Toyota Kirloskar Motor employees step up as Green Ambassadors

In its continuous endeavour to address Environment Protection and creating an Eco-Mindset, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), today, conducted an activity under 'ICARE', an employee voluntary initiative, to support the Karnataka State Forest Department by restoring and maintaining the forest area of Bannerghatta National Park, in Bangalore. A group of enthusiastic Toyota employees came together to participate in a host of activities, highlighting the importance of conservation of the biodiversity of nature for the benefit of future generations.

The initiative was undertaken with the objective to create awareness about the importance of flora and fauna conservation to mark the Environment Month. Over 200 volunteers participated in the trail clean-up drive, to help beautify the area by de-weeding and mulching, and create a cleaner forest trail for the nature enthusiasts. Volunteers also dedicated their time to build 50 bird homes, make 4,000 sapling bags, and sow Bamboo plant seeds in an enormous three-acre land inside the forest, especially for elephants.

TKM's key social values of sustained community development program aims at creating sustainability in every eco-activity they do. The drive actively involved its employees to enhance the understanding on the increasing environmental challenges and to take necessary steps to counter it.

In addition to making ever better cars, Toyota is committed towards a greener tomorrow and establishing a future society in harmony with nature. Toyota, being a leader in the environmental stewardship, started its journey towards greening its energy source since 2015-16 and has made a substantial step-up over the years. Guided by Toyota's 'Global Environmental Challenge' 2050 in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, till January '19 [in FY 2018-19], Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) successfully sourced 87 per cent of electricity from renewable sources of energy for its operations at Bidadi facility. Toyota has been recognised for its sustainable growth with its core belief "Ever-Better Cars with Ever-Better Technology for an Ever-Better Environment".

Expressing his thoughts, Prashanth, Deputy Conservator of Forest, said ''We would like to acknowledge the dedicated efforts by corporates like Toyota Kirloskar Motor who have come forward to spread the message on Environment Conservation. Global Warming is one of the biggest threats to the planet and it calls for unified action by communities to come forward and do their bit in protecting the environment. Such proactive efforts are significant in saving nature and also ensuring a clean and green future for tomorrow. We would request more individuals, organisations and communities to step forward and implement necessary initiatives to address the alarming concern of Environment Conservation."

Commenting on the initiative, Naveen Soni, Vice President - Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, "Impact of climate change has reached an alarming state globally. Extreme heat wave in several parts of the country, water scarcity, floods and melting glaciers have affected millions of lives already and we need to act fast. By 2020, pressure on India's water, air, soil and forests is expected to become the highest in the world. We at TKM have always been conscious of the fact that we have a responsibility towards global environment. The eco-consciousness is inbuilt in Toyota's ecosystem -from our supply chain to our management and employees, to the beneficiaries on the ground ensuring a sustainable impact."

Soni also mentioned that, "it is very important to inculcate a behaviour and attitude change towards the conservation of our environment, not only for us, but for the future generation as well. We feel overwhelmed that all our employees have come together to be Green Ambassadors."

"TKM has been able to prove its eco-commitment with continuous improvements in Environmental Performance year-on-year. All our CSR programmes are crafted on the basis of innovation and sustainability. Likewise, this campaign echoes Toyota's vision and values, where we work relentlessly to ensure protection of the environment as one of its top priority. Through activities like these, we empower our employees to be the change creators in the society and help them grow as responsible citizens," added Soni.

TKM's volunteering program "ICARE" has gone from strength to strength since its launch in November 2017. The volunteers have addressed various societal issues under thematic areas like Education, Environment and Road safety, thereby impacting lives.

So far, TKM's CSR is proud to have enriched 14,37,632 lives through their multifold efforts. Toyota will further continue its various CSR interventions with a long-term development perspective of the socio-economic stature of society, touching many more lives to make a difference in each one's well-being.