I enjoy hiking in the mountains and if the weather is good on weekends, I often hike in the Tanzawa Mountains or the Hakone Mountains, which are close to my home. It feels refreshing and I can get back in touch with myself. It reminds me of the magnanimity of nature. But sometimes, people find themselves in the midst of a fresh snowfall in Hakone, even in early May. This reminds me how much I should be in awe of nature. I feel the greatness of nature and appreciate once again how dependent we are upon it. We must never lose our sense of responsibility for protecting the integrity of our environment, which we will hand down to our descendants.
Today, this precious Earth carries everywhere the marks and wounds of damaging emissions and discharges from human's activities. Our activities exert unexpectedly broad and complex effects, including climate changes due to global warming. One cause of global warming is the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases. To cope with these changes on a global basis, the Kyoto Protocol to control greenhouse gas emissions was adopted at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP3) held in Kyoto in December. 1997.
Unfortunately, as of July 2003, the Kyoto Protocol has yet to go into effect. However, I think companies that consume a great deal of energy in their business must be aware of their own responsibilities as members of society and work proactively to conserve the environment. I also think that suppliers of products that emit carbon dioxide during their operation, like vehicles, must be more aware about their responsibilities and endeavor to reduce exhaust emissions.

In June 2002, Isuzu became Japan's first truck manufacturer to launch the sales of the ELF-KR series, a new generation of environmentally friendly light-duty trucks that meet Japan's exhaust emission regulations taking effect in 2003.
The ELF-KR series was developed by integrating technologies for combustion, aftertreatment and electronic control, based on Isuzu's accumulated expertise in the development of clean diesel engines. These trucks are installed with the oxidization catalytic converter, to reduce particulate matter, as standard equipment. Due to their environmental performance, the ELF-KR trucks have been designated as super low-emission vehicles by a number of local governments. They also meet the stricter regulatory levels set by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to enter into force in 2005.
Commercial vehicles are essential to all stages of logistics, including what is called "arterial logistics," such as parts procurement and product supply, and "venous logistics," such as disposal and recycling. They are operated all over the world, in both developing and developed nations. It is no exaggeration to say that our comfortable modern lifestyle is made possible by trucks, whose characteristics differ from those of passenger cars in several ways.
It's our responsibility and pride to work for improved performance of environment, economy and safety that support the important base of social activity.

Another social responsibility for a manufacturer of commercial trucks is to cope with the modal shift*, the recent trend toward shifting to new modes of logistics. I expect commercial vehicle manufacturers to play parts in this, with their ideas for the modal shift. New vehicles will have lower environmental impact and offer the capability of high-efficiency, combined transport. Having compiled a great deal of knowhow and technical information on combined transport between the Fujisawa Plant and Isuzu Engine Manufacturing Hokkaido Co., Ltd., we are confident that we will be able to significantly contribute to the modal shift. We will promote this for its lower global environmental impact and its meaning for the roles of trucks, railways and ships.

As a vehicle manufacturer, we have been working to reduce environmental impacts in our manufacturing processes and plants by various technical innovations, with the participation of all employees. However, our efforts remain yet to be improved, compared to those by other companies that are more advanced in environmental protection. Our experience demonstrates that technologies do not advance gradually but progress in distinct phases. There must be continual research and development. I believe we can catch up with the companies that are now ahead of us only by continuing our efforts and initiatives to develop technologies to reduce environmental impacts with unfailing enthusiasm and industry. We will do our best to accomplish the constantly advancing targets for zero emissions, energy conservation, and recyclability.

You can see in Isuzu's Kawasaki Plant a monument in honor of Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel engine. I think diesel engines are the key to the success of Isuzu in the future. Diesel engines are still developing as they have some drawbacks, as well as enormous potential and advantages. I see it as our mission to provide cleaner, further efficient diesel engines and diesel-powered trucks and contribute to create a sustainable society. We will make proactive efforts to protect the environment and welcome constructive criticism from other parts of society.
Isuzu's environmental management vision focuses on "providing the market with diesel trucks offering excellent environmental performance and economy."

This year's Isuzu Environmental Report primarily covers the environmental efforts conducted by Isuzu Motors Limited during the past year, describes our view of our social responsibilities as a manufacturer of commercial vehicles, and explains our approach to developing diesel engines. We value your comments and suggestions and seek to promote mutual communications in efforts to create a sustainable society.