Mitsubishi Electric Introduces Biodiversity Preservation Activities Online

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503) announced it has issued today a report on its global website on the Mitsubishi Electric Group's activities to respect and preserve biodiversity covering "living creature studies," fieldwork sessions surveying local ecosystems conducted by Mitsubishi Electric's Chubu Branch Office, located in Nagoya, along with three other production sites in the area.

This report is the first that stems from the establishment of the "Mitsubishi Electric Group Biodiversity Action Guidelines," announced in May 2010, and the company believes this initiative will serve as a model for future environmental activities in other areas.

In order to help employees understand and respect biodiversity, the Mitsubishi Electric Group is focused on providing employees with the opportunity to experience nature first-hand. Rather than educating employees through lectures and presentations, the company believes that arranging for them to learn through fieldwork under their own initiative effectively deepens their thinking on nature and biodiversity.

The Mitsubishi Electric Group intends to promote further understanding and action among its employees regarding the relationship between its business activities and the environment. From fiscal 2012, the Group will also begin conducting "living creature studies" in other business sites worldwide, aiming to understand and preserve local nature in cooperation with each of the local communities.

Details of the "living creature studies" conducted by the four sites in the Chubu region

The Mitsubishi Electric Group Biodiversity Action Guidelines were formulated to help all employees understand the relationship between business activities and biodiversity, and incorporate this understanding into their day-to-day activities. Beginning in fiscal 2012, each environmental management organization of the Mitsubishi Electric Group will renew their awareness of the relationship to surrounding ecosystems and the environment, review their activities and identify new issues to address.

In August 2010, the Chubu Branch Office, Inazawa Works, Nakatsugawa Works and Nagoya Works, all located in the Chubu region, conducted studies to identify living organisms inhabiting the grounds of their factories and surrounding areas. The objective was to provide employees with first-hand experience of the richness of nature in their immediate surroundings. After completing the studies, their various findings were compiled into field guides.

In addition to conducting "living creature studies" and creating field guides based on them, Mitsubishi Electric also created the Mitsubishi Electric and Water Map poster and the Mitsubishi Electric Experience of Life booklet (in Japanese only). The poster and booklet are the products of working in a region with an abundance of water. They introduce mountains and highlands where water is plentiful, show how they relate to factories as places where water is used, illustrate the relationship between water and people, and clarify the role of tidal wetlands as places where the water leads to the ocean. The booklet describes the field studies, summarizes their findings and reports the experiences of employees along with comments from representatives of participating environmental protection organizations. The booklet is filled with tips for collaborative thinking involving the community about the importance of maintaining ecosystems.

About Mitsubishi Electric

With over 85 years of experience in providing reliable, high-quality products to both corporate clients and general consumers all over the world, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO:6503) is a recognized world leader in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. The company recorded consolidated group sales of 3,353.2 billion yen (US$ 36.1 billion*) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010. For more information visit http://global.mitsubishielectric.com

*At an exchange rate of 93 yen to the US dollar, the rate given by the Tokyo Foreign Exchange Market on March 31, 2010