In his comments, Smith outlined his belief that sustainability will only be achieved through the collaborative efforts of business, government and NGOs. He believes that enhanced access to energy and mobility are critically important to social and economic development. The challenge lies in creating better access to energy and mobility for disadvantaged groups and societies in a sustainable way. Naturally this also has implications for developed societies.
A guiding principle for Toyota globally is kaizen, a Japanese expression that translates as continuous improvement on a very practical level. The principle of kaizen drives the work of the Toyota Fund for Europe, a grant system that supports grassroots initiatives that make a real difference to the daily lives of people and communities. To ensure the results are sustainable, TFfE gives preference to projects that involve local governments, NGOs and other businesses. Many of our projects focus on young people and children, primarily because we strongly believe in the benefits of beginning environmental awareness at an early age.
For Toyota there is also a significant benefit to its sustainability performance by working closely with NGOs. Our partner-NGOs are able to raise concerns about our operations directly with our employees so that they, and Toyota, can act upon them quickly and responsibly.
The leaders of many different global philanthropic organisations were represented on the discussion panel. In addition to Graham Smith, the panel included Maria Blair, Associate Vice President and Managing Director of the US-based Rockefeller Foundation; Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Executive Vice President of the UN Foundation; Merrill Fernando, President of the MJF Charitable Foundation, Sri Lanka; and special guest Motokazu Yoshida, Member of the Board of the Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation and Executive Vice President of Mitsui & Co Ltd, Japan.
To view the debate, click here: http://www.iucn.org/news_events/events/congress/live/index.cfm?uNewsID=1809
On the same day, the new 2008 Toyota European Sustainability Report was launched and presented by Smith. (You can download the report from: www.toyota.eu/07_Publications/index.aspx)
President of IUCN Mr Valli Moosa kicked off Toyota’s eco-driving competition at the beginning of the Congress using the specially designed simulator. Over the course of the Congress, from 5 to 14 October, approximately 500 people used the simulator to learn ecological and economic driving techniques. The competition was supported by PLAN DE ACCION GLOBAL, one of Toyota’s partner-NGOs. (For more information about eco-driving, please visit www.toyotafund.eu/our_projects/environment/ecodriving.aspx and www.toyota.eu/04_environment/01_introduction/02_toyota_eco_tips.aspx)
