For the Earth to recover its original state, restoration of the global environment itself will be important.
To protect the global environment, the Kobelco Construction Machinery Group has created leading-edge products that lessen environmental burdens – products such as a new-type excavator with fuel consumption improved by 20% and hybrid construction machines. Alongside that the Group has implemented diverse measures for global environmental protection, including promotion of energy-conservation activities at plants and a switch to hybrid automobiles for its company cars and business vehicles. It is also taking part in the "Team Minus 6%" nationwide project to curb greenhouse gases, under which employees are carrying out activities in their everyday surroundings.

Besides the above, the Group is pouring its energies into developing environmental recycling machinery for "protecting and saving the planet". For example, we are moving ahead with development of environmentally-responsive construction machinery for use at demolition sites. Such machinery will treat the demolition processes themselves as recycling processes and be able to recycle metal scrap and so forth.
In the future as before, the Group will be continuing steadily and step by step with endeavors for global environmental preservation, bringing into play the environmental technology and know-how that are the unique possessions of a construction machinery manufacturer.

The Kobelco Construction Machinery Group has started with installation of flower-beds at the entrances of its headquarters, plants and sales bases, as well as with clean-up activities in the surroundings of its factories, as a contribution to local communities and a first step toward realizing coexistence with local residents. Further, it is actively engaged in conducting tours of its plants, holding sketching events and other efforts aimed at making the Group itself a site for interaction with – and a symbol of – local communities.
Another of our endeavors is the establishment of the "Kobelco Construction Machinery CSR Fund" for promotion of activities contributing not only to local communities but also to society as a whole. Inside the

Group, proposals are constantly sought for various kinds of assistance activities under this fund, including assistance for local communities, protection of the global environment and cultivation of human resources. These proposals have borne fruit in the implementation of wide-ranging endeavors that have included training of human resources for involvement in restoration of global heritage sites and educational assistance at locations all over the world.

When earthquakes and other natural disasters have occurred we have not only provided relief money and donated the construction machinery needed to assist recovery, but have also sent operators out to take part in the recovery activities on the spot. As an enterprise that "Thinks of the Future of People and the Earth", the Kobelco Construction Machinery Group will be actively assisting and implementing contributions to local communities in the future as in the past.

Something that Kobelco Construction Machinery Group values highly is steadfast support for its employees so that each and every one of them can feel pride and gladness in being a member of the Group as he or she engages in our corporate activities. This is in order to realize an enterprise beloved by its employees, and to that end we are also enhancing our internal environments in ways such as installing AEDs (automated external defilibrators) at the Group's primary bases and giving education in critical care that includes operation of AEDs.
We look to raise recognition of our employees as actors in CSR activities by having them plan and implement by themselves activities such as assistance via NPOs and NGOs, and donations to developing countries. Vibrant ideas for such activities have issued from our employees in

a gushing and gladdening stream that has exceeded expectations. We have in place a well-rounded backup system for such voluntary endeavors of our employees and strive to assist their CSR activities in various ways, one of which is providing a setup whereby they can utilize their welfare leave for volunteer activities. By becoming an enterprise beloved by its employees, we are building a structure whereby the Group and its employees work in unison to implement high-quality social contribution activities. This is a process that will be progressively promoted in the future.