Japan banks on energy, environment

The government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), one of the world’s biggest international financial institutions, is revving up its energy- and environment-related business activities, apparently reflecting growing government concerns over energy supplies and global warming.

Resource-poor Japan is pumping no small public financial support into its drive for oil, gas and other energy resources abroad, in a

desperate bid to ensure national energy security amid stubbornly high oil prices and also in response to the intensifying global rush for resources, led by China and India.
The public financial support takes the form of investment, loans and loan-guarantee and investment insurance. It is provided mainly through government-affiliated financial institutions, including JBIC.

Ensuring stable oil supplies is a matter of life or death for the world’s second-largest economy. Japan imports almost all of its oil, nearly 90% of which comes from the volatile Middle East. Japan also buys almost all of its natural gas from abroad, making it the world’s largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

An extensive report from Asia Times