Japanese Corporations Spend Over 1.5 Trillion Yen on Green Capital Expenditures in 2009

Japan's business sector is estimated to have spent a total of 1.52 trillion yen (about U.S.$16.34 billion) in FY2009 on "green" capital expenditures, known as green CAPEX, according to survey results released by Japan's Ministry of the Environment (MOE) on March 19, 2010. Green CAPEX accounts for 3.2 percent of the estimated total CAPEX of 48.43 trillion yen (about $527.4 billion) spent by the companies surveyed.

The investments included 733.6 billion yen ($7.97 billion), or 48.2 percent, for global environmental conservation, 492.7 billion yen ($5.35 billion), or 32.2 percent, for pollution control, and 278.9 billion yen ($3.03 billion), or 18.3 percent, for resource recycling.

The estimated total expenditure for environmental conservation was 5.52 trillion yen ($59.38 billion). The breakdown of this includes 2.36 trillion yen ($25.42 billion), or 42.8 percent, for research and development on environmental preservation, 1.37 trillion yen ($14.78 billion), or 24.9 percent, on resource recycling, and 1.16 trillion yen ($12.49 billion), or 21 percent, for pollution control.

The ministry conducted a random sampling survey of 5,930 private businesses with more than 300 employees, which included some companies with more than 100 employees, and collected 1,906 valid responses. The proportion of green CAPEX among major enterprises is regarded as an indicator to assess the performance of the government's third Basic Environment Plan, carried out by MOE, so the ministry will continue to conduct such surveys in the future.

Ministry of the Environment official website
http://www.env.go.jp/en/

Posted: 2010/06/16 06:00:15 AM