IHI Corporation announced today that it has concluded a positive impact finance loan agreement with the Shizuoka Bank, Ltd. The agreement entails comprehensively assessing the environmental, social, and economic impacts of corporate activities. The lending will support efforts to improve positive impacts and reduce negative ones. Assessments are in line with a framework that Shizuoka Bank set up with the Shizuoka Economic Research Institute.

The IHI Group has plants, offices, and subsidiaries around Japan. This agreement is exclusively with a regional banking syndicate to foster co-creation between Group operations and communities as part of ESG management initiatives.

November 2021 saw the announcement of the IHI Group’s ESG Management. This was to guide efforts to materialize socially and environmentally sound operations centered on ESG values that are pivotal to Project Change, a medium-term management plan. IHI is striving to resolve social issues by contributing to better lives, cutting carbon dioxide emissions, and preventing and mitigating disasters to create economies in which nature and technology are in harmony.

IHI will continue to treasure engagement with society and other stakeholders to attain ESG management, and will keep endeavoring to resolve social issues and create new value.

Loan outline 

1. Agreement date: Wednesday, March 8
2. Execution date: Friday, March 10
3. Participating financial institutions: The Shizuoka Bank, Ltd., the 77 Bank, Ltd., the Chugoku Bank, Ltd., the Toho Bank, Ltd.
4. Use of funds: Working capital
5. IHI’s approach: An assessment of the impact of IHI’s operations for this agreement was as follows.

   Environmental	Achieving carbon neutrality (pursuing such specifics as decarbonizing the energy value chain and recycling carbon) Reducing carbon dioxide emissions from operations (including to conserve energy and use it more efficiently and consume less carbon-derived energy) Lowering environmental impacts of operations (augmenting effluent standards under the Water Pollution Control Law and municipal and other requirements by establishing voluntary standards based on Environmental Management System) Using resources more efficiently (such as by cutting waste emissions, undertaking planned water withdrawals, and properly maintaining facilities)
   Social	Pursuing diversity and inclusion (such as by hiring experienced people mid-career outside the Group, holding workshops for female employees, and setting up a consulting desk for foreign employees)
   Economic	Engaging in open innovation (augmenting the efforts of IHI Tsunagu Lab and Ignition Base, commonly called i-Base in-house, by collaborating with IHI Launch Pad in Silicon Valley, and sites in Singapore and elsewhere overseas to innovate and pursue technological progress that drive innovations)

   
   

6. Others
   (1)Impact evaluation
   The Shizuoka Economic Research Institute secured a third-party opinion from the Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd., in conducting an assessment based on the Principles for Positive Impact Finance of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Basic Stance on Impact Finance of the Positive Impact Finance Task Force.

   (2)Monitoring structure
   Monitoring IHI’s impact performance during the loan term regarding the impact evaluation’s key performance indicators under an internal control system that Shizuoka Bank and the Shizuoka Economic Research Institute established in line with the Principles for Positive Impact Finance.

Reference link
Examples of Sustainable Finance at IHI
https://www.ihi.co.jp/en/sustainable/finance/index.html

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