Ricoh announced as official COP21 partner
Global technology company to provide secure printing infrastructure throughout annual climate change conference

TOKYO, November 4, 2015 – Ricoh has been announced as an official partner of the United Nation's COP21 climate conference. Taking place in Paris-Le Bourget from 30 November to 11 December, the conference aims to adopt a new binding and universal agreement with the objective to limit global warming to 2°C by the end of the century. The conference also intends to secure the necessary funds to allow developing countries to achieve their transition towards an environmentally-friendly economy.

Ricoh: a committed corporate citizen

Ricoh was part of the first wave of Japanese companies to join the UN Global Compact in 2000. Since 2008, the company has remained a director of the Japanese Global Compact network. Ever since its creation, Ricoh has followed a sustainable development approach with the desire to achieve a balance between the Planet (the environment), People (society) and Profit (economic activities). To achieve this goal, the Ricoh Group follows a number of activities to reduce the environmental impact on the planet exercised by resource extraction, energy use or the release of chemicals, as well as activities to protect biodiversity which increases the self-regeneration capacity of the earth. It is with this in mind that the economic circular model (The Comet Circle™ in 1994) and a GreenLine product line have been developed. This model goes beyond areas of the group's activities, namely the production and marketing of products, and introduces the concept of reducing the environmental impact throughout the product life cycle. Ricoh is committed to reducing its impact on the environment at all levels of the product life cycle. To do this, the company helps its customers to reduce, internally, the impact associated with the management of their documentation.

Strict targets

Ricoh is committed to reducing the total lifecycle CO2 emissions by the Ricoh Group by 30% by 2020 and by 87.5% by 2050 from the 2000 level. In fiscal year 2015, ended March 31, 2015, Ricoh achieved a successful decrease of 35.8%.

A recognized environmental approach

• All Ricoh sites worldwide, including production sites, are certified ISO 14001 for their environmental management system.
• Ricoh has been listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for three years in a row, obtaining the industry best score in four categories; "Innovation Management," "Privacy Protection," "Environmental Policy/Management System" and "Climate Strategy."
• In 2015, Ricoh was awarded the "Prime" status of Sustainability rating by the German company oekom research AG.
• Ricoh has featured in the FTSE4Good Index for the past 11 years.
• Ricoh has a network of ecological signs operating at 100% renewable energy.

"The General Secretariat of COP21 welcomes with gratitude the support of the RICOH Group as a sponsoring partner for the overall print fleet of COP21. Their approach to sustainability, the quality of their "GreenLine" products and their expertise in document security shall contribute in a major way to the smooth running and the exemplary nature of this conference", says Philippe Delacroix, Ambassador, in charge of public-private partnerships for the COP21 organization.

About COP21

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, called "UNFCCC" was adopted at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. It entered into force March 21, 1994 and has been ratified by 196 "parties" involved in the Convention. This framework is a universal agreement in principle, which recognizes the existence of a climate change of human origin. The Conference of Parties (COP), composed of all States 'parties', is the supreme body of the Convention. It meets each year at world conferences where decisions are made to meet the objectives in the fight against climate change. Decisions are taken by unanimity or consensus. The COP, to be held in Paris, will be the 21st hence the name "COP21".

Related subject

• Environment

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