Tokyo-based banking and financial services company Mizuho Financial Group announced a new collaboration agreement with London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), aimed at supporting the growth of the carbon credit market, and providing clients with access to carbon markets investments and information.

The new agreement follows the launch by LSEG in 2022 of a Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) designation for funds and companies listed on the exchange’s markets, that are investing in decarbonization projects that meet internationally recognized standards and are expected to generate carbon credits, aimed at facilitating financing in climate change mitigation projects that generate carbon credits, while providing access to investors seeking to secure a long-term supply of carbon credits, which may be issued by the VCM entities in the form of dividends.

Under the new collaboration, Mizuho and LSEG have agreed to work together to provide Mizuho clients with access investment funds and companies that have been provided with the VCM designation. Additionally, the companies will also engage in activities providing Mizuho clients with information about carbon credits.

In a statement announcing the new agreement, Mizuho and LSEG said:

“Mizuho and LSEG view carbon credits as a funding mechanism that can accelerate decarbonization efforts, and through this collaboration we aim to contribute to global decarbonization initiatives.”

The new agreement forms part of a sustainability-focused collaboration between Mizuho and LSEG, launched in 2022, which was initiated with the introduction of LSEG’s s human rights-related solutions to Mizuho clients.