Support for Environmental/Social Consideration in Investment and Financing (Response to the Equator Principles, etc.)

Considering various conditions such as the characteristics of the
project and the location of the project site, E&ES evaluates whether consideration of environmental and
social risks such as pollution control, natural environment, social environment and accident prevention is
appropriate in accordance with the country legislations where the project is to be implemented and
international guidelines. In this way, E&ES support financial institutions in their assessment and the
project proponent in their smooth financing process.

Recently more and more financial institutions, etc. conduct environmental and social reviews based on international guidelines including the Equator Principles or other self-formulated regulations. Therefore, it is important to review related engagement activities regularly and reconsider them for improvements.
We provide support environmental and social assessments of financial institutions in assessing review systems and specific projects’ status, and extract gaps by comparing with the Equator Principles’ requirements or regulations within the organization.

Recently, the manner in which projects deal with their stakeholders
(local residents, workers, etc.) has been increasingly turning into a human rights issue. As a result,
project proponents are being required to take actions to consider human rights.
We provide support in assessing consideration for human rights, identifying good practices and the like, and
introducing initiatives tailored to specific projects. This support extends to supply chains and is based on
industry-specific standards (such as those of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) and Pharmaceutical
Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI)).

Interest in climate change has been steadily rising since the Paris Agreement came into effect in 2016. This is evidenced by efforts aimed at disclosing information on climate change risk by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and others. It is anticipated that, in some cases, consideration of climate change or biodiversity risk and opportunities will be required not only at the company level but also at the project level.
We evaluate projects to determine these risks and opportunities.