It is important that many stakeholders work collaboratively to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity. As the actions are being discussed in numerous initiatives both in Japan and the world, we are making an effort to show leadership in such initiatives.
Here we introduce some of our major activities. We also review the initiatives in which we participate in light of trends in the international community, such as alignment with the Paris Agreement.
Leadership for Climate Change and Biodiversity
Participation in the sector-specific alliances under GFANZ
The Sompo Group has joined the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA), and the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), where it works to improve rule-making and its own efforts toward net zero.
Participation in CDP
The CDP is an initiative to promote corporate environmental disclosure at the request of institutional investors around the world. Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. (Sompo Holdings, Inc.) has been a member since 2005 as an institutional investor. As a responding company, Sompo Holdings selected for the Climate A List as the highest rank in a CDP Climate Change a total of eight times.
Contributing to the development and dissemination of the TCFD and TNFD framework
Following the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations report, our Group declared its support for the TCFD and participated in the TCFD Insurance Working Group of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative（UNEP FI).
In addition, in preparation for the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations report in September 2023, Sompo Japan Insurance and Sompo Risk Management are participating in the TNFD Forum and are taking part in the pilot test of the UNEP FI TNFD framework. Furthermore, we have also registered as a TNFD Early Adopter, which indicates our intention to disclose in a manner consistent with the TNFD by fiscal year 2025.
Through these efforts, we are striving to contribute to the development of TCFD and TNFD disclosure in the insurance industry.
Participating in Japan Climate Initiative (JCI)
In July 2018, the Japan Climate Initiative was established to enhance information dissemination and the exchange of opinions among corporations, local governments, and civil society organizations actively taking measures to combat climate change. We endorse the purpose of this initiative and are participating as a founding member.
Participation in Caring for Climate
“Caring for Climate” is an initiative established by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to advance the role of business in addressing climate change. Masao Seki, Advisor of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., was a member of the steering committee.
Participation in Keidanren Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation
Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. is part of the Keidanren Initiative for Biodiversity Conservation — an initiative comprised of companies that are addressing, and agree with the purpose of, multiple items in the biodiversity declaration and action guideline of the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council. Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. has been a member of the initiative since 2009, when it started as "The Declaration of Biodiversity by Keidanren Promotion Partners."
The chairperson of the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council is Keiji Nishizawa, Advisor of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.. He is currently spearheading the business community’s initiatives on biodiversity and efforts aimed at achieving a nature-positive economy.
Participation in 30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity
As a company that is promoting the registration of OECMs in an effort to achieve the 30 by 30 global target of effectively conserving at least 30% of land and sea areas as healthy ecosystems by 2030, since 2022 Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. has participated in the 30 by 30 Alliance for Biodiversity, a platform set up by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment.
We are implementing a project geared towards achieving the 30 by 30 target by supporting applications for, and promoting the registration of, OECMs in areas owned and managed not only by the Sompo Group, but also by other corporations and local governments.
The Conference of the Parties (COP)
In November 2016, the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) was held in Marrakesh, Morocco. Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. spoke at a session of a side event organized by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, focusing on Japanese corporations’ efforts for climate resilience. The company also participated in a High-Level Meeting on Climate Change organized by Caring for Climate during COP22, as a steering committee member.
In November 2017, at a side event organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) held in Bonn, Germany, Sompo Risk Management Inc. gave a presentation on Private Sector Perspective on Agricultural Insurance.
In November 2018, Masaya Futamiya, Director Chairman of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. at that time, participated as a Chairman of the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council in Global Business and Biodiversity Forum held in advance of the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP14) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. He gave a presentation on the revision of Declaration of Biodiversity by Keidanren and a progress status of the “mainstreaming of biodiversity” in the Japanese business sector.
At the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) held in Montreal, Canada in December 2022, Keiji Nishizawa, Advisor of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. participated as a Chairman of the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council. In order to contribute to the achievement of the new international framework (Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (hereinafter GBF)), in collaboration with Japan's Ministry of the Environment, he announced financial support of 300 million yen for the "Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative (COMDEKS)", which has been designed to be community driven and support local community activities to maintain and rebuild Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund.
Furthermore, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. also participated in the Science Policy Forum organized by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) as a side event of COP15, and communicated its contribution to the creation of disaster-resistant regions through the "SAVE JAPAN Project" and other biodiversity conservation efforts.
In addition, at COP15, Sompo Holdings, Inc. endorsed the statement regarding GBF, which calls for “Living in harmony with nature” by 2050, and which the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has called on private financial institutions to support.
