The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support Japan on meeting the 2030 Agenda and Paris Climate Agreement, by strengthening the country's green and climate-related thematic bond market.
Activities agreed by both institutions include strengthening capacity for Japanese national, sub-national and private sector actors in green and transition growth planning, financing and institutional frameworks; improving cooperation and evidence-based knowledge sharing on green and transition finance; advancing thought leadership on opportunities for Japan's themed bond market growth, drawing upon evidence from both the public and private sectors; and more.
Japan is one of the top 15 countries that issued green bonds in 2022, including a greenium from government-owned JBIC, which issued its first green bond for USD500m in January, with the aim of funding low carbon transport, green buildings and renewable energy.
The majority of transition bonds in 2022 have originated from Japan’s transition finance programmes, targeting hard-to-abate sectors like steel, chemicals, aviation, as well as some issuance from utilities.
Zalina Shamsudin, Head of Asia-Pacific Programme, Climate Bonds Initiative
"Japan can play a key role in strengthening the themed bond market in Asia Pacific. We hope this partnership will set a clear path for Japan to transition to a low-carbon economy."
Naoki Mori, Finance Taskforce Programme Director, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
"This exciting partnership brings together expertise on policy and the technical assessment of green and transition bonds. We look forward to making an impactful contribution to accelerating Japan's transition to net-zero."