MHI Concludes Positive Impact Finance Agreement
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has concluded a Positive Impact Finance(1) agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited (SuMi TRUST Bank) (contract amount: JPY 10.0 billion yen).
MHI Group, in response to the growing need to address the global challenge of climate change, in 2020, identified five material issues, including “Provide energy solutions to enable a carbon neutral world,” as priority measures to contribute to solving societal issues and ensuring continued growth over the medium to long term.In addition, in the 2021 Medium-Term Business Plan announced that same year, MHI Group specified as growth areas “Energy Transition,” aiming to achieve decarbonization in the energy supply side, and “Smart Infrastructure,” supporting decarbonization, energy efficiency, and labor savings in the energy demand side. By decarbonizing both the generation and use of energy, MHI Group is contributing to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040 and realizing a carbon neutral world.
In concluding this agreement, SuMi TRUST Bank conducted a Positive Impact Evaluation (this evaluation). The following themes were selected from the MHI Group’s materiality issues and other topics as activities that contribute to achieving the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). For this evaluation, a second opinion has been obtained from the Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd.(2) on compliance with respect to the Principles for Positive Impact Finance and the rationality of the evaluation indicators used.
The results of these measures will be disclosed on the MHI Group website, in the MHI Group SUSTAINABILITY DATABOOK, and in the MHI Group INTEGRATED REPORT, etc.
The MHI Group aims to contribute to the sustainable enhancement of corporate value and the realization of a sustainable society by leveraging the Group’s comprehensive capabilities and strengths to enrich people’s lives.
(1) Positive Impact Finance
Positive Impact Finance (PIF) is a loan intended to provide continuous support for corporate activities while comprehensively analyzing and evaluating the impacts (both positive and negative) that those activities have on the environment, society, and the economy, based on the Principles for Positive Impact Finance and implementation guidelines formulated by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The key feature of PIF is the use as an evaluation indicator the degree of contribution to achieving the SDGs through corporate activities, products, and services, and monitoring based on disclosed information.
United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI)
The UNEP FI is a broad-based, close partnership between the UNEP and more than 200 global financial institutions. Established in 1992, UNEP FI coordinates with financial institutions, policy agencies, and regulatory bodies to facilitate a shift to financial systems that integrate economic development with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The UNEP is an auxiliary agency of the UN established in 1972 to implement the Human Environment Declaration and the International Environmental Action Programme.
Principles for Positive Impact Finance
The Principles for Positive Impact Finance, formulated by the UNEP FI in January 2017, is a financial framework for achieving SDGs. Companies disclose their contributions to achieving SDGs as KPIs. Banks then assess the positive impact of those contributions and provide funding to enhance the beneficial impacts of that company, and to encourage reduction of negative impacts. Banks provide funds as responsible financial institutions, monitoring the KPIs to confirm that the impacts are ongoing.
(2) For more information about the Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd., visit the following website: https://www.jcr.co.jp/en/
About MHI Group
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.
For the full version of the press release, visit www.mhi.com/news/24032902.html.
Topic: Press release summary
Hong Kong – DSJ concludes visit to Switzerland (with photos)
DSJ concludes visit to Switzerland (with photos)
************************************************
The Deputy Secretary for Justice, Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan, today (March 21, Geneva time) concluded his visit to Geneva, Switzerland.
He attended the 55th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council and delivered a speech on March 20 (Geneva time).
He said that legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law has been passed by Hong Kong’s legislature to discharge Hong Kong’s long overdue constitutional duty to enact laws on its own to safeguard national security, stressing that the legislation will bring about a stable and prosperous future for Hong Kong with the rights and freedoms enjoyed in accordance with the law fully protected, as always.
He pointed out that the legislation fully aligns with the principles of international laws and practices. The legislation clearly specifies that the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law, as well as the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, are to be protected in accordance with the law. This important principle forms a cornerstone of the legislation, and is literally written in the new law.
He reiterated that each and every sovereign state has an inherent right to enact laws to safeguard its national security, including China, and many countries have enacted a host of national security laws based on their own national security risks and needs.
