Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that on March 27 it held its 9th Panel Discussion on Biodiversity as an online event. Panelist Dr. Shinichi Takagawa, General Manager of the OECM Task Force Office of the Nature Conservation Society of Japan, and moderator Dr. Tetsuya Kitazawa, Director of Ecology Path Inc. and Lecturer at Edogawa University, actively exchanged views with employees of Yokohama Rubber on the theme of “Our Conservation Activities to Contribute to Global Goals: Making Use of OECM.*1”
Yokohama Rubber has been holding its Panel Discussion on Biodiversity since 2014 as an opportunity to reflect on the importance of conserving biodiversity together with local residents and local governments at the locations where its domestic production sites operate. The event started with a keynote speech by Dr. Takagawa, entitled “Corporate Contributions to Nature Positive*2 through 30by30 *3 and OECM,” in which he gave an overview of the “30by30” target and the initiatives for the certification of conserved areas to be identified as OECMs by the Ministry of the Environment in order to achieve the 30by30 target in Japan. The speech provided participants with a deeper understanding of the significance of corporate collaboration with local communities to promote the expansion of protected areas. This was followed by a panel discussion in which Yokohama Rubber introduced the activities of its Ibaraki Plant in the aim of becoming a plant that can serve as a habitat for grey-faced buzzards (Butastur indicus),*4 and the participants deepened the discussion on how Yokohama Rubber’s biodiversity conservation activities can contribute to “30by30.” Panelist Dr. Takagawa commented, “Yokohama Rubber has a long history of conservation and monitoring activities, whose value will increase in the future. The company should be proud.”
Yokohama Rubber is a member of the 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity, a coalition of companies, local governments, and other organizations committed to making efforts throughout Japan to achieve the “30by30” target.
The sustainability initiatives included in Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023), Yokohama Rubber’s medium-term management plan for fiscal years 2021–2023, are based on the concept of “Caring for the Future.” By implementing sustainability initiatives under this concept, Yokohama Rubber is endeavoring to help resolve social issues and enhance its corporate value through its business activities. Yokohama Rubber also is implementing environment-related initiatives based on a three-pillar strategy focused on achieving carbon neutrality, a circular economy, and living in harmony with nature and has established a roadmap for achieving medium-to-long term goals in each of these pillars. Under the concept of living in harmony with nature, the company promotes initiatives for procurement of sustainable natural rubber and biodiversity conservation activities by all employees at plants in Japan and overseas.
*1 OECM (Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures): A geographically defined area other than protected areas, such as national parks, which is governed and managed in ways that contribute to biodiversity conservation
*2 Nature Positive: A philosophy that promotes halting the loss of biodiversity and putting it on a recovery track
*3 30by30: An international goal of conserving and protecting more than 30% of land and sea areas by 2030
*4 Grey-faced buzzard: A migratory bird of the family Accipitridae, categorized as Vulnerable (VU) by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.
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