Progress of Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainable Practices in Japanese Construction Companies in the SDGs Era

Sustainability has become a pressing topic for the construction industry in the twenty-first century as awareness has grown about the impacts of infrastructure construction on the environment, such as ecosystem destruction, natural resource depletion, and large-scale emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Furthermore, with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016, the construction industry has come under even greater pressure to improve its contribution to global sustainable development. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one means by which construction companies can realize more sustainable practices by implementing changes in their management and operations, but there is little information on how CSR has changed in the era of the SDGs. This study aims to examine how the adoption of CSR for sustainable construction practices has progressed in Japanese construction companies by analyzing CSR data from both before the SDGs (2015) and after the SDGs came into force (2017, 2019, and 2021). The data for each year were acquired from Toyo Keizai Inc., and included responses from more than 1000 companies about CSR-related survey items. The indicators used in this study include the presence of CSR departments, anti-corruption policies, ESG disclosure, executive compensation linked to sustainability, and crisis management systems. Findings show significant CSR integration progress, particularly in response to COVID-19 and environmental goals, highlighting enhanced transparency and social responsibility. However, declines in risk management and anti-corruption measures suggest areas for improvement. The construction industry’s alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has improved, demonstrating its evolving role in promoting sustainable development and societal resilience.