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On June 15, 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the fifth meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Promotion Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
During the meeting, the Expanded SDGs Action Plan 2018 was approved.
 
Following the approval, the Prime Minister said,
 
“We will achieve sustainable growth, and share the bounty and happiness of that with everyone. The Abe administration is doing everything in its power to create such a society, even in the midst of the declining birthrate and aging population, by promoting the SDGs through all-Japan efforts.
 
The three key terms for our efforts are ‘the future,’ ‘women and the next generation,’ and ‘visibility.’
 
First, on the future, we will prioritize the SDGs as a main pillar of our national strategy for creating Japan’s future.
 
The Basic Policy and Growth Strategy to be finalized today, as well as the Integrated Innovation Strategy approved some time ago, will strongly promote our efforts towards the SDGs. We have selected approximately 30 municipalities proposing outstanding initiatives to be part of the SDGs Future City Initiative. Japan will shape the future of the world through the promotion of the implementation of the SDGs.
 
In 2019, we will promote our efforts towards the SDGs from the cities and towns to host the G20 Summit and Ministerial Meetings. In addition, we will also make the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games ones to promote the implementation of the SDGs.
 
On women and the next generation, they are the key players to implement the SDGs and the Government will work as one to empower them.
 
Next spring, we will hold a joint meeting of the World Assembly for Women (WAW!) and Women 20 (W20) in order to promote the active participation of women through joint efforts of the public and private sectors. We will also create a platform for the next generation to promote the implementation of the SDGs by next year to mobilize the power of them. Towards the G20 Summit and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) next year, we will strengthen initiatives in the fields of health and education for the next generation. We will formulate a long-term strategy to deal with climate change, and promote a positive growth cycle through the promotion of green business.
 
Lastly, on visibility, we will further promote the visibility of our actions to achieve the SDGs.
 
In the Expanded SDGs Action Plan 2018 that was just approved, we will double Government efforts for the SDGs.
 
We will widely share and disseminate initiatives both in the public and private sectors, making use of an online SDGs platform that is scheduled to be set up in June.
 
Last week, Japan co-chaired the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI Forum) in the United Nations, where it was the first in the world to propose a basic concept of a roadmap of science, technology and innovation for the SDGs. Based on that concept, we will increase the visibility of the whole process of our SDGs-related efforts including relevant plans and strategies we are to compile in the future.
 
I ask that the relevant ministers further strengthen and enhance our efforts to achieve the SDGs based on these policies, strategies, and this action plan, and that you all put further efforts towards promoting and enhancing our initiatives.”