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Hello. I’m Kayaba from the ApparelX division.
I attended a seminar on SDGs hosted by the Japan Men’s Fashion Association, so I’d like to share the contents with you.
I hope this helps you get a solid understanding of what SDGs are, including the basics.
They are Sustainable Development Goals.
Simply put, it means working to achieve both better society and economic development.
SDGs refer to the agenda in the adopted outcome document at the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, as a continuation of the Millennium Development Goals that came before it.
This agenda sets out 17 goals and positions 2030 as the target year for achievement.
I would like to list the 17 goals below.
What left a strong impression on me in this seminar was that SDGs will not end as a fad.
A theme called “LOHAS” that was popular a few years ago was mentioned as a comparison. It seems that it became trendy when advertising agencies set it in motion and publishers helped build the momentum, but once publishers and their related trading companies trademarked LOHAS, the mood quickly cooled and it faded away...
In this seminar, it was suggested that while LOHAS was a fad aimed at consumers, SDGs are goals aimed at society and the economy, so they will likely remain not as a fad but as a social code of conduct.
Looking at it more simply, there is also the aspect that unless we achieve these SDGs, the Earth itself will be in irreversible trouble.
I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know much about this myself, but globally there are serious issues such as soil degradation caused by irrigation, groundwater depletion in the United States reaching dangerous levels, and although the absolute number of people in poverty and hunger is decreasing, there are many other challenges—especially climate change and natural resources—that, once lost, are very difficult to restore.
From an economic perspective as well, GPIF (the Government Pension Investment Fund) has stated that it will actively invest in companies that take ESG factors into account—environmental, social, and corporate governance—so SDGs are expected to become increasingly important from an economic standpoint too.
Another striking point in this seminar on SDGs was P.F. Drucker’s idea of “the future that has already happened” and the future we create ourselves.
The future that has already happened means that by observing ① population structure, ② knowledge, ③ other industries, other countries, and other markets, ④ industrial structure, and ⑤ the inside of companies, we can systematically understand what will happen in the future. An example given in the seminar was the global share of consumption by the middle-income class going forward. In 2000, it was EU 35%, the United States 25%, and Japan 11%, but by 2030 China, India, and the rest of Asia are projected to exceed 50%, and by 2050 China, India, and the rest of Asia are projected to exceed 70%.
This may not be 100% certain, but keeping such things in mind, thinking about what kind of future should exist in 2030, and taking action ourselves—that is what the future we create ourselves means.
As we have seen above, SDGs are not a means of branding, nor are they a cost concept like “we have to do things that are kind to the Earth.” In the seminar, they were summarized as a medium- to long-term (10–20 year) growth strategy.
Indeed, when you look into SDGs, you can confirm current social issues along with relatively detailed data. Because predictions are being made about what will happen if things continue as they are, I felt that thinking about what should be done to prevent that is a growth strategy for society as a whole, in which we create the future ourselves in response to the “future that has already happened.”
From the link below on the UN Information Centre website, there is an introduction to SDGs that you can learn about while having fun.
In particular, the questions in the questionnaire sheet are recommended because they clearly explain current social issues.
