What is this all about?

How is Toyota involved? 

Toyota has signed a five-year partnership with IUCN to provide funding to help IUCN achieve its goals. Toyota’s grant will enhance the Red List’s invaluable role in helping determine conservation policies; tracking progress toward reducing biodiversity loss providing data for scientific research and raising public awareness about species. 

 
The funding will increase knowledge on the extinction risk of more than 28,000 species, including many that are key food sources for a significant portion of the global population. 

So it also concerns our food supply? 

Absolutely. IUCN experts have chosen to focus much of the newly funded research on the populations of plants and fish that billions of people depend on as a vital source of food. These include species of wild rice and wheat that are crucial to food security. 
 
Additionally, marine fish, such as sardines, pilchards, sole and plaice will be assessed. They are not just a source of food for billions of people, but catching and processing them provides work for an estimated million people worldwide. 

Left to right - Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General, Didier Leroy, TMC Executive Vice President and Dr Jane Smart, OBE, Global Director, IUCN. 

Why is Toyota doing this? 

There are many reasons for us to support the IUCN. Here, we highlight the two most important ones. Firstly, since Toyota’s foundation, we have addressed environmental issues as a key challenge with the idea that our company’s actions should contribute to the development of a sustainable society. We want to create a net positive impact, meaning we want to create value for society that goes beyond just focussing on clean mobility. 

Secondly, the way IUCN works by gathering data allows coordinated action. This is at the core of Toyota’s thinking too. We are a very fact-based, data-driven company. We even have a Japanese word for checking the facts: genchi genbutsu. Without this data that IUCN collects, it would be impossible for other NGOs, governments and society to protect and restore biodiversity.