{"id":17913,"date":"2019-04-12T06:14:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T21:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prod-jp-raw.greenpeace.org\/japan\/press-release\/press-release_7745\/"},"modified":"2024-07-08T09:03:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T00:03:28","slug":"press-release_7745","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/press-release\/press-release_7745\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan\u2019s largest financial group restricting coal financing welcome, but more action needed to match climate urgency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Masaya Noda\/Greenpeace<\/p><\/div>\n


\nTokyo, Japan, 12 April 2019 – Greenpeace Japan welcomes today\u2019s news coverage [1] that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is planning to establish quantitative targets for \u00a0restricting its coal project financing, both domestically and overseas. At the same time, we urge the organization to adopt more ambitious measures to address its existing investments in coal projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to news coverage, MUFG is expected to publish a new policy that will stop its investments in new coal projects and aim to remove 30% to 50% of its current 1-trillion yen (approximately 9 billion U.S. dollars) balance of financing for domestic and foreign coal-fired thermal power by fiscal year 2030. This policy is not expected to address financing of projects currently approved or under negotiation. MUFG has not yet issued an official announcement about the new policy, which is expected to come out in May and enter force from July this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ayako Sekine, Energy Campaigner of Greenpeace Japan, said: \u201cJapanese financial institutions have been behind the global trend towards divesting from coal. It is encouraging to see MUFG as Japan\u2019s largest financial group is taking steps to move away from coal. Coal is both destructive to the climate and a risky investment, so this movement to restrict coal investment is good news for both the environment, as well as MUFG\u2019s shareholders and customers, and other financial institutions should follow.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect to see a policy that makes it clear that MUFG will not make any new investments to coal projects, either in Japan or overseas, with no exceptions. This restriction should include all types of coal-fired power projects, including ultra-supercritical plants or projects with CCS, as well as all projects that are not yet in construction,\u201d said Sekine.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, we call on MUFG to go further. The urgency of climate change means it is not enough to withhold new financing to coal projects. MUFG, along with Japan\u2019s other megabanks and financial industry, needs to quickly address its existing financial support for coal, and rapidly shift its support out of any and all fossil fuels to measures that will drive decarbonisation in Japan and overseas. This means increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects,\u201d Sekine added.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The new policy would be an improvement to the coal policy MUFG established in 2018.[2] The policy was criticised by Greenpeace Japan and others for failing to set clear restrictions for new investments in coal, leaving the door open for new lending to the fuel most harmful to climate. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While restriction of new loans for coal projects is a positive development, MUFG remains involved in several ongoing coal projects in Japan and overseas. In March, it was reported that MUFG is involved as one of the mandated lead arrangers in the Yokosuka coal power project in Kanagawa, Japan. [4] Additionally, a Greenpeace Japan report published December 2018 showed MUFG is involved in funding several coal-fired power projects under construction and planning in Indonesia. [5] Other NGOs have drawn attention to MUFG\u2019s involvement in Vietnam. [6] In this context, the reported target for reducing existing loans is considered insufficient.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Asahi Shimbun, 12 April 2019<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] MUFG Environment and Social Policy Framework<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] <\/span>\/japan\/press-release\/press-release_997\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

[4] AP, 14 March 2019: <\/span>Japan \u2013 Jera secures PF for Yokosuka CFPP – Project Finance International<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

[5] Greenpeace Japan report: <\/a><\/span>Uncertain and Harmful: Japanese Coal Investments in Indonesia<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

[6] No coal, Go Green!: Japan, Stop financing Van Phong 1 coal power plant project in Vietnam<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tokyo, Japan, 12 April 2019 &#…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3905,"template":"","tags":[],"press-release-category":[14,99],"class_list":["post-17913","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","press-release-category-press-release","press-release-category-climate-change"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/17913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/17913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23267,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/17913\/revisions\/23267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17913"},{"taxonomy":"press-release-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release-category?post=17913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}