Japan - Table 1 below shows the name, country of origin, investing companies, and summary of negative impacts of four development projects that Japanese NGOs have pointed out contain serious human rights violations.
Table 1: Four Projects Overview
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Project Name (Countries)
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Investing Companies
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Summary of Human Rights Issues
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Batang Coal-fired Power Plant (Indonesia)
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J-POWER, Itochu Corporation
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Security guards, gangs, military and police threatened local people. National Human Rights Commission recommended improving the situation.
|
|
Boggabri Coal Mine Project (Australia)
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Idemitsu
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A court case on indigenous land rights was filed. Free, prior and informed consent have not been obtained from indigenous peoples.
|
|
Coral Bay Nickel Project (Philippines)
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Sumitomo Metal Mining, Mitsui & Co, Sojitz
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Traditional decision-making methods of indigenous peoples were ignored. An armed group threatened local people and discharged carcinogens have caused health damage.
|
|
Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development (Myanmar)
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Mitsubishi Corp., Marubeni Corp., Sumitomo Corp.
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The project authorities threatened local people and protestors were wrongly arrested.
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Table 2 below shows the five largest Japanese banks’ amounts of loans and investments in nine companies that invest in the projects listed in Table 1:
Table 2: Japanese Private Financial Institutions’ investment amount list
|
|
Mitsubishi UFJ FG
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Mizuho FG
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Sumitomo Mitsui FG
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Resona HD
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Sumitomo Mitsui Trust HD
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Total
|
|
Loan
|
2,348,662
|
1,984,797
|
1,194,874
|
7,605
|
445,115
|
5,981,053
|
|
Issuance
|
284,870
|
237,799
|
160,067
|
0
|
0
|
682,736
|
|
Shareholding
|
284,482
|
194,579
|
106,823
|
929
|
520,618
|
1,107,431
|
|
Bondholding
|
2,500
|
2,655
|
3,110
|
0
|
3,298
|
11,563
|
Unit: Million Yen
Mitsubishi UFJ FG, Mizuho FG and Sumitomo Mitsui FG have not obtained the “free, prior and informed consent (FPIC)” by indigenous people – a clear break between their own policy and its implementation. Although Sumitomo Mitsui Trust HD adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Global Compact as its investment policies, their commitment to both was not adequately implemented. Finally, due to the fact that Resona HD did not perform well enough in the baseline assessment to receive a score whatsoever, they have no gap between policy and its implementation.
Based on this research, we recommend two courses of action for Japanese banks. First, they should establish or enhance policies, due diligences and engagements with the companies they invest in. Second, they should withdraw their loans and investments from companies who do not respect human rights.
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