Japan – Green finance state of the market 2021

The Japanese green bond market continued to grow in 2021, led by financial corporates. Buildings and energy are the primary sectors for use of proceeds. The report also highlights the emergence of sustainability-linked and transition bonds, alongside a comprehensive suite of government guidelines and central bank initiatives to promote climate-related financial disclosures and transition 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).
• Cumulative use of proceeds for Japanese green bonds from 2014 to 2021 is dominated by buildings (41%) and energy (32%).
• The market shows a high rate of external review, with 86% of volumes having such reviews; most issuers typically obtain a Second Party Opinion (SPO).
• In 2021, Japan's outstanding climate-aligned debt—consisting of unlabelled bonds from issuers with high climate-aligned revenue—totaled USD 13.1bn across 115 bonds, with transport being the top theme.
• Japan is establishing itself as a leader in transition finance, publishing the Basic Guidelines on Climate Transition Finance in May 2021 and developing sector-specific transition roadmaps for industries including iron & steel, chemicals, electricity, gas, oil, cement, and paper & pulp.
• The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has implemented a strategy to support climate change responses, including funds-supplying operations that provided JPY 3.6tn in outstanding loan balances to 63 eligible borrowers as of the reporting date.
• Regulatory efforts to enhance sustainability disclosure include the June 2021 revision of the Corporate Governance Code, requiring prime market companies to enhance climate-related disclosures based on TCFD recommendations starting in April 2022.

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} }