Japanese businesses lead on TNFD reporting\u00a0<\/p>\n
Japanese businesses are demanding greater policy ambition from the country\u2019s government on nature investment, as many move faster than their global peers on managing nature risk within their supply chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A November 2025 letter<\/a> from the Nature Conservation Council of Keidanren, the leading Japanese business federation, urges the government to integrate nature restoration into its growth plans. Keidanren represents more than 1,300 of the country\u2019s businesses including Toyota, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric, with 141 of the companies sitting on the nature council.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government should position the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and natural capital as a new growth sector,\u201d and support companies to \u201censure the sustainability of their operations\u201d, the letter says.<\/p>\n Sam Sinclair, co-founder and director of biodiversity consultancy Biodiversify and who works with Japanese companies, tells Sustainable Views that businesses in Japan are more aware of nature degradation as a risk than most of their international peers. The country relies on imports for around 60 per cent of its food (compared with less than 20 per cent in the US) and faces significant food security challenges.<\/p>\n Sinclair says large Japanese food and beverage companies with whom he works are interested in \u201crestoring nature directly for a business benefit\u201d and are making progress at understanding nature dependency. These businesses include the multinational Japanese beverage company Suntory Group and trading concern Kanematsu, which has significant agrifood holdings.<\/p>\n Japan has the highest level<\/a> of compliance<\/a> with the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosure, with 231 companies reporting compared with 96 in the UK, 39 in China and 22 in the US. Ogi Kanaya, director of the corporate network Business for Social Responsibility\u2019s Tokyo office, tells Sustainable Views the majority of businesses doing TNFD reporting in the country are large companies.<\/p>\n Due to high levels of forest cover and large unpopulated mountain areas, Japan\u2019s nature is in a relatively healthy state compared<\/a> with other industrialised economies. However, urbanisation, pollution and climate change are putting the country\u2019s biodiversity under pressure.<\/p>\n Emma Toovey, chief nature officer at UK biodiversity credit provider Environment Bank, tells Sustainable Views that many Japanese sustainability teams are already translating TNFD disclosure into \u201cboard-level conversations about nature-related risk and opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n Supply-chain risks\u00a0<\/p>\n A spokesperson from Suntory tells Sustainable Views that its nature risk management is centred on water stewardship, as water is its \u201csingle most important ingredient\u201d.\u00a0The group has reported<\/a> on the TNFD since 2023.<\/p>\n Since 2003 Suntory has developed<\/a> 27 watershed conservation areas to protect its sourcing, covering 12,000 hectares across Japan. Routine pumping of groundwater in the country during the 20th century has left groundwater reserves and some towns and cities damaged<\/a> by subsidence.<\/p>\n \u201cHealthy soil is the foundation of groundwater recharge and biodiversity,\u201d the Suntory spokesperson says. The company has also begun landscape restoration in areas where it sources other raw materials, including barley, grapes, coffee and blackcurrants.<\/p>\n Other Japanese businesses also told Sustainable Views that they were approaching their nature strategies from a risk perspective. Kanematsu sustainable business employee Tsubasa Tamura says avoiding \u201cprocurement risks\u201d is the main driving force behind the company\u2019s nature policy as \u201csupply shortages and rising raw material costs could threaten the continuity of business operations\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mika Nabeshima, chief sustainability officer at insurance company Tokio Marine, says the company has \u201cenhanced\u201d its portfolio analysis and engagement with sectors that have significant dependencies and impacts on natural capital.<\/p>\n Transition strategies policy<\/p>\n From a policy perspective, the Japanese government is aiming to be \u201cnature positive\u201d by 2030 under its national biodiversity strategy and action plan adopted<\/a> in 2023, and to conserve at least 30 per cent of land and sea areas by 2030, as agreed under the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under a programme of nationally certified, sustainably managed natural sites<\/a> it has also begun certifying protected spaces, with 282 sites covering 54,500 hectares as of March 2026. Half of the sites certified under the scheme are owned by the private sector, including eight of Suntory\u2019s \u201cnatural water sanctuaries\u201d.<\/p>\n Businesses want more nature-related policies but it is not yet clear what that will look like<\/p>\n A spokesperson from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment tells Sustainable Views that it is considering implementing a voluntary \u201cbiodiversity credits<\/a>\u201d scheme based on conservation and restoration activities carried out under the NCSMNS programme.<\/p>\n Policymakers are also targeting private sector involvement in nature restoration through a \u201ctransition strategies<\/a> towards nature-positive economy\u201d policy, which encourages companies to integrate nature into their business strategy. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, large companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market will begin mandatory sustainability reporting using standards <\/a>issued by the Sustainability Standards Board of Japan and aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board from March 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cBusinesses want more nature-related policies but it is not yet clear what that will look like,\u201d says Sinclair. The government is considering whether to pursue a domestic-focused approach or to task countries with meeting supply-chain requirements, building on their TNFD disclosures, he adds.<\/p>\n Tamura says he would like to see regulation from the Japanese government to reduce \u201csoil degradation caused by chemical fertilisers, deforestation due to development, and land-use change\u201d, while Nabeshima wants \u201cconsistent frameworks\u201d for businesses on nature-related risks.<\/p>\n Engineering company Taisei Corporation released its Japan biodiversity metric<\/a> in April, a privately developed standard intended to help businesses measure their biodiversity impacts.<\/p>\n UK BNG as food for thought<\/p>\n Japanese policymakers have been engaging with other jurisdictions to better understand their policy approach.<\/p>\n