Japanese banks still have to catch up with their European peers on coal

Reclaim Finance argues that Japan's three megabanks (Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC) maintain policies that allow continued support for the coal industry. While the banks have updated policies to restrict direct project financing for new coal plants 'in principle', these policies contain exceptions and do not apply to general corporate financing. Between October 2018 and October 2020, these banks provided $39bn, $36bn, and $32bn respectively to companies on the Global Coal Exit List. The document contrasts this with European peers like Crédit Agricole and notes increasing shareholder and activist pressure on the Japanese institutions to align with the Paris Agreement.

• Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC have updated their coal policies to restrict direct financing of new coal plants 'in principle', but these policies include exceptions and do not align with the Paris Agreement.
• The three banks continue to support the coal industry through indirect general corporate finance, which is not covered by their project-specific exclusion policies.
• Between October 2018 and October 2020, Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC provided $39bn, $36bn, and $32bn respectively to companies listed on the Global Coal Exit List (GCEL).
• Financial data from 2016-2018 shows the banks provided billions to developers with significant coal pipelines: Mizuho provided $24bn to 37 developers (including China Huadian), MUFG provided $23bn to 30 developers (including Power Finance Corporation), and SMBC provided $27bn to 36 developers (including PLN).
• The Japanese banks face increasing pressure from shareholders and activists, including a shareholder resolution at MUFG and a previous climate-related resolution at Mizuho that received 34.5% investor support.

APA

admin (2021). Japanese banks still have to catch up with their European peers on coal. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/06/23/japanese-banks-still-have-to-catch-up-with-their-european-peers-on-coal/

Chicago

admin. Japanese banks still have to catch up with their European peers on coal. Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/06/23/japanese-banks-still-have-to-catch-up-with-their-european-peers-on-coal/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Japanese banks still have to catch up with their European peers on coal |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=23 June 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/06/23/japanese-banks-still-have-to-catch-up-with-their-european-peers-on-coal/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2021japanese, author = {admin}, title = {{Japanese banks still have to catch up with their European peers on coal}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/06/23/japanese-banks-still-have-to-catch-up-with-their-european-peers-on-coal/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }