Until now, the environmental impact of economic activities has
been small enough for the natural environment to recover unaided.
However, our societies' impact on the environment has grown
rapidly and steadily since the Industrial Revolution. Companies
hold the key to restoring the environment to health. The reason
companies should be more serious about environmental conservation
becomes clear if we consider how the three P's (planet, people,
and profit) in environmental, social, and economic activities
have changed over time since the Industrial Revolution. In doing
this, the kind of world we should pursue becomes clear as well.
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Environmental impact was smaller before the Industrial Revolution.
The environmental impact of economic activities was smaller
before the Industrial Revolution and small enough for the
natural environment to recover from unaided.
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Since the Industrial Revolution,
damage to the natural environment has continued to increase.
The Industrial Revolution, which began in the United Kingdom,
quickly spread throughout the rest of the world and opened an
era of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal.
As shown in Figure 2, people began acting as if they were not
a part of the natural environment, and the damage caused by
society to the natural environment drastically increased. In
recent years, the environmental impact of human activity has
increased beyond the Earth's ability to recover, and that has
led to global warming, the depletion of the ozone layer, the
submersion of land due to the rising sea level, epidemic diseases
making their way northward from southern regions, and an increase
in the number of people suffering skin cancer caused by strong
ultraviolet light. These problems placed stress (A) on society
and the economy, and society at a standstill, in turn, placed
stress (B) on the economy. Currently, environmental conservation
is a global issue, and companies, which are major economic players
in society, are required to be serious in their commitment to
environmental conservation. Without showing commitment to environmental
conservation, companies will not be able to gain support from
society at large.
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At present, the establishment
of a resource-recirculating society is underway and being
carried out in phases.
Today, people are paying more attention to activities that reduce damage to the global environment, including the sorting of waste, recycling, and prevention of global warming.
Manufacturers face such challenges as promoting smaller products with longer lifecycles, energy conservation, and resource recycling, as well as providing the maximum benefit to society and companies with minimum resources.
Global companies as well are expected to support and promote the awareness of environmental conservation in developing countries and regions so that they can achieve economic progress with minimum environmental impact. Another important issue is to increase the self-recovery capability of the natural environment by such efforts as improving forest ecosystem conservation.
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Our aim is to build a society
whose environmental impact is within the abilities of
the natural environment to restore itself.
To keep environmental impact within the self-recovery capability of the natural environment, setting specific goals for the prevention of global warming, the conservation of resources, and the prevention of pollution is important.
The Ricoh Group has adopted the Year 2050 Extra-Long-Term Environmental Vision, the Year 2010 Long-Term Environmental Goals, and the Environmental Action Plan from 2005 as milestones on the path to attaining its long-term vision of the ideal sustainable society and has been working in accordance with these policies.
To preserve the global environment for future generations, we need to take action with greater environmental awareness and clearer goals.
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