Japan has emerged as a global leader in sustainable finance, demonstrating its strong commitment to addressing environmental and social challenges while promoting economic growth. The Japanese government has committed to ambitious targets for emission reduction by 2030 and 2050.
Climate Bonds Initiative is supporting necessary transition through guidance on qualifying investments and assessment frameworks for transition plans. The aim is to ensure transition plans are credible, viable, and give us confidence that we can meet our objectives.
Today, we are proud to launch further resources to foster Japan’s Sustainable Finance Market, including the brochure for 'Property Certification Opportunities in Tokyo' and the translation of our '101 Sustainable Finance Policies for 1.5°C' and 'The Hidden Emissions from Gas-Fired Power'' to Japanese.
Check out the highlights and make sure to download each one of them below.
Property Certification Opportunities in Tokyo
Japan’s technological advancements and commitment to sustainability offer immense potential for green buildings projects. By expanding financing for these projects, we can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and create healthier and more sustainable living environments.
Why Invest in Green Buildings?
Tokyo's pressing challenge is high energy consumption and heavy reliance on fossil fuels. The solution is to invest in sustainable infrastructure to reduce carbon footprint. These buildings are designed to maximize energy efficiency, utilize renewable energy sources, conserve water, and enhance indoor environmental quality. Green buildings promote sustainability, resilience, and social well-being, making them attractive to both investors and occupants.
To provide comprehensive information about the Climate Bonds Certification Scheme and its expanded coverage, we invite you to explore the new Property Certification Brochure. This valuable resource highlights the benefits of certification, showcases successful projects, and provides insights into how our standards align with global sustainability goals.
101 Sustainable Finance Policies for 1.5°C
Meeting the IPCC’s rapidly closing window of opportunity is still possible if we move investment to green. Climate Bonds' new flagship policy report "101 Sustainable Finance Policies for 1.5°C[MC1] " outlines how policymakers around the world can facilitate the rapid, robust, and credible transition of global economies into a net zero future.
Policymakers at all development levels need to take immediate action to safeguard a liveable future. Rapid action will prevent increased costs, reduce stranded asset risks, and enable sustainable development.
Available in Japanese, this report provides policymakers with the tools they need to speed up, steer, and simplify the journey to a green future, in Japan and around the world.
The Hidden Emissions from Gas-Fired Power
There is a major risk that investment in fossil gas (a fossil fuel predominantly made up of methane, a greenhouse gas) is a threat to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement for Japan and countries around the world. It is now evident that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from gas-fired power are much closer to coal than previously realised. Fossil gas is predominantly made up of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times as potent as CO2; methane leakage across the gas system has become a major threat to meeting out climate goals.
As Japan imports 90% of its fossil gas, shifting away from gas is both a climate and energy security priority. Climate Bonds has laid out the policies and financial opportunities that would enable a rapid shift to renewables for Japan.
Download your copy here.
The Last Word
Japan is making headways to follow through with its commitments to reach net zero by 2050. It has continued to maintain its place in the list of top countries to issue sustainable debt. Market participation has been from both government-owned entities such as JBIC and large conglomerates like NTT.
On par with markets around the world, we have seen substantial emergence of transition and sustainability-linked bonds from transition finance programmes underway by both public and private entities in Japan. These have largely targeted steel, chemicals, aviation and utilities, all hard-to-abate sectors.
We are eager to see what’s in store for future of Japan’s climate finance.
Till next time,
Climate Bonds
Ready. Set. Transition.
Climate Bonds is thrilled to announce Climate Bonds CONNECT 2023, our eighth annual conference series. Building upon the success of last year's CONNECT series, we will once again bring together key decision-makers and influential financial leaders through a series of global in-person events in Hong Kong, Bogotá, New York, and London (also open to online audience).
Full event listings are as follows:
● Asia Pacific, Hong Kong — June 9th, 2023
● Latin America & Caribbean, Bogotá — July 18th, 2023
● North America, New York — September 19th, 2023
● Global Conference, London — November 9th, 2023
We look forward to seeing you there.
Climate Bonds
