Japanese companies face call for rapid improvement on ESG

The chief investment officer of the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan calls on companies to make the country the most improved market on ESG measures.

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The world's largest pension fund, the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, wants to see its home market become the fastest-improving country on ESG rankings in 2018.
GPIF's chief investment officer, Hiromichi Mizuno, made the statement in an interview examining the record of Japanese companies on environmental, social and governance issues.
A survey from Reuters in November revealed that despite government encouragement, it was unclear how committed Japanese companies are to ESG measures.
The survey showed that 83% of companies were currently not included in ESG indexes and had no interest in being included.
Mizuno
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