In order to ensure environmental risk management and compliance across all its business activities, Toyota has developed a consolidated Environmental Management System (EMS), which sets specific requirements for each of its various business activities.

Guiding Principles, Earth Charter and Environmental Policy

In 1992, the Toyota Guiding Principles were established in direct response to the international initiatives agreed to at the Rio ‘Earth Summit.’ The summit resulted in a statement of principles about forest management, conservation and sustainable development.

The Toyota Guiding Principles are the cornerstone of our corporate management philosophy and provide Toyota with a clear path towards achieving sustainable development.

In turn, these principles form the foundation of Toyota’s Earth Charter (adopted in 1992 and revised in 1997), which outlines Toyota’s basic policy and action guidelines towards effective environmental management and improvements.

In connection with the Toyota Guiding Principles and the Toyota Earth Charter, a European Environmental Policy was developed as a means of linking principles, goals, targets and action plans with management structures and systems.

Environmental Coordination in Europe

To ensure effective consolidated environmental management in Europe, Toyota restructured its Environmental Committee in January 2003 to serve as a management umbrella for its European operations. The Environmental Committee, which comprises Executives from across the business, approves and monitors the company’s pan-European 5-year Environmental Action Plan.

Global and regional environmental topics are then cascaded down into the 3-year business plans of each TME market.

ISO 14001 compliance

As part of our environmental management system, it is our intention that each site in our pan-European network be certified by the international environmental management standard ISO 14001.