The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor: HAYASHI Nobumitsu) signed on November 7 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO). The objective of the MOU is to promote cooperation in the sectors of critical minerals and decarbonization.
CODELCO is the world's largest copper mine operator and is wholly owned by the Government of Chile. It provides a stable supply of copper and its byproduct molybdenum to the global market, including Japan. The Government of Chile announced its National Lithium Strategy in April 2023, and it designated CODELCO to play a leading role in its implementation for which CODELCO aims to form partnerships with companies that have advanced technology to promote lithium development. Additionally, CODELCO has been working on decarbonization throughout the supply chain of its business in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The MOU aims to promote CODELCO and Japanese companies’ collaboration by establishing a framework to strengthen the cooperation between JBIC and CODELCO, as well as to structure projects for enhancing the resilience of supply chains for critical minerals including copper, molybdenum, and lithium, and achieving decarbonization by utilizing hydrogen, ammonia, and others.
In the Fourth Medium-term Business Plan, released in June 2021, JBIC aims to promote energy transformation toward the realization of a decarbonized society and to rebuild and strengthen the resilience of international supply chains. In addition, in its ESG Policy released in October 2021, JBIC is committed to pursuing ambitious and accelerated efforts to reduce its operational GHG emissions to net zero by 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions of its finance portfolio by 2050. The ESG Policy states that JBIC will contribute toward realizing global carbon neutrality by supporting and accelerating energy transition toward a decarbonized society in emerging and developing countries. The signing of the MOU is in line with the Medium-term Business Plan and ESG Policy of JBIC.
As Japan's policy-based financial institution, JBIC will continue to actively support the creation and promotion of business opportunities for Japanese companies through strengthening the cooperation with important partners in the critical minerals sector.
