NYK has agreed to invest in Australian Integrated Carbon (AIC), an Australian company which sells carbon credits obtained through primeval forest restoration projects. After the completion of approval by the relevant authorities, NYK will jointly invest in AIC with Mitsubishi Corporation through Japan Integrated Carbon (JIC), an intermediate holding company established by them.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships to zero, the shipping industry is now shifting from the use of heavy oil fuel to liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel, and additionally the R&D is progressing toward future zero- emission fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. On the other hand, since ships have a long life cycle of about 20 years, it is expected that some ships among more than 50,000 ships worldwide will be forced to use fossil fuels during the transition to zero-emission fuels even after the prospect of practical use of them. For vessels that have not yet introduced zero-emission fuel in the future, it is expected that their GHG emissions will be reduced to net zero by utilizing the carbon offset* method.

Under these assumptions, NYK decided to invest in and participate in AIC as it is considered to make it possible to realize ESG management through acquisition of the experience and know-how of the carbon credit creation business and supporting the net zeroization of GHG emissions of ships all over the world.

AIC sells the credits that are obtained through CO₂-sequstrations achieved in the regrowth of Australia’s native forests through a process called human-induced regeneration. Human-induced regeneration is a methodology established in Australia. It employs new land-management practices to facilitate the regeneration of native woodlands that have been lost over the past few centuries due to cutting down and overgrazing. The amount of CO₂ stored in the regenerated forests is officially certified as Australian Carbon Credit Units by the Australian Government. AIC aims to capture global CO₂ emissions by 100 million tons through its growing portfolio in the future.
Since 2015, the Australian Government contributed over 4.5 billion AUD to establish the country’s carbon-credit auction market, the size of which had reached 16 million CO₂ tons by 2020 and is today one of the largest in the world.

With this capital participation as a foothold, NYK will acquire knowledge of the carbon credit creation business and aim to expand its business in Australia and also expand the project to other regions such as the United States.

Image of Human-Induced Regeneration

Scheme diagram of this project

On February 3, NYK released the NYK Group ESG Story, which aims to further integrate ESG into the company’s management strategy and promotes activities that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) through business activities. To strongly promote ESG management, the NYK Group will continue to actively collaborate with other companies in the field of decarbonization and encourage new value creation as a sustainable solution provider.

<NYK Group ESG Story>
A guideline detailing concrete efforts to integrate ESG into management strategies of the NYK Group. Details:

* Carbon offset
To compensate (offset) emissions by participating in projects that reduce and absorb emissions elsewhere or by purchasing greenhouse gas emission reduction / absorption (credit) that has realized some or all of the GHG emissions that are difficult to reduce by one's own efforts elsewhere.

Mitsubishi Corporation
Head Office: Tokyo, Japan
President and Chief Executive Officer: Takehiko Kakiuchi
Website: https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/

Australian Integrated Carbon
Head Office: New South Wales, Australia
CEO: Adam Townley
Website: https://aicarbon.com/