Sharing the "Japanese Approach to Sustainability" with the World

The UN-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim for a sustainable society by 2030 through participation by nations, businesses, and the private sector. In Japan, various organizations are taking the lead, and participation is progressing. Here, we look ahead to the future of the Earth and Japan's sustainability beyond 2030.

By 2030, the SDGs are expected to have achieved some of their targets. However, environmental and social challenges—such as global warming, ecosystem destruction, poverty and inequality, and adapting to societal changes driven by technologies like AI—are predicted to remain severe. Companies will be required to respond even more than today, and their scope for action will likely expand.

Furthermore, awareness of environmental and social issues will permeate globally, becoming a personal concern everywhere. Simultaneously, as initiatives from non-Western powers like China and India grow, responses to these challenges will likely move away from uniform Western-centric standards. We may see increasing localization tailored to regional economies, societies, and cultures—Chinese models, Indian models, Middle Eastern models, and so forth.

Japan currently faces numerous challenges, including human rights, gender equality, and civil society. However, by 2030, it is anticipated that Japan will cultivate its own "Japanese environmental and social ethics and practices," distinct from the Western model and aligned with its unique spiritual climate and cultural context. This will become a driving force for individuals, businesses, and society.

For example, in the realm of global environmental conservation, rather than "Western-style numerical and legal rule-based controls" like CO2 emissions trading, a "sense of emotional unity with the natural satoyama landscape" might garner greater empathy and cooperation.

In the realm of human rights, an ethics blending Western universal human rights ideology with Japan's traditional aesthetic sensibility of "harmony is precious" could emerge. Furthermore, methods might emerge that fuse Western rational, scientific environmental techniques (Western talent) with Japanese lifestyle culture (Japanese spirit). This could involve blending Western "circular economy" systemic approaches with spiritual cultures like "sharing" and "benefiting all three parties."

 Observing Japan's youth today, one senses a distinctly Japanese approach: rather than adopting a Western-style "highly conscious" stance toward environmental and social issues, they seem to seek forms of social mobilization that are "unobtrusive and enjoyable."
 
Japan has historically been a nation that eagerly absorbs advanced foreign ideas and methods, then comprehensively edits and transforms them into Japanese styles. Zen Buddhism became the foundation for the refined lifestyle culture of the tea ceremony. From rice cultivation and Kampo medicine to, more recently, the automobile industry and convenience stores, Japan has often appeared to fully accept foreign methods. Yet, in reality, it has fundamentally reworked them, upgrading them into Japanese styles and making them its own. It has then exported and disseminated these as world-class products and culture, contributing to the world.
 
Following this "form" of Japanese culture developed over more than 1,000 years, in 2020, Japan as a nation should now be in the process of absorbing environmental and social ethics like the Western SDGs, transforming them, and exploring and creating its own original sustainable environmental and social ethics.

Japan has long been a source of global culture—from ukiyo-e and Japanese Zen culture to Japanese cuisine and anime. As each of us and every company practices SDGs as our own personal responsibility, a culture of Japanese sustainability may emerge—one where people and nature coexist, and ethics blend with aesthetic refinement. Eventually, an era may come when Japan can share this culture with the world as a "gift," contributing to global sustainability.

Future Prediction Support Lab: http://dentsu-fsl.jp/