In recent years, the growing emphasis on ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investments has become an important driver of corporate behavior. As one example, advances by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in Japan has rapidly accelerated climate-related information disclosure by Japanese companies. However, at the same time, Japan continues to lag behind in gender equality, ranking 121 out of 153 countries in the 2019 Global Gender Gap Index released by the World Economic Forum. In particular, Japan is significantly behind the rest of the world in terms of women’s under-representation in economic fields as well as the disclosure of gender statistics. This project aims to encourage greater diversity in enterprises and promote transparency by analyzing the relationship between initiatives focusing on gender, the environment, and innovation. More specifically, this project will examine the relationships between companies’ environmental performance, initiatives for innovation, and focus on gender diversity, with plans to share the results with the international community.

Kiyoko Takahashi