation of our Global Sustainable Procurement Policy, we have set up and been managing a grievance mechanism for the natural rubber supply chain since 2022, which provides the opportunity to raise concerns related to human rights and environmental issues and guarantees confidentiality and anonymity of grievance raisers as needed. This grievance mechanism is aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights criteria for effective non-judicial grievance mechanisms: legitimacy, accessibility, predictability, equitability, transparency, rights-compatible, a source of continuous learning, and based on engagement and dialogue. It is available and accessible to all internal and external stakeholders in our natural rubber supply chain and aids in resolving issues through cooperation with direct suppliers and other third parties, in accordance with the Global Sustainable Procurement Policy. To ensure transparency, we are disclosing the standard operating procedure, grievance windows, and the status of each grievance report on our global website. |
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| Reporting | The Bridgestone Group discloses our due diligence performance, results, and progress on our website and through the annual Integrated Report as part of our commitment to enhancing transparency and ensuring accountability to stakeholders. | ||
