TOKYO - Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (Kirin Holdings) announces that it will conclude a transition-linked loan (planning to pursue in January 2023) as the first case among Japanese food and beverages companies.
This loan is based on the Kirin Sustainable Finance Framework 3, which was updated in December 2022, and the proceeds will be allocated to funding our energy conservation efforts for reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and renewable energy-related projects. We are selected as a recipient of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)'s FY2022 subsidy for global warming countermeasures promotion project.
Also, our business adaption plan has been approved as eligible based on the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act, and thus the performance-linked interest subsidies program (financial support for promoting the transition towards achieving a carbon-neutral economy 4) will be applied for the loan.
Objectives and Background of the Loan
Kirin Holdings sets the Kirin Group's Environmental Vision 2050 as the guidepost for our long-term environmental initiatives, and is pursuing a target of net-zero emissions across our value chain by 2050 to address climate actions. The Kirin Group's business operations constitute a global value chain with a wide variety of GHG emission sources. Kirin Holdings considers a phased transition to be a practical path to achieving net-zero emissions across the entire value chain, and has formulated a transition roadmap and begun actions based on the roadmap.
To take steps toward the transition from the area of finance, Kirin Holdings incorporated elements of the following established guidelines into the Kirin Sustainable Finance Framework: the Climate Transition Finance Handbook of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the Basic Guidelines on Climate Transition Finance of the Japanese Financial Services Agency, METI, and the Ministry of the Environment (collectively 'transition finance-related guidelines'), as well as the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA), the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA), and the Loan Syndications & Trading Association (LSTA). We will be the first Japanese food and beverages company to establish a framework which complies with transition finance-related guidelines and to have obtained a second party opinion 5 from an independent third party. We are also selected as a recipient of METI's FY2022 subsidy for global warming countermeasures promotion project, in which Kirin Holdings' transition strategy is evaluated as a potential benchmark case for non-GHG-intensive industries.
To realize net-zero by 2050, Kirin Holdings will continue our efforts to lead the establishment of a carbon-free society, aiming to fulfill the Kirin Group Environmental Vision 2050 and strengthen the resilience of society and companies.
About Kirin Holdings
Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.
Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.
Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become 'A global leader in CSV, creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.' Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.
Creating Shared Value: combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.
Contact:
Tel: 81-3-6837-7028
KIRIN HOLDINGS COMPANY, LIMITED 
