Very soon after the disaster struck, I visited our Sendai Technology Center in Miyagi Prefecture, which had been heavily damaged by the tsunami that tore through the region. I was humbled by the selflessness and resourcefulness demonstrated by our Sony colleagues in the tense hours after the quake. They not only worked quickly to ensure their own collective safety, but also went to great lengths to assist and ensure the safety of the many local residents who had fled other nearby buildings and taken refuge in our facility.
I am extremely proud of the courageous way in which Sony employees in Japan have coped with the difficulties they have faced in recent months as a result of this disaster. I am equally proud of how our employees around the world rallied together with business partners, customers and other key stakeholders, to lend unprecedented support to the relief effort. In addition to making an immediate $5 million charitable contribution, we instituted a global matching gift program through which we matched employee contributions, dollar for dollar, to the relief efforts. This initiative, alone, raised a total of $11 million for disaster relief and recovery. But our efforts did not stop there. Sony Music Entertainment came together with the other major music companies to launch a special benefit album called "Songs for Japan." PlayStation®Network (PSN) gave consumers around the world the ability to make disaster relief contributions directly from their PSN accounts. The list goes on and on.
Sony continues to contribute actively to post-disaster relief and reconstruction, by participating in a wide range of medium- and long-term reconstruction efforts in cooperation with various stakeholders, including Sony employees, local communities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and nonprofit organizations (NPOs).
In April 2011, PSN, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment systems were the victims of an unprecedented criminal cyberattack that forced us to temporarily shut down these services. Sophisticated criminal intrusions into network systems like the ones we experienced pose a threat not only to our customers, but also to the entire business world. We have engaged some of the most respected names in cybersecurity, and together we have worked to strengthen our information security systems, placing our highest priority on ensuring the security of our customers' personal information.
These events have presented significant challenges to our Company. However, I have always believed that out of crisis comes opportunity. Following the earthquake, for example, we focused on minimizing its impact on our customers and on reinforcing our risk management system to ensure our ability to maintain business continuity, even in the event of a disaster. And while the Great East Japan Earthquake has affected Japanese society in many different ways, among the most notable is the change in social imperatives with respect to the energy supply and demand structure.
Disruption of electric power supplies in areas affected by the quake caused sudden power failures. As a result, energy storage technologies are attracting increasing attention for potential use in facilities such as schools, hospitals, broadcast facilities and data centers, as well as in residential homes. Having identified power generation and energy storage as key new business areas even before the disaster struck, we are focusing on this opportunity and accelerating innovation in this area.
In April 2011, we commenced mass production of an energy storage module that uses rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are made with olivine-type lithium-ion iron phosphate as the cathode material and have a lifespan of more than 10 years. This groundbreaking innovation, which truly responds to current needs, will contribute to reducing our environmental impact. We began selling energy storage modules to infrastructure facilities for use as a backup power source, as well as to residential communities for home use. This module is finding favor for a variety of other applications as well, including a new energy system currently being tested in Okinawa, Japan, that is combined with such natural energy sources as solar and wind.
On the subject of environmental initiatives, I am pleased to report that we succeeded in meeting or exceeding nearly all of the targets set forth in our Green Management 2010 plan, which aimed to reduce our environmental impact over a five-year period from fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2010. Among our achievements was a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from our sites compared to 2000 levels. Looking ahead, we will step up efforts to respond to environmental challenges with the aim of achieving new mid-term environmental targets for fiscal year 2015 in line with our "Road to Zero" global environmental plan -- which sets forth a long-term vision of achieving a zero environmental footprint.
The initiatives described in this note are just a few of those undertaken this year in an effort to fulfill our responsibilities as a global corporate citizen and to promote social innovation that contributes to a safe, healthy and sustainable future for our planet and its people. Working with international organizations, NGOs and others, we will continue to pursue a wide range of ambitious initiatives in an effort to fulfill our responsibilities as a global corporate citizen.
I hope that you find this report and our CSR website informative, and that they provide you with a greater understanding of both the philosophy behind our CSR program and the full range of our related activities.
