Messages｜GSG-NAB Japan

Messages

Overseas Partner Organizations

Sir. Ronald Cohen

Chair, The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG)

“As one of the eight founding countries of the GSG, Japan’s NAB has been a leader in shaping the impact ecosystem in Japan and beyond. Impact investing is critical to creating a fairer and more sustainable world because it harnesses the “invisible heart” of markets to achieve a new capitalism where profit and impact set the rules of the game. This NAB’s contribution – including its role in advocating for impact investing during the G20 Osaka Summit – is highly valued by the whole of the GSG as well as emerging member countries, and we congratulate it in the past and wish it continued success in the future.”
Amit Bouri

Co-Founder and CEO, Global Impact Investing Network（GIIN）

Japan’s stature in the global financial services industry positions it well to be a leader in the transition to an inclusive, sustainable financial system. Impact investing, with its focus on driving capital to achieve positive, measurable impact, is central to that transition. We congratulate Japan’s National Advisory Board on their ongoing work to grow the impact investing market with sophistication and integrity.
Clara Barby

Chief Executive Impact Management Project

Japan is taking significant steps towards improving both the awareness and practice of measurement, assessment and reporting of impacts on sustainability issues, otherwise known as impact management. I commend the Japan NAB for not only playing a vital role in leading the impact investing agenda, but for recognising that management of sustainability issues is increasingly relevant to all investors, as it can help drive capital to improve sustainability as well as illuminate financial risk and opportunities in investment portfolios.
Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen

Director, SDG Impact, UNDP

Japan’s leadership in impact investment and track record in stimulating and driving support and funding for solutions to social and environmental challenges, through its National Advisory Board, positions it to be a leader in advancing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) and what it means to invest in alignment with the SDGs. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through SDG Impact, a global UNDP initiative, catalyzing investment to achieve the SDGs by 2030, is pleased to support and collaborate with Japan’s NAB to accelerate investments to achieve the SDGs.

Board Members

Ken Shibusawa

Chief Executive Officer, Shibusawa and Company, Inc.
Chairman, GSG-NAB Japan

From “Me” to “We.” Creating a new flow of funds from Japan to the rest of the world that realizes both social impact and economic return, and building an ecosystem that fosters persons responsible for this flow.
Masataka Uo

President and CEO, The Japan Fundraising Association
Vice Chairman, GSG-NAB Japan

I believe that impact investing has enormous potential to connect the flow of money and solutions to tackle various social issues in the world. Though it is not easy, I believe that if each of us works together beyond our own “boundaries,” we will surely be able to see the time when impact investing is considered as a norm. Let us now open a new door for the sake of children who will become leaders in the future.
Mitsuaki Aoyagi

Vice-chair of Executive Committee, Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF)

I have been involved in GSG-NAB Japan since its inception in 2014. In the past 6 years, GSG National Advisory Boards have been established in 33 countries across the globe, which I see as a proof that impact investing is needed worldwide.
Also in Japan, various stakeholders are exploring what is needed to further promote impact investing and I feel that they have very high expectations of GSG-NAB Japan to move forward.
Itsu Adachi

Sasakawa Peace Foundation Executive Director

We, at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, aim at achieving both sustainable financial returns and social impact through our Asia Women Impact Fund, which is a unique initiative to invest part of our endowment with a gender lens. Our experience and lessons learnt in implementing impact investing will be shared through GSG National Advisory Board, and leveraging our unique strength as a public interest incorporated foundation, we hope to contribute to promote impact investing, which eventually leads to accelerate collective efforts in solving social challenges.
Tadahiro Kaneko

Senior Assistant to Unit Heads of Global Banking & Wholesale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Represented by the rapid growth in the amount of sustainability-linked loan composition in 2019, I am keenly interested in how finance, which is based on the concept of impact investing, will expand in the market in the future. I support the activities of GSG because I consider this as an important direction for us to increase the significance of our presence in society as a bank/financial group.
Tomoya Shiraishi

Board Member, Social Investment Partners

From my experience in long-term investment in companies and management, I believe that social and environmental impact and economic return are not in conflict, but can be compatible. Now is the time for us to utilize dynamic mechanism that can accelerate growth in the capital market; ultimately to build a global ecosystem where social and environmental issues are solved by various innovative businesses.
Kotaro Sueyoshi

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. Sustainable Business Promotion Department Joint General Manager

In promoting corporate sustainability, the difficulty of balancing corporate profitability with environmental and social sustainability has been highlighted. Through the practice of impact finance into a common language among stakeholders, I hope to contribute to the expansion of the flow of capital toward the achievement of the SDGs and the acceleration of the impact driven business.
Miyuki Zeniya

Group Chief Sustainability Officer Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Chief Sustainability Officer MUFG Bank, Ltd.

