Environmental Management Sustainability Report 2007 Environmental Timeline Kobe Steel Year Japan World 1967 Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control enacted. 1968 Air Pollution Control Law enacted. First blast furnace at Kakogawa Works fired up. 1970 Pollution Diet Fourteen laws enacted, including the Basic Law for Environmental Pollution Control, Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law, and Water Pollution Control Law. OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Council at ministerial level held. OECD Environment Committee formed. Environmental Control Section formed in Technology Control Department at the Head Office. Pollution Control Rules established. 1971 Environment Agency established.   Environmental Control Department formed. 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm. Declaration of The United Nations Conference on The Human Environment adopted. United Nations Environment Programme established. The Club of Rome published "The Limits to Growth". OECD adopted the "Polluter Pays" Principle. Company-wide Environmental Conservation Conference held. 1973 First Oil Crisis Japan Aluminum Can Recycling Association established. Law Concerning the Examination and Regulation of ManufactureCetc of Chemical Substances enacted. Environmental control regulations established. 1974 National Institute for Environmental Studies established. OECD Council adopted the Declaration on Environmental Policy, which calls for assessment of the environmental impact on major public and private activities.   1977 Industrial Structure Council compiled a report on how wastes should be recycled. Amagasaki pollution suit filed. 1979 Second Oil Crisis Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy enacted. OECD Council adopted the recommendation "The Assessment of Projects with Significant Impact on the Environment". Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) formed. Environment and Disaster Control Department established. 1987   Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer adopted.   1988 Law Concerning the Protection of the Ozone Layer through the Control of Specified Substances and Others enacted. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) established. Global Warming Study Group formed. 1989 Tokyo Conference on the Global Environment: "Environmental Ethics" proposed. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal adopted. Shinko Aluminum Can Back" program launched. 1990 Action Program to Arrest Global Warming adopted. IPCC First Assessment Report published. 1991 Global Environment Charter adopted by Keidanren (the Federation of Economic Organizations). Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Recycled Resources enacted. Environment Control and Energy Department formed. Global Environment Committee formed. Basic Policies for the Environment established. Statement on the Environment approved by International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI). 1992 Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law amended. Automotive NOx and PM Law enacted United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) held in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Charter formulated, Agenda 21 adopted and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted (effectuated in March 1994). 1993 Basic Environment Law enacted. Environmental Protection and Industrial Location Bureau formed at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry). 1994 Basic Environment Plan formulated. German government promulgated the Act for Promoting Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management and Ensuring Environmentally Compatible Waste Disposal. Basic Guidelines for Environmental Protection formulated. Use of CFCs for cleaning banned. 1995 Container and Packaging Recycling Law enacted. UNFCCC: The First Conference of the Parties (COP1) held in Berlin. IPCC Second Assessment Report published. 1996 Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) Voluntary Action Plan on the Environment drawn up for each industry. COP2 held in Geneva. ISO14001 launched. 1997 Environmental Impact Assessment Law enacted. Japan's greenhouse gas emission reduction target set at 6% at COP3. Global Warming Prevention Headquarters established. COP3 held in Kyoto. Greenhouse gas reduction targets for developed countries decided. Kakogawa and Kobe works received ISO 14001 certification. Kobelco Environment Creating Project for the 21st Century launched. 1998 Law Concerning the Promotion of the Measures to Cope with Global Warming enacted. Electric Household Appliance Recycling Law enacted. Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy (Energy Conservation Law) amended. COP4 held in Buenos Aires. Takasago Works (Casting and Forging Plant and Steel Powder Plant) received ISO 14001 certification. Environmental Report issued. 1999 PRTR Law enacted. Law Concerning Special Measures Against Dioxins enacted. COP5 held in Bonn. Hatano Plant received ISO 14001 certification. Amagasaki pollution suit filed. 2000 The Basic Law for Establishing the Recycling-based Society, Law on Promoting Green Purchasing, and various recycling laws enacted. Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Recycled Resources and Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law amended. COP6 held in the Hague. Moka, Chofu and Ibaraki plants received ISO 14001 certification. Kobelco Ecolife Notebook received Osaka Environmental Award. Fujisawa Industrial Operations received Kanagawa Global Environment Award. Risk Control Policies established. 2001 Government reorganized and Ministry of the Environment formed. Law Concerning Special Measures Against PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) enacted. Law Concerning the Recovery and Destruction of Fluorocarbons enacted. COP6 (Part 2) held in Bonn. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Treaty IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001 COP7 (Marrakech) Takasago Works (Takasago Equipment Plant and Takasago Machinery Center) received ISO 14001 certification. Global Environment Committee reorganized into Environmental Management Committee. Harima, Fukuchiyama and Daian plants received ISO 14001 certification. Compliance Committee formed. 2002 Energy Conservation Law amended. New Energy Special Measures Law, Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law, Law Concerning Recycling Measures for End-of-Life Vehicles, and Basic Law on Energy Policy enacted. Kyoto Protocol ratified. RPS (Renewables Portfolio Standards) Law enacted. Emissions trading markets opened in U.K. and other countries. World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg. COP8 held in Delhi. Energy-saving activities of Kakogawa Works were awarded the 2002 Energy-saving Excellent Case "Director-General Prize of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy". Reorganized into Environmental Control and Energy Group. Kobelco Eco-Solutions Co., Ltd. and Earth Technica Co., Ltd. established. 2003 Basic plan for promoting formation of recycling-based society formulated. Renewable Portfolio Standard introduced. Law for Enhancing Motivation on Environmental Conservation and Promoting of Environmental Education enacted. Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilities of Resources amended for home PC recycling. EU Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS Directive) adopted. COP9 held in Milano. Nadahama Science Square opened. Ibaraki Plant received Osaka Environmental Award. Aluminum and Copper Company received METI Minister's Award for aluminum dross recycling. Received Kobe City Award for Distinguished Environmental Activities for wide-ranging environmental activities. 2004 POPs Treaty ratified. Revised Chemical Substances Control Law came into effect. Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law amended. COP10 held in Buenos Aires. Stopped production of chromate-treated electrogalvanized steel sheet. The Saijo Plant becomes the first plant in Japan to obtain Eco Action 21 certification. Development of FASTMET recycling process received METI Minister's Award. Chofu Works approved as an "eco factory" by Yamaguchi Prefecture. 2005 Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law amended. Automotive NOx and PM Law amended. Kyoto Protocol published. COP11 and MOP1 held in Montreal. Air emission problem discovered at steelworks. Environmental Administration Committee launched. Environmental Control & Disaster Prevention Dept. reorganized. 2006 Container and Packaging Recycling Law amended. RoHS compliance came into effect. COP12 and MOP2 held in Kenya.