Today, NYK signed a sustainability linked loan (SLL) agreement with the Shiga Bank Ltd. (Shiga Bank).

This is the first SLL contract denominated in a foreign currency to be inked in Japan, and this is the second SLL contract for NYK following the signing of a yen-denominated SLL in November 2019 in Japan.

An SLL links its loan interest rate with the company’s CDP* score. A high CDP score is usually indicative of a company's superior environmental awareness, advanced sustainability governance, and leadership to address climate change.

In its medium-term management plan “Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalization and Green” formulated in 2018, NYK incorporates ESG perspectives into its management strategy and set goals to drive the sustainable development and growth of corporate and social values.

Shiga Bank's "Shigagin" Sustainability Link Loan encourages lenders to take on ambitious SDGs and ESG-related business challenges and motivates them to achieve their goals. NYK’s goal is to support ESG management and is in line with the company’s ESG management strategy.

On February 3, NYK announced the NYK Group ESG Story,** which aims to further integrate ESG into the company’s management strategy, and this is the first ESG finance project since that announcement. To strongly promote ESG management, NYK will promote new value creation as a sustainable solution provider through a business strategy that responds to climate change.

Contract date: 5 February 2021
Contract period: 4 years (From 5 February 2021 to 5 February 2025)
Composition amount: 50 million USD

This loan has obtained third-party opinions from Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R & I) regarding compliance with the Sustainability Link Loan Principles established by the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the rationality of the goals set. For details, please refer to the following R & I evaluation report.
URL:https://www.r-i.co.jp/en/rating/esg/sustainabilityfinance/index.html

Please see the following URL for the release by Shiga Bank.
URL:https://www.shigagin.com/news/topix/2338

* CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project)

An international non-profit organization working with companies, investors, cities, states, and regions to prevent dangerous climate change, ensure water security, and avoid deforestation. To manage risks that climate change poses to companies, CDP uses questionnaires to collect information on carbon dioxide emissions and climate change initiatives of major companies around the world and analyzes and evaluates the data collected. In CDP’s 2020 evaluation released on January 26, 2021, 273 companies (including 53 Japanese companies) received the highest evaluation of “A” out of the 9,523 companies that responded to the questionnaire.

** NYK Group ESG Story
A guideline detailing concrete efforts to integrate ESG into management strategies of the NYK Group. Details can be found in the related press release.