In addition to the SDGs targeted for 2030, there are many sustainability issues to be addressed, such as the response to global warming and the loss of biodiversity indicated in the Planetary Boundary, and the expectation for financial institutions as a social infrastructure is growing more than ever. As a globally active financial institution, MUFG promotes finance that incorporates non-financial information in addition to financial indicators to build a sustainable society. Impact investment in Japan is important to pass on a bright future to the next generation, and I believe that GSG has a significant role to play.
Chunmei Huang

Managing Director, Impact Investment Team, Shinsei Corporate Investment Limited

As the manager of the first impact investing fund initiated by Japanese bank, we support startup companies in the field of childcare, nursing care, and new work style-related businesses from investor’s point of view. Through the activities of GSG, we aim to share our cases globally to promote the development of an ecosystem that is practical in nature and contribute to the promotion of impact investing to accelerate our effort to solve social issues.
Naoto Hoshi

Director / CFO, Unifa Inc.
Representative Director, Impact Startup Association

Impact Startup is a startup that aims to achieve both “solving societal issues” and “sustainable growth” and to have positive impacts on society. As impact investment (investors) and impact startups (issuers) are inseparable, I hope to contribute to the further expansion of the ecosystem by participating in the committee from the impact startup side.
Hiroshi Mikitani

Representative Director, Japan Association of New Economy

Although the impact of the COVID-19 has been enormous, people started to give more attention to impact investing as a way to promote social change by solving social issues that have been revealed during the spread of COVID-19. Now we are at a turning point, I would like to contribute to the efforts to further expand impact investing as a member of the GSG-NAB Japan while involving both the public and private sectors.
Megumi Muto

Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

In the field of ODA (overseas development assistance), we have spent 30 years building a framework for pre and post project evaluation, key performance indicator setting, and monitoring, under the slogan of "development effectiveness". The recent trend of impact investment is very encouraging. I would like to share my experience and discuss how ODA can act as a catalyst for private financing.

Supporting Members

Masaaki Amma

Advisor, Daiwa Securities Co., Ltd.
Executive Advisor, Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF)

Impact investing is now embarking on a new stage. This is because of the confluence of ESG investment trends that require more impact than before, which is a natural move and I welcome it. On the other hand; however, I think that the definition and quality of impact investing will be questioned again. Japan will be required to participate in discussion across different financial products and international discussions more than ever. I look forward to seeing more activities and contributions made by the GSG-NAB Japan.
Tsutomu Nomura

Chairman, DAI-ICHI KANGYO CREDIT COOPERATIVE

The credit cooperatives aim to contribute to the development of the community by supporting people who diligently engage in business and make a living in the community, with a spirit of mutual aid. I recognize that impact investing turns the spotlight on solving social and environmental issues in the community and it should be further developed. I support impact investing as it is highly compatible with the management philosophy of our credit cooperative.
Tsuyoshi Mori

President, POLARIS Inc.

I would like to express my deepest sympathies and condolences to all those who have passed away, suffered and are suffering economic damages as a result of COVID-19. I think that a paradigm shift in values, a shift from financial capitalism to capitalism of the mind for example, will proceed rapidly. I believe in the concept of “business itself should be a contribution to society” and the promotion of social impact investing to support it will lead to solutions to social issues, and eventually to the sustainable Earth. I sincerely hope that the activities of the GSG-NAB Japan will expand further.
Reiji Yamanaka

Director, Impact Investment Team, KIBOW Foundation

When I started impact investing in 2015, I read every single bit of the GSG materials and received advice from the GSG partners. Now I am really glad that I started impact investing. Impact investing is not an easy investment. However, it gives us the joy of working and changing society with impact-oriented entrepreneurs. I hope that many and diverse investors will participate in impact investing.