Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021

A report by the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) analyzing the state of the Japanese green finance market in 2021, covering green bond trends, unlabelled climate-aligned debt, and the evolving regulatory landscape for transition and sustainable finance.

• The Japanese green bond market expanded in 2021, with financial corporates holding the largest market share at 45% (USD 7.1bn), followed by non-financial corporates at 30% (USD 4.8bn) and government-backed entities at 22% (USD 3.4bn).
• Between 2014 and 2021, the 'Use of Proceeds' for Japanese green bonds was dominated by buildings (41%) and energy (32%). The Japan Housing Finance Agency was the largest allocator for buildings (USD 5.29bn), while Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group was the top issuer for energy.
• Japanese green bond issuers generally prefer shorter tenors, with 49% of deals maturing between 5 and 10 years. Long tenors exceeding 20 years represent only 5% of cumulative volumes.
• The majority of Japanese green bonds utilize external reviews, with 86% of volumes having them. In 2021, only 0.2% (USD 360m) of deals by volume lacked an external review.
• In 2021, Japan had 115 outstanding climate-aligned bonds (unlabelled) totaling USD 13.1bn. Transport was the leading theme in this category, with significant contributions from Central Japan Railway Co (USD 7.4bn) and Tokyo Metro Co (USD 3.7bn).
• Japan is establishing a framework for transition finance, including the publication of 'Basic Guidelines on Climate Transition Finance' in May 2021 by the FSA, METI, and MOE. This led to the first transition bond issuance by NYK Line, a two-tranche deal worth JPY 20bn (USD 190m).
• The Bank of Japan (BOJ) introduced 'Funds-Supplying Operations to Support Financing for Climate Change Responses' in September 2021 to provide funds to financial institutions for climate-related loans or investments. As of the report's writing, loans had been disbursed twice with an outstanding balance of JPY 3.6tn across 63 borrowers.

APA

Shimizu, N., Morishita, M., & Mori, N. (2022). Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/news_report_221219_2.pdf

Chicago

Shimizu, Noriko, Maiko Morishita, and Naoki Mori. Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/news_report_221219_2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shimizu |first1=Noriko |last2=Morishita |first2=Maiko |last3=Mori |first3=Naoki |title=Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021 |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=December 2022 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/news_report_221219_2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shimizu2022japan, author = {Shimizu, Noriko and Morishita, Maiko and Mori, Naoki}, title = {{Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = dec, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/news_report_221219_2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }