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On December 20, 2019, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held the eighth meeting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Promotion Headquarters at the Prime Minister’s Office.
 
During the meeting, there was discussion on the revision of the SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles, the SDGs Action Plan 2020 and the third Japan SDGs Award.
 
Based on the discussions, the Prime Minister said,
 
“It has been four years since the SDGs, which aim at transforming our world, were adopted at the United Nations in 2015. This year has represented an important milestone towards the achievement of the SDGs.
 
At the G20 Osaka Summit, Japan led the G20 (Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy) by announcing a number of initiatives, including the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision on marine plastic litter, as the Presidency.
 
At the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) in August, we strongly promoted Japan’s unique initiatives, which will contribute to the development and progress of Africa, including the promotion of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
 
Meanwhile, at the SDG Summit held in New York in September, we shared a strong sense of urgency over the current situation where there have been delays in the progress of the SDGs.
 
In Japan, we experienced a series of natural disasters caused by typhoons and heavy rains throughout the country. We must further advance efforts to build national resilience as an advanced country in disaster risk reduction, based on the issues identified and lessons learned from the recent disasters.
 
There will be no future of Japan without the future of each region. It is important that we continue to raise high the flag of regional revitalization, driven by our efforts to promote the SDGs, further support the SDGs-related initiatives put forth by small and medium-sized enterprises which sustain local economies, and spread the vitality created by the SDGs all across the country.
 
In response to such situations at home and abroad, today we revised the SDGs Implementation Guiding Principles, our mid- to long-term national strategy for the promotion of the SDGs, for the first time in three years since 2016.
 
Furthermore, we finalized the SDGs Action Plan 2020, which compiles concrete initiatives put forth by the Government towards the achievement of the SDGs. Now is the time for the whole of Japan to take a giant leap, and make the first step on a decade of action towards the achievement of the SDGs.
 
We will share with and expand Japan’s SDGs initiatives to the international community, utilizing the Kyoto Congress, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Asia-Pacific Water Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit, and other opportunities to be held in 2020.
 
I ask the relevant ministers to work as one and accelerate concrete measures in order to build a society by 2030 where no one is left behind, and where children who will bear the future can work hard for their futures.”