Environment | In harmony with nature
Long-term environmental vision (2050 and beyond): In balance with nature (Contribution > Footprint)

To exist “in harmony with nature”, Bridgestone has long pursued comprehensive efforts to develop and utilize technologies that value natural resources, while addressing the urgent challenge of global warming by working to reduce CO₂ emissions in line with its Environmental Mission Statement.

In becoming “nature positive,”^* Bridgestone believes achieving this goal requires a comprehensive approach and transformation that combines efficient use of resources, sustainable production, climate change countermeasures, and nature conservation.

Bridgestone will continue to evolve its Sustainability Business Model by incorporating the Science-Based Targets (SBTs) for Nature framework of “Avoid,” “Reduce,” “Restore and Regenerate,” and “Transform.”

Bridgestone will strive to minimize the footprint of its business activities by reducing water withdrawal in water-stressed areas and emissions into the air and water. In parallel, the company will enhance its contribution through the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, in line with its long term environmental vision of being “in balance with nature (Contribution > Footprint)” for 2050 and beyond. Through these efforts, Bridgestone contributes to the realization of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s vision of “living in harmony with nature.”

* “Nature positive” means halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity and natural capital in order to put nature on the path to recovery. The intent behind this is to reduce the impact of business activities on biodiversity and natural capital, maintain and restore ecosystems, and transform socio-economic activities for the sustainable use of natural capital.

Actions to achieve In Harmony with Nature

Bridgestone engages in activities related to its impact on and contribution to environmental preservation throughout the entire product lifecycle and value chain.

1. Minimizing footprint
   (Examples)
   ・Reduce CO₂ emissions in operations
   ・Reduce water withdrawal impact in water-stressed areas
   ・Reduce waste generated and amounts sent to landfills
   ・Request suppliers to consider biodiversity
   ・Strengthen environmental management for pollution prevention
2. Enhancing contribution
   (Examples)
   ・Develop and expand solutions business to contribute to CO₂ reduction
   ・Preserve and restore ecosystems around Bridgestone facilities
   ・Conduct water conservation activities within communities
   ・Contribute to enhancement of the circular economy
   ・Introduce biodiversity educational programs

As part of Milestone 2030, Bridgestone is promoting contributions toward a nature‑positive world by improving its environmental impact. Bridgestone intends to be even more ambitious in its activities in response to the continued importance of social and environmental issues, and the potential impact on the environment caused by business growth.

To achieve the focused target, Bridgestone will create water stewardship plans at 100% of its manufacturing facilities located in water-stressed areas by 2030 and monitor the ratio of facilities that created plans and their progress.
As of December 2025, all 16 sites in the scope had completed the development of water stewardship plans. For details of the water stewardship plans, see the Minimizing footprint section.

In addition, Bridgestone has a permanent goal of, and is committed to, no deforestation^*3 in its sourcing and production activities. This commitment is incorporated into Bridgestone’s Global Sustainable Procurement Policy, and the company is working to achieve the goal through cooperation with suppliers, business partners, and other stakeholders. To strengthen capacity-building initiatives for smallholders, Bridgestone has formulated a global strategy with a mid-term goal of providing support for 30,000 smallholders, aiming to achieve forest conservation by 2026. This goal is in line with the Group’s strategy and GPSNR standards. Bridgestone provided training and technical support to a total of 24,398 smallholders by 2025. For details of the plan and its progress, see the Procurement section.

Bridgestone evaluates its dependence on, impact on, and contribution to natural capital and biodiversity through the relationship map below, which helps identify priority issues. The company continually reviews these priorities in response to evolving social needs.

* Prepared in-house with reference to ENCORE by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and other sources, as well as the Business & Biodiversity Interrelationship Map® released by the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB).

Bridgestone evaluates its dependence and impact on natural capital and biodiversity using the Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE) tool developed by the United Nations Environment Programme - World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and other sources. Based on this industry‑level analysis, Bridgestone assesses the general dependence and impact of its tire business across the value chain.

In the ENCORE evaluation conducted in 2023, Bridgestone concluded that the significance of dependency is very high for services that maintain and regulate the climate, healthy soil, and pollination within ecosystems during the raw material procurement stage. It is also very high for services that control soil erosion, disease, and flooding. In addition, the evaluation concluded that the significance of dependence on water provisioning services was high in the tire and raw material manufacturing stages.

As for impact, Bridgestone concluded that the significance of land use in the raw material procurement stage was very high. It also concluded that the significance of the impact from the use of water resources and waste discharge was high in the tire manufacturing stage. In addition, regarding the value chain as a whole, it concluded that the significance of the impact from greenhouse gas emissions, use of water resources, emissions into the air, water, and soil, and waste discharge was high.

Based on a detailed materiality assessment and quantitative analysis it conducted, Bridgestone identified the following key findings:

Raw material stage (upstream):

The cultivation and procurement of natural rubber, one of the key raw material inputs for tires, was indicated to have a "very high" relevance to land-use consideration, particularly due to land conversion, the expansion of monoculture plantations, and associated soil degradation and erosion. The risk of biodiversity loss and ecosystem simplification was highlighted, especially in sourcing countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Liberia. Water quality impacts from fertilizer and agrochemical runoff were also identified as significant, with priority geographies confirmed at the country/site level.

Manufacturing stage (Bridgestone’s own operations):

The manufacturing of tires and rubber products, which represents the majority of Bridgestone’s production volume, was found to have a high dependency on water resources for cooling, cleaning, and processing. For more detailed information on Bridgestone’s water stewardship initiatives and site‑level water risk assessments, please refer to the Minimizing Footprint section.

