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On December 26, 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the fourth meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Promotion Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, discussions took place on the SDGs Action Plan 2018, the recipients of the first Japan SDGs Award, and other matters.

Based on the discussions, the Prime Minister said,

“Through promoting the SDGs, Japan will create new enterprises and employment, and become the first in the world to materialize a future vision for a prosperous and vibrant society that can be achieved amidst the declining birthrate, aging population, and globalization. To that end, we have decided to develop an SDGs model, which is distinct to Japan, and today formulated the SDGs Action Plan 2018 for exerting all of our efforts to address the eight priority areas identified in the SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles, which was determined at the second meeting of this Headquarters. In this Action Plan, we raise the following three points as the major pillars that characterize Japan’s SDGs model.

The first pillar is the joint promotion of Society 5.0 by the public and private sectors, which is closely linked to the SDGs. Specifically, by the middle of next year, we will formulate measures that further encourage corporate efforts, such as an SDGs business promotion initiative, including support for venture businesses, as well as investment promotion mechanisms, and an international roadmap for science, technology and innovation that contributes to the SDGs.

The second point is regional vitalization driven by the SDGs. By implementing the newly launched local government SDGs model programs and the support measures related to regional vitalization in a comprehensive manner, the relevant ministries and agencies will work as one to support such initiatives.

Third is the empowerment of future generations, and women, who promote the SDGs. We will advance the work style reform and the active participation of women, and put efforts into developing human resources, who will take the lead to achieve the SDGs. We will also take a leading role in international cooperation in areas such as health, including universal health coverage that is a part of the ‘Japan brand,’ education, disaster risk reduction, and women’s empowerment.

I would also like to make full use of opportunities, such as the G20 Summit in 2019 and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, in order to transmit Japan’s initiatives to the world, when its attention will be focused on Japan. I would like the relevant Cabinet members to focus on the implementation of the Action Plan, taking into account the three pillars, by the next meeting that is planned for the middle of next year, and to proceed with further crystallizing and expanding the efforts to promote the SDGs.”