Sustainable Finance

Constructing a sustainable society is a major challenge of our society today. The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement and other important milestones has shown that it is essential to promote sustainable finance, which encourages the society to transit to new industrial and social structures and realizes a sustainable society.

In December 2020, the Financial Services Agency, Japan (FSA) established its Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance and has discussed various measures to promote sustainable finance. The Expert Panel positioned sustainable finance as "an infrastructure supporting sustainable economic and social system". Based on these discussions, the FSA is working on measures to promote sustainable finance; Enhancing Corporate Disclosure, Capital Market Functions, and the Role of Financial Institutions.

Sustainable finance in general

• The JFSA's Strategy on Sustainable Finance  (I-２ of "The JFSA Strategic Priorities July 2024-June 2025")

Links

Domestic Policies

1. Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance
   • "The Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, FSA The Fourth Report" (October 31,2024)
   • "The Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, FSA The Third Report - Enhancing sustainable finance -" (July 31,2023)
   • "The Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, FSA The Second Report - Financial systems that open up a new sustainable society -" (July 13,2022)
   • "Report by the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance - Building A Financial System that Supports a Sustainable Society -"  (June 18, 2021)
   • Members of the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance (As of October, 2024)
   • Overview of FSA’s initiatives
     (”The Fourth Report by the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance”)
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2. Enhancing Corporate Disclosure
   • The Council of Experts Concerning the Follow-up of Japan’s Stewardship Code and Japan’s Corporate Governance Code
     • Publication of the "Action Program for Accelerating Corporate Governance Reform:From Form to Substance"（April 26, 2023）
     • Publication of Revised Japan's Corporate Governance Code（June 11, 2021）（JPX）
     • Finalization of the Revised Guidelines for Investor and Company Engagement（June 11, 2021）
     • Revisions of Japan's Corporate Governance Code and Guidelines for Investor and Company Engagement (April 6, 2021)
     • Principles for Responsible Institutional Investors ≪Japan’s Stewardship Code≫ -To promote sustainable growth of companies through investment and dialogue- (Second revised version)(March 24, 2020)
   • Working Group on Corporate Disclosure of the Financial System Council
     • Report by the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure of the Financial System Council [Available in Japanese]  (December 27, 2022) 
     • Report by the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure of the Financial System Council [Available in Japanese]  (June 13, 2022) 
       • ”Summary of Report by the Working Group on Corporate Disclosure of the Financial System Council”
   • Special Page: Sustainability-Related Disclosure in Japan [Available in Japanese]
   • TCFD Consortium
   • Sustainablity Standards Board of Japan(SSBJ) (Financial Accounting Standards Foundation)
   • JPX ESG Knowledge Hub（JPX）
3. Capital Market Functions
   • Technical Committee for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers, etc. (February 3, 2022) 
     • "the Code of Conduct for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers"：26 ESG Evaluation and Data Providers have endorsed the "Code of Conduct" (July 8, 2024)
     • Finalization of “the Code of Conduct for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers (December 15, 2022)
     • Report of the Technical Committee for ESG Evaluation and Data Providers (July 12, 2022) 
   • Working Group on Social Bonds [Available in Japanese] 
     • Publication of the "Examples of Indicators for Social Benefits of Social Projects” (November 11,2022)
     • Social Bond Guidelines (October 26, 2021)  
   • Dialogue on Enhancing Sustainability Investment Products [Available in Japanese]
     • “Insights from Dialogue on Enhancing Sustainability Investment Products” Announced（July 5, 2024）
   • Sub-Working Group on Impact Indicators for Social Projects [Available in Japanese]
     • Publication of the "Examples of Indicators for Social Benefits of Social Projects”（November 11,2022）
   • Response to the FSA’s Consulation on the Proposed Amendment of the Comprehensive Supervisory Guidelines for Financial Instruments Business Operators, etc. regarding ESG Investment Trusts(March 31, 2023)
   • Publication of "Progress Report on Enhancing Asset Management Business 2022" (May 27, 2022)
   • JPX Publishes English Version of First Report from Sustainable Finance Platform Development Working Group (January 31, 2022) (JPX)
   • ESG Bond Information Platform (JPX)
4. The Role of Financial Institutions
   • “Climate-Related Scenario Analysis － Next Step in the Banking Sector －”（May 10, 2024）
   • “Pilot Scenario Analysis Exercise on Climate-Related Risks Based on Common Scenarios”（August 26, 2022）
   • “Supervisory Guidance on Climate-related Risk Management and Client Engagement"（July 15, 2022）
   • Working Group on Financial Institutions’ Efforts towards the Decarbonization of the Economy
     • "Report by the Working Group on Financial Institutions’ Efforts towards Decarbonization of the Economy" (Provisional Translation) Announced（July 21, 2023）
5. Transition Finance
   • Asia GX（Green Transformation）Consortium announces its official launch（October 2, 2024）
   • Asia GX（Green Transformation）Consortium holds kick-off meeting（March 15, 2024）
   • The Kick-off Meeting of the Asia GX（Green Transformation）Consortium（March 11, 2024）
   • Taskforce on Preparation of the Environment for Effective Transition Finance [Available in Japanese] 
     • ”Addressing the Challenges of Financed Emissions” Announced(October 13, 2023）
     • "Formulation of the Transition Finance Follow-up Guidance" Announced(July 21, 2023）
     • Creating an Enabling Environment to Scale-up Transition Financing to Accelerate Decarbonization of Hard-to-Abate Sectors(May 1, 2023）
     • "Basic Guidelines on Climate Transition Finance" Announced (May 24, 2021） 
   • Transition: Toward a Transition to Decarbonization (METI)
   • GX League Basic Concept (METI)
6. Events and Symposiums organized by the FSA
   • Summary of the Result of the International Roundtable on Understanding Credibility of Transition Plan (February 29, 2024)
   • International Conference on Sustainability Disclosure (March 3, 2023)
   • The FSA-sponsored International Symposium “Transition to Net-Zero: The Role of Finance and Pathway toward a Sustainable Future" (May 26, 2022)
   • Joint IIF - Embassy of Japan - JFSA Event: “Financing the Future" (March 30 and 31, 2022)
   • FSA-JPX seminar “TCFD Disclosure and Transition Finance" (April 28, 2021)
   • FSA-JPX symposium on “Dialogue between companies and investors on TCFD" (December 20, 2019)
7. Others
   • Working Group on Impact Investment 
     • Finalization of “Basic Guidelines on Impact Investment (Impact Finance)"（March 29, 2024）
     • "Report by the Working Group on Impact Investment" Announced（July 31, 2023）
   • Japan’s Impact Consortium（March 29, 2024）
     • Summary of Results of Impact Forum (June 5, 2024)
     • Impact Forum (March 19, 2024)
     • Summary of Results of the Launch Event for Japan’s Impact Consortium（December 8, 2023）
   • Impact Investing Roundtable［Available in Japan］ 
     • "Achievement in the First Phase and Challenges Ahead" [Available in Japan] (September 30, 2021)
   • Appointment of Chief Sustainable Finance Officer (March 15, 2019)

