Tokyo, Japan – Greenpeace Japan reacts to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (MUFG) revised Environmental and Social Policy Framework (link), published on May 13.

The revised policy does not make any changes to MUFG’s previous policy, published in May 2019, in terms of financing the coal industry. The policy upholds the company’s decision last year to not provide new financing to coal power projects but maintains the loopholes criticised by NGOs, including the possibility to make exceptions based on criteria such as the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. New additions to the policy include acknowledgment of the harmful climate impacts of the oil and gas sector, but with no actual restrictions to financing for this sector.

In response to the new policy, Hanna Hakko, Greenpeace Japan’s Senior Energy Campaigner said:

“After a year of disastrous extreme weather events and record high temperatures all over the world, it is very disappointing to see MUFG failed to make any improvements to its policy on financing coal and the wider fossil fuels sector. The world has ten years to limit the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and MUFG has just wasted one of them.”

Despite MUFG’s policy to refrain from financing individual coal power projects, it has continued financing the coal sector. It has been heavily criticised for still considering funding the Vung Ang 2 project in Vietnam. [1] According to reports, MUFG is one of the largest lenders in the world to corporations involved in coal, ranking as the 2nd largest lender to coal developers in 2017-2019. [2] Despite calls from Greenpeace Japan and other NGOs, MUFG’s new policy does not introduce restrictions on the financing of corporations involved in coal power.

“This new but unchanged coal policy gives the impression that MUFG has not given serious consideration to neither its contribution to climate change nor the trends in energy finance globally, where excluding coal-reliant companies from financing is becoming the norm. If MUFG is serious about contributing to decarbonisation, it needs to place clear restrictions and timelines for phasing out financial support for companies that are accelerating climate change.” [3]

[1] Press release of No coal Japan
[2] Joint press release of 350.org Japan and Kiko Network 
[3] Examples of banks restricting financing for coal-reliant companies

Notes:
Greenpeace Japan sent an open letter to MUFG’s new Group CEO in April 2020. The letter is available in Japanese here.

Photos of Greenpeace actions related to MUFG:
January 2020: Greenpeace Switzerland’s activity at Davos World Economic Forum

Greenpeace Japan reports related to MUFG:
August 2019: A Deadly Double Standard: How Japan’s financing of highly polluting overseas coal plants endangers public health
December 2018: Uncertain and Harmful: Japanese coal investment in Indonesia