Mizuho Financial Group receives Gold Award in Indirect Finance Category and Mizuho Securities receives Bronze Award in Financial Services Category
Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (President & CEO: Tatsufumi Sakai) has received the highest award, the Minister of the Environment's Gold Award, in the Indirect Finance (General) Category of the Japan Ministry of the Environment's 2nd ESG Finance Awards Japan, an awards program promoting the adoption and expansion of ESG finance. In addition, Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Koichi Iida) has received the Bronze Award in the Financial Services (Securities) Category.
Japan's Ministry of the Environment established the awards to evaluate and recognize 1) investors and financial institutions proactively engaging in ESG finance and green projects and thereby producing outstanding positive impacts for the environment and society, and 2) corporate initiatives integrating environmental opportunities and risks into corporate strategy as a means to improve corporate value and thereby producing positive impacts for both corporate value and the environment. Through the awards, the Ministry of the Environment aims to share information about such positive actors and initiatives with society.
Mizuho Financial Group(1)Award Category: Indirect Finance (General) This category recognizes initiatives that incorporate ESG aspects to support clients and others in developing and transitioning to sustainable business models, with the aim of solving social issues that extend beyond particular regions.
(2)Evaluated points
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Mizuho Securities(1)Award Category: Financial Services (Securities) This category recognizes initiatives that have contributed to the expansion of ESG investment through support for issuance of bonds or through sale of financial products and that have consequently promoted financing of projects and companies expected to produce multiple positive impacts for the environment and society.
(2)Evaluated points
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Promoting sustainability initiatives
At Mizuho, we have defined sustainability as "Mizuho's sustainable and steady growth, environmental conservation, and the sustainable development and prosperity of the economy, industry, and society both in Japan and around the world". We have positioned sustainability as an integral part of our group strategy and are rigorously promoting it as a top business priority.
Providing multi-faceted support for our clients' SDG and ESG initiatives
We are placing importance on engagement (constructive dialogue) in our support for our clients' efforts to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns over the medium to long term, beginning with initiatives to address climate change and the transition to a low-carbon society. Through engagement, we strive to deepen our understanding of our clients' SDG and ESG challenges and needs, including in relation to climate change countermeasures and the transition to a low-carbon society, and to work with our clients to develop sustainability strategies incorporating business structure transformation. In doing so, we are providing both financial and non-financial solutions.
Promoting sustainable finance
We have set sustainable finance and environmental finance targets and are pursuing them in order to proactively fulfill our role in directing capital towards environmental protection and the achievement of the SDGs.
| Period | Amount | ||
| Sustainable finance | (of which, the amount of environmental finance) | ||
| Target | FY2019 - FY2030 total | JPY 25 trillion | (JPY 12 trillion) |
| Results | FY2019 - FY2020 H1 total | JPY 4.4 trillion | (JPY 1.7 trillion) |
At Mizuho Bank, we are also proactively developing and providing new financial products to support our clients' SDG and ESG initiatives. These include Mizuho Eco Finance, a new environmental assessment-based finance product utilizing insights from Mizuho Information & Research Institute. Further, at Mizuho Securities, we are endeavoring to expand the SDG bond market and support our clients' solutions to social issues by arranging highly innovative and original deals. These have included a sustainability-linked bond, which was the first of its kind in Japan and certified as a model business deal by Japan's Ministry of the Environment, and a green bond, which was designed to provide funds for adaptation to climate change and was the first such deal to receive a subsidy from the Japan Ministry of the Environment.
All of us at Mizuho will continue to enhance our engagement and solutions group-wide to support our clients' SDG and ESG initiatives and make a positive contribution to improving our clients' corporate value and to achieving the SDGs.