International Policies

• Appointment for the Chair of FSB SRC Transition Plan Working Group (TPWG) (September 28, 2023)
• Participation in the TNFD Forum
• Participation in the International Platform on Sustainable Finance (November 24, 2020)
• Nomination as a member of 2019/2020 Advisory Council for ICMA's Green Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles (October 21, 2019)
• FSA joins the NGFS (June 6, 2018)
• Participation in the Sustainable Insurance Forum (May 23, 2018)

Meeting

• Commissioner Kurita’s Meeting with GFANZ Co-Chair Mr. Mark Carney (November 30, 2023)

Speeches by FSA officials

• Keynote address by Commissioner, at the "IFRS Integrated Thinking & Reporting Conference" (April 3, 2025)
   Keynote address
• Keynote address by Deputy Commissioner for International Affairs at the "IFRS Integrated Thinking & Reporting Conference" (June 12, 2023)
   Keynote address
• Keynote Speech by Vice Commissioner, at the "Moral Money Tokyo Briefing (The Financial Times)"(October 7, 2022)
   Keynote Speech
• Contribution of “JFSA's approach to climate-related financial risk management” to the Eurofi Magazine（September 14, 2022）
• Opening Remarks by Shunichi Suzuki, Minister of State for Financial Services, at the "Transition to Net-Zero: The Role of Finance and Pathway toward Sustainable Future"(May 26, 2022)
  Opening Remarks [Video]
• Closing Remarks by Vice Minister for International Affairs, at the "Transition to Net-Zero: The Role of Finance and Pathway toward Sustainable Future"(May 26, 2022)
  Closing Remarks [Video]
• Keynote speech by Vice Minister for International Affairs, at the RI Japan 2022 (May 25, 2022)
  Keynote Speech   Presentation Material
• Concluding Remarks by Commissioner, at the BOJ (Bank of Japan) International Research Workshop on Climate-related Financial Risks (March 26, 2021)
  Concluding Remarks 

Survey Report

• Publication of the Research Report “Financial Institutions’ Current Status of Scenario Analysis based on TCFD Recommendations and the Related Transition Plans” (April 28,2025）
• Publication of the Research Report, "Study on Global Investors' Focus Areas Regarding Human Capital Disclosure and Corporate Case Studies" [English, Tentative translated version] (April 11, 2025)
• Publication of the Research Report, "Study of the Use of the NGFS Scenarios" [English, Tentative
  translated version] (June 25, 2024)
• ”Discussion Paper - Study on Climate-related Scenarios Analysis: Characteristics of NGFS Scenarios and their Applications in Climate-related Financial Risk Analysis” [English, Excerpted version] (July 12, 2022)

External links

• Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry “Climate Change”
• Ministry of the Environment “Green Finance Portal”

X （formerly Twitter）

• JFSA Sustainable Finance Team