The analysis also indicated relatively high significance for air emissions (including PM2.5 from ammonia generated by fertilizer use), wastewater, and solid waste generation of Bridgestone’s own operation of natural rubber farms.

Downstream (end-of-life):

End-of-life tire management was highlighted as an area for further improvement, with opportunities identified for circular economy initiatives and material recycling.

Materiality mapping:

The assessment mapped each activity in the value chain against both ecological impact and financial materiality, identifying natural rubber procurement, water use in tire manufacturing as top-priority areas for risk mitigation and target setting.

Ecosystem service dependencies:

Bridgestone’s operations were found to be highly dependent on ecosystem services such as flood and storm protection, soil stabilization, water flow regulation, and pollination. The loss or degradation of these services due to changes in land use or impacts from climate change may pose significant operational and supply chain risks.

Bridgestone assesses the importance of the proximity of its manufacturing facilities to areas of biodiversity using the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) developed by UNEP-WCMC, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other sources. Using this assessment, Bridgestone works to identify priority issues related to its footprints and contributions to biodiversity around manufacturing facilities, including location-specific assessments on protected areas and Red List species.

Bridgestone encourages all of its manufacturing facilities across the globe to undertake biodiversity contribution activities, including conservation efforts in areas of biodiversity importance, and continues to expand these initiatives.

In addition to its past participation in the Business for Nature and the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB), Bridgestone began participating in the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum in March 2022. Amid growing momentum toward a nature‑positive world under the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Bridgestone is comprehensively evaluating and managing its dependencies and impacts on climate and natural capital, as well as associated risks and opportunities, to inform business strategy.

Based on this assessment of risks and opportunities, Bridgestone is working to reduce the risks of transitioning to a decarbonized society that exists in harmony with nature. This includes promoting contributions to carbon neutrality and a circular economy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the value chain. It also includes the impact of various environmental footprints on natural capital by developing a medium- to long-term strategy and Sustainability Business Model to become nature-positive. At the same time, Bridgestone is working to reduce physical risks by such measures as diversifying natural rubber supply sources through efforts to commercialize guayule, a rubber-producing plant that grows in arid regions.

Specifically, in the Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026), Bridgestone focuses on “initiatives for sustainable use of natural rubber and water resources,” which are directly related to its business. Bridgestone has set goals to support 12,000 smallholders of natural rubber by 2026. (At the end of 2025, given the steady progress in its support activities, Bridgestone updated the target, aiming to support 30,000 smallholders by 2026.) Additionally, towards 2030, it aims to promote water stewardship plans to reduce water risk at production sites in water-stressed areas.

For details on Bridgestone’s initiatives based on TNFD recommendations, see the TCFD and TNFD Index section.
For details on Bridgestone’s Sustainability Business Model, see the Building a foundation for sustainable value creation section.

Bridgestone respects the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity and promotes biodiversity to help ensure sustainability, including a healthy and vibrant future. Bridgestone is committed to enhancing biodiversity by leveraging its global presence. It is actively linking its worldwide network of people with their unique wildlife habitats and providing education and research needed to achieve healthy biodiversity at the gene, species, and habitat levels. Bridgestone is humbled by the lessons that can be learned together with others in its communities by connecting with nature.

Bridgestone launched the Bridgestone “In Harmony with Nature – Promoting Biodiversity Program” in early 2019 (reporting on 2018 activities).

Through the program, Bridgestone encourages all manufacturing facilities across the globe to promote activities to conserve biodiversity. It annually assesses the level of biodiversity contribution at each site using twelve key activity indicators, including the number of biodiversity and environmental conservation events hosted, the number of internal and external participants, the number of environmental education programs offered for children, partnerships with local schools and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), conservation of iconic native species including endangered, symbolic and/or flagship species, and the acreage of on- and off-campus areas managed as natural habitats.

Bridgestone also highlights each site’s efforts by recognition based on the results of these evaluations and promotes its biodiversity contribution activities by sharing case studies of activities underway worldwide with the entire organization. The number of Gold-recognized sites—the program’s highest distinction—has increased across the Group. Since the launch of the program, activities have been strengthened across multiple dimensions, including the number of environmental conservation and education events held, as well as partnerships formed with local schools and NGOs. These developments demonstrate a heightened organizational commitment to biodiversity conservation. By contributing to the conservation and restoration of iconic native species, including endangered, symbolic and/or flagship species, flora, fauna, and their habitats, and by collaborating with various stakeholders, Bridgestone is committed to preserving the environment for future generations, as stated in the “Ecology” value of the Bridgestone E8 Commitment.

In 2025, 104 manufacturing facilities participated in this program based on 2024 activity results, and 71 sites were recognized as Gold Class.

Also, Bridgestone held over 810 environmental conservation/education events, such as an Eco-Art Contest, a tree planting campaign, and waste tire collection. Participants in these events exceeded 72,000.

A total of 77 manufacturing facilities have partnerships with local schools, universities, NGOs/NPOs, national wildlife groups, and/or governments and have promoted biodiversity conservation. For example, Aiken PSR in the U.S. has partnered with the University of South Carolina, Aiken Campus to provide educational classroom instruction to Aiken County students.

A total of 88 manufacturing facilities manage on-site microhabitats or waystations such as bird boxes, pathways for small animals crossing roads, and aquatic plants on water. Over 5,492 hectares of habitat are managed through the Promoting Biodiversity Program.