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Sustainability Advisory Board

Aiming to advance sustainable management, the Norinchukin Bank established the Sustainability Advisory Board in fiscal 2022 as a forum to solicit the opinions of external experts and exchange views.
Directors and employees of the Bank exchange opinions with four board members on an ongoing basis.

Participants

Board Members

Member of the Supervisory Committee of the Bank
SATO Takafumi

Professor, The University of Tokyo Institute for Future Initiatives
TAKAMURA Yukari

Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
TAKEGAHARA Keisuke

Chief Sustainability Officer, Managing Executive Officer, Meiji Holdings Co., Ltd.
MATSUOKA Shinji

Participants From the Bank

KITABAYASHI Taro

Representative Director and President
Chief Executive Officer

NAGANO Masaki

Representative Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer (in charge of Corporate & Shared Services)

KAWATA Junji

Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer (in charge of Retail Banking Business)

KAWASHIMA Kenji

Managing Executive Officer
Co-Chief Sustainability Officer (Co-CSuO)

TSUCHIDA Tomoko

Managing Executive Officer
Co-Chief Sustainability Officer (Co-CSuO)

SATO Shigefumi

General Manager, JA Bank System Management Division (Sustainability Officer, Retail Banking Business)

SHIBATA Kei

General Manager, Global Banking Division (Sustainability Officer, Global Investment & Banking Business)

KASHIWABARA Masataka

Deputy General Manager, Markets Division (Sustainability Officer, Global Investments & Banking Business)

YANO Osamu

Deputy General Manager, Risk Management Division (Sustainability Officer, Risk Management Unit)

NODA Haruo

General Manager, Global Head of Sustainability Planning & Public Relations, Corporate Planning Division

and others

First Sustainability Advisory Board Meeting of FY2025

At the Sustainability Advisory Board meeting held in June 2025,all members expressed and discussed their opinions about the challenges facing the Bank’s sustainability management with the Bank’s executives.

(Major Comments From Board Members)

Sustainability Initiatives at JA Bank and JA Group

  • Every measure is a very good initiative, so it is important to set priorities based on materiality.
  • Since adaptation initiatives are critically important to primary industry employees, we hope that The Norinchukin Bank will play an even bigger role in this.
  • It is important for The Norinchukin Bank to develop policies, but it is also vital that the people working at the frontlines of the JA Group see sustainability as their own issue.

Further Integrating Sustainability into Our Business Strategy and Creating New Business (e.g., Transition Strategies for Food and Agriculture Value Chains)

  • Given that the transition to environmentally conscious farming methods is expected to result in high costs and burdens in the short term, we expect The Norinchukin Bank to play a role in realizing this goal.
  • To increase the value of food and agriculture value chains, we believe that it is essential to visualize environmental and social value, and to use branding to broadly promote its appeal. I believe that The Norinchukin Bank, which is involved in all parts of the value chain, from upstream to downstream, will have a major role to play.
  • When working out the details of a food and agriculture value chain strategy, it might be a good idea to consider organizing and clearly defining the desired end points and pathways.