Following up from a joint statement from SPARX Group and Toyota Motor on September 19, 2018, SPARX Group announced on November 9 that its subsidiary SPARX Asset Management has started operating the Mirai Renewable Energy Fund. The newly-established fund aims to make investments that will accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources in Japan. The fund has a current capital total of 23.6 billion yen, and is expected to increase to 30 billion yen. Investors in the fund include Toyota, Chubu Electric Power, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank.

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has emphasized the need to meet a carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction target of 40 percent below 2010 levels, as well as reaching ‘net zero’ by 2050 in order to tackle global rising temperatures.[1] The Japanese Government, with its commitment to IPCC, has set its goals under the Fifth Energy Basic Plan, aiming to promote renewable energy sources nation-wide. Chubu Electric Power decided to invest in the Mirai Renewable energy Fund to develop renewable energy and reduce its produced CO2 emissions through the entire value chain, from power generation to electricity sales. Chubu Electric Power has been promoting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) activities under the Chubu Electric Power Group.[2]

[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/session48/pr_181008_P48_spm_en.pdf

[2] http://www.chuden.co.jp/corporate/publicity/pub_release/press/3269336_21432.html