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Focal Point on the Sustainable Development Goals in Japan
In 2015, the world’s nations agreed on a plan to build a better future — the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are now half way to the 2030 deadline for achieving them. Japan is currently ranked 21st out of 166 nations that have comparable data for their progress. According to the nation’s 2023 report card, the five SDGs it needs to focus on are Gender Equality, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water and Life on Land. Fortunately, Japan is producing cutting-edge science in some of these areas.
Japan has made strides on some Sustainable Development Goals, but in other areas it needs to hit the accelerator. Scientists, universities and companies have some smart solutions.
Revealing a sensitive germination receptor in parasitic plants brings researchers closer to eradicating a major source of African crop damage and food insecurity.
As the world overhauls its systems en route to sustainability, financial institutions are a vital link between capital and crucial projects working towards a better future.
Innovative solutions are empowering progress toward sustainability, exemplified by a Japanese company improving its operations around forestry, cotton production and energy.
A new, super-efficient emulsion separation process could help address a looming shortage of rare metals, which threatens to impact high tech industries and affect the availability of electric cars.