Leadership Quote by Maurice Strong

Praise like this is never just about cars; it is about permission. Maurice Strong, one of the most influential architects of modern environmental governance, is effectively granting Toyota a kind of moral operating license: you can be big, global, profit-driven, and still count as a climate-facing leader. The phrasing does careful work. “Environmental awareness” flatters values, “immense commitment to research and development” signals seriousness (and, not incidentally, capital intensity), and “leadership in developing hybrids” anchors the compliment in a tangible technology that feels pragmatic rather than utopian.

The subtext is strategic: hybrids become the safe bridge between environmental aspiration and the political economy Strong helped shape, where incremental, scalable innovation often beats sweeping systemic overhaul. By emphasizing “research and development,” he’s also framing climate action as an engineering contest, not a fight over consumption, regulation, or corporate power. That framing is comforting to industry and policymakers alike: it suggests progress can be purchased, patented, and rolled out without rewriting the rules of modern life.

The final clause - “which others are now following” - turns Toyota into a standard-setter, implying a market-led cascade effect. It’s a subtle nudge to competitors (catch up) and to governments (reward first movers). In context, this kind of endorsement sits at the intersection of environmental diplomacy and corporate branding: the NGO-and-boardroom world where credibility is currency, and where “green leadership” can mean genuine innovation, reputational insurance, or both.