A large tech company in Japan has partnered with a major financial group to drive nature positive actions aimed at conserving natural capital and biodiversity, they announced this week.
Fujitsu and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial group (MUFG) announced the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday that will see them combine their AI, blockchain, digital transformation, and financing skills and networks.
“We will proceed with various initiatives by collaborating with clients across a wide range of sectors, and through the planning and commencement of solution-based pilot projects and trial runs,” MUFG said.
Initially, the partners will arrange workshops with clients on various potential nature positive actions, identifying challenges and developing action plans.
They will plan and develop digital finance solutions that contribute to the solution of environmental challenges and trial new solutions with customers, according to a Fujitsu statement.
They will also consider establishing a broader consortium.
“Moving forward, Fujitsu will work together with MUFG to create solutions to deliver nature positive outcomes and provide them as offerings under Fujitsu Uvance, Fujitsu’s business model to contribute to the solution of societal issues across industry sectors,” the company said.
Last month, Fujitsu launched an AI-powered solution for below-water data acquisition that it said could quantify and simulate changes in the marine environment to support blue carbon and biodiversity initiatives.
More than 80 of the 320 companies signing up as early adaptors to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) are Japanese, and MUFG in January released a TNFD-aligned annual report, which is only available in Japanese for the time being.
The East Asian island nation is facing significant terrestrial and marine environmental challenges, and last July it became the second country to submit a national Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to the UN.
That was followed up last week with the release of a nature positive economy transition strategy, in which the government laid out a number of initiatives it plans to introduce to support domestic companies in becoming nature positive, both within Japan and through their international supply chains.
Work by an expert advisory group will include considering how Japanese companies can use biodiversity credits and offsets in an optimal way to help achieve their ambitions, the environment ministry said.
In February, Tokio Marine Asset Management and developer Sustainacraft announced plans to develop TNFD-aligned voluntary biodiversity credits, starting at home and then expanding abroad eventually.
The country is also offering to issue TNFD-aligned ‘biodiversity support credits’ to companies supporting the establishment and operation of Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs).
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