Reporting governance and approach
Empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more in this era of AI requires building trusted and trustworthy technology.
Our policies and practices
We work to earn and sustain trust by developing and using technology responsibly. Guided by strong governance, ethical standards, and transparency, our policies and practices shape how we engage with customers, partners, and the communities where we live and work, while supporting an inclusive and sustainable future in which people and organizations can access the benefits and opportunities technology creates. This focus is central to our mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Working together with stakeholders
We recognize that our decisions affect people and communities connected to our business and seek to understand and respond to these impacts. We engage with a wide range of stakeholders to gather diverse perspectives and inform our efforts. Through formal and informal engagement, these insights help shape our approach and support broader dialogue and progress.
Identifying material issues
Our reporting describes those topics which we consider to be the most important to stakeholders when evaluating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues at Microsoft. Therefore, ESG materiality in our reporting does not directly correspond to the concept of materiality used in securities law.
A listing of what we currently identify and categorize as our top ESG issues can be found below.
Climate and Energy
Ethics and Integrity (including governance, responsible competition, responsible AI, responsible policy engagement)
Human Capital (including culture and development, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and well-being)
Human Rights
Inclusive Economic Growth (including accessibility, skilling, racial equity)
Natural Resources (water, waste, and ecosystems)
Privacy and Data Security/Cybersecurity
Responsible AI
Responsible Sourcing (including product lifecycle management)
We see the big picture
Microsoft works with our leaders across business and operations to drive companywide approaches to corporate responsibility issues.
CEO and senior leadership
The leaders of our commitments report directly to Microsoft President and Vice Chair, Brad Smith, who sits on our Senior Leadership Team and reports directly to Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella. We work together to earn the trust and confidence of the public, our customers, partners, employees, and shareholders.
Environmental, Social, and Public Policy Committee
The charter for the Microsoft Environmental, Social, and Public Policy Committee includes assisting the Board of Directors in overseeing the company’s “policies and programs and related risks that concern environmental sustainability, the social and public policy impacts of technology including privacy, digital safety, and responsible artificial intelligence, and legal, regulatory, and compliance matters relating to competition / antitrust, trade, and national security.”
Corporate governance
At Microsoft, our focus on corporate responsibility fosters sustained long-term business success. Our corporate governance framework, policies, and practices are described in detail in our annual proxy statement and the corporate governance section of our Investor Relations website.
Compliance and ethics
Our compliance and ethics policies and programs include our Standards of Business Conduct, which applies to employees, executive officers, Board of Directors, and Microsoft subsidiaries and controlled affiliates (where Microsoft directly or indirectly owns more than 50 percent of the voting control).
Reporting our progress
We want to help customers make informed choices about our products and services and ensure stakeholders can evaluate how we are meeting our commitments and responsibilities. Our reporting materials include both a fiscal year-end report on our progress, as well as an array of related supplemental reports and resources.
Aligning our values
Global standards
We inform our disclosure strategies with careful consideration of commonly used global standards and we are closely following the evolution of voluntary and regulatory standards for ESG disclosures.
Principles of United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
In 2006, we began endorsing the United Nations Global Compact and we file an annual Communication on Progress implementing the 10 UNGC principles.
United Nations Guiding Principles
Microsoft was among the first companies to align our human rights work with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and to adopt the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework.
Sustainable Development Goals
We're actively engaged in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and publicly report how Microsoft contributes to the global effort to achieve the SDGs.
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