Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (president & CEO: Masahiro Kihara) and its consolidated subsidiary, Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (president & CEO: Masahiko Kato), have signed up to the Japan Impact-driven Financing Initiative*1 (hereinafter referred to as the "Initiative"). From here onward, Mizuho will further promote impact investing*2 as it seeks to meet this new era’s demand for corporate values that align with environmental and social values.
The Initiative is jointly driven by domestic financial institutions that understand the importance of being impact-driven, with the Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF) serving as the secretariat. The Initiative aims to promote autonomous and sustainable impact investing within the Japanese financial sector. Signatory institutions work together to promote impact investing in the domestic market by establishing Impact Measurement and Management (IMM)*3 practices as a framework to support corporate attempts to solve environmental and social issues.
With a keen awareness of the environmental and social changes (hereinafter referred to as "impact") brought about by corporate activity, Mizuho Bank has enthusiastically supported a wide-range of customer activities to both reduce negative impacts and create positive impacts in order to solve environmental and social issues within Japan and overseas. In 2017, Mizuho participated in a public-private initiative to issue Japan’s first social impact bonds, for example. Mizuho also began investing in impact investment funds in 2019, and Mizuho launched its Mizuho Positive Impact Finance scheme in 2021.
As a partner in a new era that requires environmental and social values as well as corporate values, Mizuho will further expand and enhance our initiatives in the area of impact investing in order to contribute to solving a wide range of environmental and social issues toward the achievement of SDGs and the realization of a decarbonized society.
*1 See the website below for details.
https://www.impact-driven-finance-initiative.com/en/
*2 Impact investing: An approach to solving social and environmental issues that comprehensively considers the impact of companies receiving financing
*3 Impact Measurement and Management (IMM): According to the definition of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), IMM involves figuring out ways to mitigate negative social and environmental impacts of investments while maximizing positive social and environmental investment benefits, along with implementing moves to measure and manage such impacts/benefits.