Special Features in FY2008: 05 For the Environment
IV Environmental Education and Information Activities
Mitsuaki Iwago's "Global Warming Witness" Website
In August 2006, Olympus established a special global environment website to promote thought and discussion about the increasingly serious problem of global warning. The site features photographs of natural environments and wildlife in various parts of the Earth, whilst Olympus also sponsored a photo contest with the theme "Nature and wildlife you want to protect."
World Wide Fund for Nature Japan, a non-governmental conservation organization, has endorsed this initiative and is assisting in various ways, including the editing of content and the provision of information about the impact of global warming on wildlife.
Special 90th Anniversary Program: The Olympus Space Project
For this project, Japanese astronaut Kochi Wakata used an Olympus E-3 digital single-lens reflex camera to take photographs of the Earth from Kibo, the Japanese experiment module of the International Space Station. The astronaut's photographs depicting the beauty of the Earth as seen from space will be exhibited and published after his return to Earth, as part of a project to raise awareness of the need to take care of the Earth and its irreplaceable environment.
Raising Employee Awareness through "Environment Month"
In 2008, Olympus Group companies in Japan and overseas implemented an "Environment Month" program designed to inform employees about the problem of global warming and encourage them to take the initiative in finding solutions. The President of Olympus Corporation issued a message urging employees to go beyond awareness of environmental problems, and to turn their awareness into action. Other activities included the use of e-learning to inform employees about ways in which they can help to protect the environment in their workplaces.
An e-learning screen for "Environmental Awareness Month"
Reducing Environmental Loads throughout Product Lifecycles
Future TargetsOlympus has clearly defined the role that it needs to fulfill as a good corporate citizen in relation to the prevention of global warming. It has also established a clear strategy for initiatives in this area and adopted long-term environmental targets based on a scenario for the phased reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. That scenario, which also reflects the emerging debate over post-Kyoto efforts to prevent global warming, calls for the reduction of total CO2 emissions throughout product lifecycles to 50% of the fiscal 2007 level by fiscal 2020. Olympus will actively contribute to the realization of a sustainable, low-carbon society through environment-friendly business activities, and through the supply of its products and services.
Long-term environmental targets
Contents end
