Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC, President and CEO: Makoto Takashima) has announced that it is joining Carbonplace, the new settlement platform for carbon credits, as a founding member.

Carbonplace, which was formed in 2020 and is expected to go live at the end of 2022, is being developed by a group of banks committed to finding a collaborative solution to strengthen the voluntary carbon market and drive climate action at scale. These include BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest Group, Standard Chartered, and UBS.

With global demand for voluntary carbon credits expected to increase fifteenfold by 2030 and a hundredfold before 2050, carbon markets will become an important driver in the shift to a low carbon economy. Through its unique settlement technology, Carbonplace will enable the reliable, secure, and scalable execution of voluntary carbon credit transactions, ensuring robust reporting and traceability, while also offering records of ownership and a digital wallet for customers to store credits.

SMBC, the first Japanese bank to join in the development of Carbonplace, will use the fintech platform to provide its wide and diverse client base direct access to voluntary carbon credits.

The bank’s support of Carbonplace is the first initiative under Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.’s (SMBC Group, President and Group CEO: Jun Ohta) newly formed ‘Sustainability Investment Fund’ which launched in April of this year.

SMBC Group is developing “SMBC Group GREEN Innovator”, a label used to collectively refer to its initiatives to develop and provide sustainability-related solutions/services and expand SMBC Group’s know-how regarding the matter.

SMBC is focusing on expanding and scaling the carbon credit market and positioning the utilization of carbon credits as one of the most important decarbonization solutions. Therefore, SMBC has joined TSVCM, a private sectorled initiative working to scale an effective and efficient voluntary carbon market. Also, SMBC is the first Japanese bank to agree on the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “GX League Basic Concept”.

Under the name of “SMBC Group GREEN Innovator”, SMBC will continue its supports to revitalize the business of carbon credits, including the creation of credits. SMBC will also provide advanced solutions to customers to realize a sustainable society.

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