As sustainable
development has become an increasingly important issue
for governments, business, and the media, WEC's annual
presentation of the Gold Medal for International Corporate
Achievement in Sustainable Development has grown in stature.
This prestigious event is now recognized as a significant
occasion to mark outstanding efforts in putting sustainable
development into practice. In addition to honoring the
Gold Medal winner, the event provides an opportunity to
raise awareness of the importance of sustainable development
in the wider business community. This year's Gold Medal
for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable
Development was presented May 15, 2003 at the National
Building Museum in Washington, DC.
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WEC Gold Medal Award Ceremony |
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| Presentation -Speech by Mr. Sakurai, President of Ricoh Co., Ltd. |
Speech by Mr. Sakurai, President of Ricoh Co., Ltd. |
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I am honored to receive the prestigious WEC Gold Medal Award on behalf of the 74,000 people who make up the Ricoh Group. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees worldwide for their tireless efforts in a comprehensive range of environmental activities. I know they are very proud of their achievements, and I am looking forward to sharing this award with them.
We all know the damage that human industrial activities have inflicted on the earth. We also know that if we wish to hand our precious earth on to future generations with the capacity to support life, it is essential to curb activities that negatively impact the environment. To achieve this, every person on earth must participate in the creation of a resource re-circulating society with resource re-circulating economies, and more environmentally friendly industrial practices. All global citizens need to understand the environmental impact of their own behavior, and should encourage and support each other as they work toward achieving sustainable environmental conservation activities.
At Ricoh we have established two basic policies to define a resource re-circulating society. The first is 'Being a global citizen takes priority over being a company member. 'Being aware of the responsibility we have been given to conserve the environment through our activities, we meet the challenge on a company-wide basis.'
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The second is 'Aiming for the realization of resource re-circulating philosophy in corporate activities, based upon environmental objectives that are an important pillar of our business.' These policies are the basis of our philosophy, and they are incorporated throughout the Ricoh Group.
Simply put, our environmental conservation objectives target the creation of a resource re-circulating society in which every member participates.
Naturally, global environmental conservation activities require continuous efforts. Temporary or one-shot projects are meaningless. Consequently, our environmental practices have gone through three stages. We started with a Passive Stage, then we went through a Proactive Stage, and now we are in a Responsible Stage.
In the Passive Stage, our activities were merely responses to external pressure. We reacted to rules and regulations, or the news that another company was involved in a particular environmental project.
In the Proactive Stage, we became more committed and carried out our environmental activities with a sense of vocation.
We voluntarily implemented measures to reduce the negative environmental impact of our business and products.
Now, in the Responsible Stage, we strive to sustain or increase our economic value as a company while aggressively decreasing the negative environmental impact of all our business practices. There are many people who wonder whether this is actually possible, but we have spent many years developing our environmental conservation activities based upon environmental business principles.
I have already said that all global citizens should be involved in environmental activities. Ricoh Group employees strive to extend our commitment to their friends and families, local communities and also within our industry. In this way, we hope that our example will extend over the whole country and then the whole world. Through sharing our philosophies and cooperating with one another, we will endeavor to broaden the boundaries of our conservation activities.
Finally, I would like to thank the organizers of the WEC Gold Medal Award for allowing me this opportunity to speak to you today as a representative of Ricoh. I can assure you that all the Ricoh Group employees will strive to ensure that we live up to the honor of the WEC Gold Medal Award through our efforts in global environmental conservation.
What's more, I invite you to join us; after all, it's "Our Earth, Our Tomorrow".
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| The National Building Museum |
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The National Building Museum |
The National Building Museum is a Washington landmark that has, for many years, been the site of important events, including presidential inaugural balls. Designed 1881 by civil engineer and U.S. Army General Montgomery C. Meigs, the building was completed in 1887 and housed the U.S. Pension Bureau and other government offices.
It is distinguished by a central fountain, eight of the tallest Corinthian columns in the world, and an exterior terracotta frieze 1,200 feet long and three feet high. It is widely recognized as an impressive feat of engineering and one of the period's finest examples of Italian Renaissance design. The site reopened as the National Building Museum in 1985. The museum is funded entirely by private donations and is considered a leading American institution for the study of architecture, design, engineering construction, and urban planning.
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