The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has established an environmental finance engineering department to strengthen its support for environment improvement projects.

The new department will promote the use of innovative financing, including the Kyoto Mechanisms, to increase project profitability. It will cooperate with JBIC’s loan departments and will provide professional advisory services for Japanese businesses and foreign governments involved in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Japan is due to take over the G8 presidency in 2008, when the progress of the Gleneagles Plan of Action on the environment and climate change will be reported. It is therefore keen to address the challenges that energy security and climate change pose to the global economy.

The new department will work towards this, enabling JBIC to contribute to overseas environmental improvement projects. Through it, JBIC will also provide Japanese businesses with an opportunity to use their energy-saving technology in such projects.

JBIC has already worked with the Japan GHG Reduction Fund and Japan Carbon Finance Ltd to enable Japanese firms to acquire carbon credits.