“The Basic Law Article 23 legislation will better protect our country from genuine threats to national security in the increasingly intricate geopolitics of our time,” he said.
“The comments by some countries and organisations on this are made in complete disregard of basic jurisprudence and facts, and demonstrate nothing more than double standards and sophistry,” he continued.
He highlighted that the legislative exercise has gained very wide support from the Hong Kong community.
Joining him for the meeting were representatives of the Department of Justice, the Security Bureau, and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government officials attended the meeting as members of China’s delegation.
During his stay in Geneva, Mr Cheung also called on the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland, Mr Chen Xu. Mr Cheung expressed his deepest gratitude to Mr Chen for his support to Hong Kong in enhancing international understanding of the concerned legislative work. Mr Cheung said he hoped that this trip will help the world to understand the necessity, legitimacy and urgency of the legislation.
Mr Cheung will leave Geneva for Hong Kong today.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has concluded a Nissay Positive Impact Finance (Note1) agreement with Nippon Life Insurance Company (Nippon Life) (contract amount: JPY 6.0 billion yen). MHI Group, in response to the growing need to address the global challenge of climate change, in 2020, identified five material issues, including “Provide energy solutions to enable a carbon neutral world,” as priority measures to contribute to solving societal issues and ensuring continued growth over the medium to long term.In addition, in the 2021 Medium-Term Business Plan announced that same year, MHI Group specified as growth areas “Energy Transition,” aiming to achieve decarbonization in the energy supply side, and “Smart Infrastructure,” supporting decarbonization, energy efficiency, and labor savings in the energy demand side. By decarbonizing both the generation and use of energy, MHI Group is contributing to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2040 and realizing a carbon neutral world. In concluding this agreement, the following Core Impacts were selected from the MHI Group’s materiality issues and other topics as activities that contribute to achieving the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). The qualitative and quantitative evaluation is conducted by Nippon Life, with a second opinion provided by Rating and Investment Information Inc. (R&I) (Note2) regarding compliance with the Principles for Positive Impact Finance, and the rationality of the evaluation indicators used. The MHI Group aims to contribute to the sustainable enhancement of corporate value and the realization of a sustainable society by leveraging the Group’s comprehensive capabilities and strengths to enrich people’s lives. Positive Impact Finance United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Principles for Positive Impact Finance (1) Nissay Positive Impact Finance is ESG-themed investment provided by Nippon Life. By identifying the impacts that a company’s overall business activities have in the areas of environment, society, and economy, and setting KPIs, the financing aims to increase positive impacts while reducing negative ones.Major ESG Investment and Finance Exampleshttps://www.nissay.co.jp/global/sustainability/esg/example.html About MHI Group Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com. For more information, visit www.mhi.com/news/24020902.html. S for S concludes GBA visits in Zhongshan (with photos)
*******************************************************
Mr Tang called on Vice Mayor of Zhongshan cum Director-General of the Zhongshan Municipal Public Security Bureau, Mr Lu Gang, in the afternoon. Deputy head of the Zhongshan Municipal Emergency Management Bureau Mr Peng Shangzhan was in attendance. Mr Tang exchanged views with them on issues including combatting cross-boundary crimes and emergency management, and explored co-operation in different fields for enhancing synergistic development. Mr Tang introduced in the meeting a new plan formulated by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government to further enhance the capability of GBA cities in handling incidents together, including strengthening exchanges on technology and knowledge, resource sharing, as well as emergency mobilisation co-ordination.
Mr Tang said that after concluding the visit to Zhongshan, he has completed the series of visits to all GBA cities starting from April this year. He expressed his gratitude to the public security bureaux, emergency management bureaux and fire and rescue brigades of all the cities for studying the relevant emergency response plan with the leadership and co-ordination of the Guangdong Provincial Government. He said he looked forward to holding joint working meetings later to take forward the plan.
