Japan's Shiga Bank Ltd., based in Shiga Prefecture, started offering a carbon-offset term deposit plan called Mirai No Tane (A Seed for the Future) from April 1, 2008. Under the plan the bank will purchase greenhouse gas emission credits equivalent to the amount of term deposits at its own expense. Soon after the service was launched, it reported that the number of customers using the new deposit scheme increased quickly.

The five-year term deposit is available exclusively to customers that invest 100 yen or more (about U.S.$1), but the bank has limited the total amount of deposits to about six billion yen (about $60 million). While customers save their money in the fixed deposit, the bank will buy emission credits at a constant rate of 0.1 percent of deposits for five years, the length of the first commitment period set in the Kyoto Protocol. The credits will end up being transferred to the Japanese government. The bank has already purchased 200 tons of carbon credits at six million yen (about $60,000), which is 0.1 percent of six billion yen, the total estimated amount of the purchase plan.

As of April 30, 2008, there were 933 deposits applied that totaled 2.632 billion yen (about $26 million). This included 798 deposits totaling 1.761 billion yen (about $17.8 million) by individuals, and 135 deposits totaling 871 million yen (about $8.8 million) by companies. Compared with other deposit schemes, this one has some disadvantages, such as no preferred interest rate and a long deposit term, but people are still making deposits. Shiga Bank has expressed appreciation to the many people who have supported its advocacy in combating global warming by depositing their money despite the drawbacks.

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http://www.japanfs.org/db/277-e
- Shiga Bank Launches Loan Product Linked to CO2 Reduction, Fish Protection (Related JFS article)
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Posted: 2008/08/05 11:38:48 PM

TAG Eco-product/Business , Global warming , Non-manufacturing industry