Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) to promote cooperation in the sectors of critical minerals and decarbonization.

Codelco is the world's largest copper mine operator. Wholly owned by the Government of Chile, the company provides a stable supply of copper and its byproduct molybdenum to the global market, including Japan.

In April this year, the Government of Chile announced its National Lithium Strategy and designated Codelco to play a leading role in its implementation. Codelco intends to form partnerships with companies that have advanced technology for lithium development.

The firm is also working to decarbonize its entire supply chain as part of efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The MOU aims to promote collaboration between Codelco and Japanese companies.

Codelco and JBIC will establish a framework to strengthen their cooperation, and structure projects for enhancing the resilience of supply chains for critical minerals including copper, molybdenum, and lithium. The two also seek to achieve decarbonization by utilizing hydrogen, ammonia, and other methods.

The MoU is in line with JBIC’s medium-term business plan and ESG policy. Under its Fourth Medium-term Business Plan, released in June 2021, the Japanese company aims to promote energy transformation to achieve a decarbonized society, and to rebuild and strengthen the resilience of international supply chains.

In its ESG Policy, released in October 2021, JBIC is committed to pursuing ambitious and accelerated efforts to reduce its operational greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions across its finance portfolio by 2050.