Mr Tang then visited the e-Park (Zhongshan) and learnt more about its operation. He also chatted and exchanged views with young Hong Kong entrepreneurs, and explored how the HKSAR Government could help their development in the GBA. During his stay in Foshan, Mr Tang enjoyed martial arts performances at the Feihong Pavilion in Nanhai and learnt more about the origin, inheritance and development of Foshan’s martial arts culture. Mr Tang praised the local use of innovative technologies to present the diversity of traditional martial arts, which perfectly combined tradition and modernity. Such creative methods provide great inspiration to the future work of the bureau.
Mr Tang concluded the two-day visit to Zhaoqing, Foshan and Zhongshan, and returned to Hong Kong in the evening.
SEE concludes visit to Guangzhou and Zhaoqing (with photos)
***********************************************************
Mr Tse visited Nansha District of Guangzhou yesterday morning (July 19). He first visited a high-rise pig farm to learn about the technology and operation of modernised pig farms. The pig farm is currently the highest livestock complex in Guangdong Province. Thereafter, he also visited a vegetable farm and received a briefing from a representative of the farm on their advanced facilities and agricultural product safety tracking system.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr Tse visited the Guangdong International Fishery High Tech Park and exchanged views on aquaculture, recreational fishing, integrated training and services schemes, etc. He also learnt about the high-density closed recirculating aquaculture system adopted in the Park. Thereafter, he visited the Vegetable Basket Project (Zengcheng) Customs Clearance Facilitation Zone of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The Zone, which came into operation in mid-2020, aims to strengthen the co-operation in the food safety of agricultural products in the GBA and enhance the quality of agricultural products.
Mr Tse visited Conghua Racecourse this morning together with the Director-General of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Guangdong Province, Mr Liu Zonghui; the Executive Director of Corporate Affairs of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Raymond Tam; and the Executive Director of Racing of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Andrew Harding, to exchange views on deepening co-operation between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on matters such as developing the GBA’s equine industry. Conghua Racecourse is the first thoroughbred horse training centre and a racecourse on the Mainland that meets the highest world standards, providing a support base for horses in Hong Kong to travel along the biosecurity passage between Hong Kong and the Equine Disease Free Zone in Conghua for training purposes.
Mr Tse returned to Hong Kong this afternoon.
MHI Concludes Nissay Positive Impact Finance Agreement
Positive Impact Finance (PIF) is a loan intended to provide continuous support for corporate activities while comprehensively analyzing and evaluating the impacts (both positive and negative) that those activities have on the environment, society, and the economy, based on the Principles for Positive Impact Finance and implementation guidelines formulated by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The key feature of PIF is the use as an evaluation indicator the degree of contribution to achieving the SDGs through corporate activities, products, and services, and monitoring based on disclosed information.
The UNEP FI is a broad-based, close partnership between the UNEP and more than 200 global financial institutions. Established in 1992, UNEP FI coordinates with financial institutions, policy agencies, and regulatory bodies to facilitate a shift to financial systems that integrate economic development with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations.
The UNEP is an auxiliary agency of the UN established in 1972 to implement the Human Environment Declaration and the International Environmental Action Programme.
The Principles for Positive Impact Finance, formulated by the UNEP FI in January 2017, is a financial framework for achieving SDGs. Companies disclose their contributions to achieving SDGs as KPIs. Banks then assess the positive impact of those contributions and provide funding to enhance the beneficial impacts of that company, and to encourage reduction of negative impacts. Banks provide funds as responsible financial institutions, monitoring the KPIs to confirm that the impacts are ongoing.
(2) For more information about Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I), visit the following website:https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/index.html
(3) “Health and Productivity Management” is a registered trademark of Nonprofit Organization Kenkokeiei.
Topic: Press release summaryHong Kong – S for S concludes GBA visits in Zhongshan (with photos)
The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, called on the Zhongshan Municipal Public Security Bureau and conducted visit activities in Foshan and Zhongshan today (July 20), completing his series of visits to all cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in recent months.Hong Kong – SEE concludes visit to Guangzhou and Zhaoqing (with photos)
The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, concluded his visit to Guangzhou and Zhaoqing today (July 20).Ads
