Kirin Holdings Becomes First Japanese Food/Pharmaceutical Company To Participate In The TNFD Forum

TOKYO, Wednesday February 9 , 2022 - Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (Kirin Holdings ), joined The TNFD Forum, a network of institutional supporters who share the mission and vision of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), in December 2021. The TNFD is a new framework for managing risk and disclosure for organizations to report and act on nature-related risks. Kirin Holdings becomes the first Japanese food and Pharmaceutical company to participate in the TNFD Forum　and　contributing　to the work and mission of the Taskforce.

Significance of the TNFD

TNFD is an international organization that aims to develop and provide a framework for companies and other organizations to disclose nature-related risk information, with the aim of redirecting the flow of funds to have a positive impact on nature, or ‘Nature Positive*1.’ It was conceived at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2019 and officially launched in 2021 by an international organizations and two private sector organizations*2. The information disclosure framework being developed by TNFD is being discussed by a task force consisting of 34 members*3 selected from financial institutions, corporations and market service providers in 16 countries. The TNFD Forum is a network of companies and organizations with expertise in nature and finance that supports the taskforce's development of the disclosure framework.

*1: Nature Positive is a concept that aims to halt the decline of nature and set a course for recovery by 2030. This is a concept that has attracted attention at COP15 (the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity) and COP26 (the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in 2021.
*2: International organizations are the United Nations Environment Programme and Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); private organizations are the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the British environmental NGO Global Canopy. (Global Canopy).
*3 As of the end of 2021.

Tackling the Four Major Environmental Issues

Through participation in the Kirin Group Biodiversity Declaration, Kirin Holdings will contribute to the TNFD’s taskforce discussions, accelerate its efforts related to natural capital*4 and biodiversity, and work together with the international community to conserve biological resources. In addition, to address the complex and interrelated environmental issues that arise, the Kirin Group will take an integrated approach to the four issues (biological resources, water resources, containers and packaging, and climate change) set forth in the Kirin Group Environmental Vision 2050, rather than considering and addressing them individually.

*4 ‘Natural capital’ is the stock of natural assets that provide society with flows of renewable and non-renewable resources and ecosystem services.

About Kirin Holdings

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the Food & Beverages domain (Food & Beverages businesses), Pharmaceuticals domain (Pharmaceuticals businesses), and Health Science domain (Health Science business), both in Japan and across the globe.

Kirin Holdings can trace its roots to Japan Brewery which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s, all of which continue to be global growth centers. In 2007, Kirin Holdings was established as a pure holding company and is currently focusing on boosting its Health Science domain.

Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group aims to become “A global leader in CSV*, creating value across our world of Food & Beverages to Pharmaceuticals.” Going forward, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses, with the aim of achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

* Creating Shared Value: combined added value for consumers as well as for society at large.