Toyota Motor North America Prioritizes Biodiversity

Major automotive maker, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), is looking to do its part to reverse the impacts of human activity that have accelerated biodiversity loss. This is why its 2050 ambitions include “living in harmony with nature.” The company worked with Pure Strategies to help develop specific goals and plans to progress toward its nature goals.

To start, Pure Strategies reviewed the business’ existing efforts and value chain to identify areas where they could build on strengths and begin to fill in gaps. The goals and roadmaps developed for 2021 through 2025 included operations, value chain, and industry-level engagement to set the company up for notable progress.

For example, the goals included biodiversity restoration efforts at manufacturing locations and in areas beyond the supply chain to total at least 26,000 acres of pollinator habitat by the end of 2025, the size of the company’s direct business locations. As a result, by the end of 2023, TMNA had supported the development of 10,338 acres of pollinator habitat - with more habitat restoration planned.

In addition, Pure Strategies identified an opportunity to assess the science-based biodiversity and nature impacts across the value chain, utilizing emerging guidance from the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the GRI biodiversity standard, and our experience assessing risks across value chains.

Pure Strategies then helped TMNA progress on this new science-based nature effort by completing a materiality assessment and a detailed value chain assessment. This work looked upstream, at operations, and downstream at biodiversity, land, freshwater, and ocean impacts and opportunities.

Pure Strategies used several nature databases and emerging research to provide a combination of quantitative and qualitative insights to help TMNA identify its next steps, determine its readiness for setting science-based targets for nature, and make progress on its biodiversity goals.

Key findings from this work were used to initiate new projects with downstream dealership partners, to improve upstream supplier data, and for broader value chain and industry engagement opportunities. TMNA is now a corporate member of the Science Based Target Network, is engaged in the multi-sectoral collaboration Business for Nature, and attended the pivotal United National Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Montreal in 2022 where the Global Biodiversity Framework was finalized. They have also shared insights from their work in 2023 through presentations at the Wildlife Habitat Council and GreenBiz’s Bloom conferences.

Looking ahead, TMNA is expecting additional progress in areas such as:

• Biodiversity plans and operations that will reduce biodiversity and water threats
• Work within the dealer network to expand engagement.
• Industry-level efforts and policy-level support for reducing road impacts on wildlife. This includes species-safe infrastructure, habitat connectivity, and ecosystem restoration.

• Expanding land and pollinator habitats, in an amount equivalent to the business’s total land footprint (supply chain, operations, and dealerships).

Becky Martin, TMNA's Environmental Sustainability Manager, notes that “Pure Strategies has been a valuable partner in our biodiversity and nature efforts. Their expertise helped us add a scientific basis to our work, bring nature into our value chain efforts, and get us plugged into key external organizations. I am proud of TMNA’s leadership in biodiversity and grateful to have the expert support from Pure Strategies.”

The Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 (Challenge 2050) is a set of six visionary, global challenges that seek to go beyond eliminating negative environmental impacts to creating positive value for the planet and society.