Norinchukin Bank

In terms of senior leadership accountability, the responsibility for sustainability issues within Norinchukin Bank lies with the board of directors. Regarding engagement, the financial institution describes its approach to engaging with clients and investees on sustainability themes and impact topics.

Norinchukin Bank discloses absolute financed emissions, including the underlying data quality and coverage. In terms of engagement on the topic of climate change, the financial institution discloses the key sectors it has identified as priorities to engage with, and the rationale for choosing these priorities. Additionally, its asset management segment, Norinchukin Zenkyoren Asset Management, is a member of Climate Action 100+. Regarding biodiversity, the financial institution discloses the financing criteria it uses to ensure the protection of nature and biodiversity.

Norinchukin Bank has a publicly available policy statement committing it to respect human rights and the ILO core about rights. It also has a grievance mechanism accessible to all workers to raise human rights concerns or complaints. In terms of workforce diversity, the financial institution discloses the proportion of women in its total direct operations workforce for each employee category. Norinchukin Bank also discloses the amount of finance it directs towards small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Norinchukin Bank has an opportunity to link the remuneration of its executive and management teams to sustainability performance criteria. In terms of female representation in leadership positions, women are underrepresented on the board of directors where only 1 out of 17 board members are women. Furthermore, no evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment. Norinchukin Bank has an opportunity to disclose the proportion of women in senior leadership roles, as well as how it addresses any gender pay gaps.

There is no evidence that Norinchukin Bank discloses a target to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050. While it discloses interim emissions reduction targets for its investment and lending activities, it could disclose an interim target which covers all its financing activities. Furthermore, while the financial institution discloses the amount of finance it directs towards sustainable finance, it could disclose the aggregate amount or share of finance it devotes specifically to climate solutions. Similarly, while it has a time-bound target to increase sustainable financing, the financial institution could disclose a time-bound target explicitly for climate solutions. Besides financing limits to ensure the protection of nature and biodiversity, no further evidence was found that the financial institution is committed to minimising its negative impacts.

There is no evidence that Norinchukin Bank describes the process for identifying its human rights risks and impacts through its relevant financing activities. Furthermore, while the financial institution provides a grievance mechanism accessible to external individuals and communities, it should specify that complainants have the option to identify themselves or remain anonymous. In terms of workforce diversity, the financial institution discloses an age breakdown for its entire workforce but has an opportunity to disclose this information for each employee category. In addition, Norinchukin Bank has an opportunity to disclose the amount of finance directed towards usually excluded groups or low-income developing countries.