This mindset led Toyota in April 2000 to redefine and reissue its Earth Charter, first published in 1992. Toyota’s basic principles, as defined in the new Earth Charter, are:

1 To contribute towards a prosperous 21st century society.

2 To pursue environmentally sound technologies.

3 To incorporate voluntary programmes.

4 To work in cooperation with society.

Based upon these principles, Toyota is implementing a consolidated environmental management plan among 425 supplier and subsidiary companies at home and abroad.

Toyota is of the opinion that major technological breakthroughs are needed to deal effectively with environmental issues in general and with global warming specifically. While it is true that besides improving conventional engine technology we have also achieved a revolutionary hybrid system, we must continue to pursue improvements in fuel efficiency. That means meeting new challenges and commercializing new technologies, such as fuel cells. At the same time, we must reach beyond the automobile as an independent product and use information technology and other new technologies to enable cars and traffic systems to work together in solving global warming issues, while offering greater convenience to motorists and society alike. In this way, the mobility we want and need can be achieved.

We must reach beyond the automobile as an independent product

One important development is occurring under the auspices of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This is the Sustainable Mobility Project, which goes beyond industry and corporate boundaries to provide a forum where the future of automobiles and human mobility can be addressed. The project is pursuing ways and scenarios that will define tomorrow’s mobility within society.

Some of the major companies that are members of the WBCSD are BP, Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Michelin, Norsk Hydro, Shell, Volkswagen and Toyota. I join Mr. Harry J. Pierce, Vice Chairman, General Motors Corporation and Mr. Phil Watts, Group Managing Director, Royal Dutch/Shell Group as a co-chairman of the Sustainable Mobility Project.

Integrating the issues
The project, which began last year, will continue for three years and consider such issues as public health and safety, time lost as a result of traffic congestion, exhaust emissions and atmospheric pollution, changes in weather patterns, use of resources, waste treatment issues, effects on economic growth, and other issues affecting mobility. It will assess both the positive and negative effects of land, sea and air links, and examine whether they are sustainable and, if not, how they might be made so. Through this work, covering all the issues affecting mobility, the project will develop a vision aiming at sustainable mobility in 2030.