Interoperability of ESG Data
This week, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Zeroboard announced that they have signed a basic agreement to collaborate on the interoperability of CO2 emissions data. SMBC provides "Sustana" and Zeroboard provides "Zeroboard" as services for visualizing corporate greenhouse gas emissions. This basic agreement will aim for interoperability of CO2 emissions data between the services of both companies.
In February, SMBC Venture Capital participated in the second closing of Series A financing for Zeroboard, where twelve investors committed JPY 460m. The first closing, led by Keyrock Capital Management, included a total of six investors for JPY 1.98bn.
As we covered in the “Japan FinTech Observer #21”, there were two other initiatives to develop and/or apply standards for ESG data:
- Sustainable Lab Inc. (ESG data bank “TERRAST”) has mobilized around 50 financial institutions and founded the “Japan Organization for Standardization of Sustainability Data”, aiming for the disclosure of standardized sustainability information that is useful for all decision-making, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises; the organization was formally stablished on August 14, 2023, and also includes SMBC as a member
- Meanwhile, Asuene & Asuzero are promoting the standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which issued its inaugural standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, earlier in June; Asuene believes that for the first time ever, a common language has been created for disclosing the effects of climate-related risks and opportunities on an organization’s prospects
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