Kirin Holdings To Participate In The Ministry of the Environment’s 30by30 Alliance For Biodiversity Through The Mariko Vineyard

TOKYO, October 3, 2022 - Kirin Holdings Company, Limited (Kirin Holdings) will participate in the second half of a socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes*1 (SEPLS) demonstration program for the Ministry of the Environment of Japan’s 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity*2 (30by30), through subsidiary Mercian Corporation’s Mariko Vineyard.
*1: Areas where human-nature interactions have created dynamic mosaics of land/sea uses that contribute to human well-being and biodiversity conservation at the same time.
*2: See Japanʼs 30by30 Roadmap (https://policies.env.go.jp/nature/biodiversity/30by30alliance/documents/3030emap.pdfPDF：1.1MB) (English)

30by30: Conserve and Protect 30% of the Earth's Land and Sea areas by 2030

Conservation of biodiversity in protected areas in Japan is only 20.5% in land areas and 13.3% in sea areas*3. 30by30 aims to conserve or protect at least 30% of land and sea areas by 2030, thereby contributing to the conservation of biodiversity. Kirin Holdings joined and has been supporting 30by30 since April 8, 2022.

In order to achieve the 30by30 goal, the Ministry of the Environment is considering certifying areas with high biodiversity owned by the private sector and local governments as SEPLS. Beginning in 2023, SEPLS are scheduled to be certified as OECMs*4, excluding protected areas. Kirin Holdings will contribute to the Ministry of the Environment's validation of the SEPLS certification system by participating in this demonstration program. Kirin Holdings believes that the knowledge gained from the ecological survey of the Mariko Vineyard - which has been conducted since 2014 in cooperation with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization - has the potential to contribute by being reviewed for certification as an OECM.
*3: As of September 2022, from the Ministry of the Environment website.
*4: Abbreviation for Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures

Related Efforts: Science Based Targets Network, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, TNFD LEAP

In February 2021, Kirin Holdings became the first company in Japan's pharmaceutical and food industries to participate in a corporate engagement programPDF：441KB sponsored by the Science Based Targets Network. In December 2021, Kirin Holdings joined the TNFD Forum of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), and in July 2022, Kirin Holdings disclosed information related to natural capital*5 on a trial basis, based on the TNFD LEAP Approach as reported in Kirin Holdings’ Environmental Report 2022PDF：1.3MB. In addition to addressing climate change, Kirin Holdings will accelerate its efforts related to natural capital, including biodiversity, by actively contributing to these efforts. In addition the Kirin Group will work in an integrated manner to address the four issues listed in the Kirin Group’s Environmental Vision 2050 (biological resources, water resources, containers and packaging, and climate change).
*5 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.