Japanese carmaker was green before it was cool to be so

Toyota’s environmental commitment is no lip service

Ever since John Elkington, the business author known as a “dean of corporate social responsibility,” conceived of the accounting framework of the triple bottom line that espouses three spheres of concern (social, environmental, and financial) for organizations, firms have sought to balance these as way to do right by stakeholders, shareholders, the public, and, yes, the environment.

To be honest, CSR is such a hackneyed term bandied about by suits and those seeking to assuage the corporate conscience while securing public favor. Token efforts in the name of compliance and window-dressing are thus common strategies among companies still less evolved and less concerned about how they do business.

Not Toyota.

Among the world’s leading automobile manufacturers (and the Philippines’ number-one car brand in terms of sales for an astounding 14 consecutive years), the Japanese carmaker is downright obsessive about how it operates and if it steps on any of Mother Nature’s toes with its wide footprint. STAR Motoring was among those recently invited to Japan for Toyota’s Technology Media Trip in an earnest effort to showcase the company’s cutting-edge work in the realm of alternate powertrains and sustainable fuels.

Cognizant that “tackling the issue of carbon emissions related to vehicles is a shared responsibility between governments, automakers, and road users,” the brand is not shirking from its role but, rather, embracing it with fervor.

Give credit where credit is due. Despite long overdue duty relief and tax rebates on alternatively fueled automobiles, Toyota Motor Philippines has deigned to bring in its famous Prius hybrid a long time ago – if only to trumpet and introduce the distinct benefits of the much greener vehicle.

On the same year the so-called Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was held in 1992, Toyota articulated its concern for the environment and backed up its bark with the Toyota Earth Charter, which outlined its environmental philosophies and principles. Keenly sharpening this concern for nature, since 2011 this earnest effort has been expressed in three pillars: 1) Contributing to a low-carbon society, 2) Contributing to a recycling-based society, and 3) Environmental protection and contributing to a society in harmony with nature. Last year, the company bravely committed itself to the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 – the number referring to the year when “the negative environment impact of automobiles (will be) as close to zero as possible (while contributing) to the creation of a sustainable society by promoting the development and familiarization of next-generation vehicles with low or zero CO2 emissions.”

This Toyota makes mention in a release that “without additional intervention, the growth of emissions will cause global average surface temperatures to increase by 3.7°C to 4.8°C by the year 2100.” This message is not new (consider that is been a decade since we’ve seen the documentary An Inconvenient Truth), but certainly deserves to be driven home repeatedly. So what’s the big deal with elevated readings on your thermometer?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency predicts that higher temperatures can lead to a “chain reaction of other changes around the world,” affecting “oceans, weather patterns, snow and ice, plants and animals.” Not the least among these are heat waves that have occurred in many places around the world – causing illnesses and conditions such as heat cramps, heat stroke, or even death.

Toyota’s undoubted ambassador or poster boy for its environmental efforts is the aforementioned Prius. Did you know that the car’s very moniker accurately reflects its nature? Prius is actually the Latin word for “forerunner” as “the Prius was launched before environmental awareness became a mainstream social issue.” The world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle (unveiled in 1997) today has sold over nine million units in close to a hundred markets. Toyota is aiming to reach sales of 15 million by 2020.

So what, you may ask. Well, the Prius isn’t just generating income and jobs for Toyota, but is redounding in benefit for Mother Nature. All told the nine million Prius units on the road have already significantly slashed CO2 emissions by 67 million tons globally, and saved some 25 million kiloliters of petrol.

We were able to get behind the wheel of the fourth-generation Prius, which we pushed through an inner track of the iconic Fuji Speedway in Oyama. This latest iteration proves the carmaker has understandably achieved unparalleled expertise with its flagship hybrid – attaining a level of sophistication and high-tech without sacrificing drivability and even fun. We’ll tell you more about it in a future column.

Most importantly, perhaps, one vital statistic stands out – a maximum fuel efficiency of 40.8 kilometers per liter.

See, I knew that would get your attention.