What New Trends Can Be Seen in Japanese People’s “Prioritization” of SDGs in 2023?

Every year, INTAGE conducts an independent survey on the SDGs. If we look at how the 17 goals are prioritized over time, we can get a sense of what people are concerned about in a given year. In 2023, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, which had previously been low on the list of priorities, appeared near the top of the ranking, indicating a new trend. What is behind this new trend? We bring you the latest findings from our independent survey of 2,513 people conducted in January 2023.

SDG Awareness and Understanding Increased Only Slightly in 2023

Since 2020, INTAGE has been conducting independent surveys on the SDGs, looking at awareness rates over time and analyzing trends in the goals that people think should be given priority.
The SDG awareness rate* increased substantially each year through 2022, but in 2023, awareness increased only slightly, to 83.7% (Fig. 1). Moreover, the percentage of people who are “familiar with the content” or “somewhat familiar with the content” (53.8%) remained at the same level as in 2022, indicating that SDG awareness – in terms of both word recognition and content familiarity – is unlikely to increase much further.
*Awareness rate: Total percentage who are “familiar with the content”, “somewhat familiar with the content”, or “have heard the word but not familiar with the content”.

Fig. 1

Priority Goals Reflect Social Conditions

Next, let’s look at how the “goals that should be given priority” have changed over the past three years. Fig. 2 shows the results of adding up the three goals selected by respondents in the order in which they think the goals should be prioritized.

Fig. 2

“Good Health and Well-being”, “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions”, “Climate Action”, “No Poverty”, and “Reduced Inequalities” have continued to be the Top 5 goals since 2021, indicating that the leading goals as a whole have remained unchanged. However, changes in the order are indicative of the influence of public opinion. “No Poverty”, which was ranked first in 2022, dropped to fourth place in 2023. In contrast to last year, when economic activity contracted due to the prolonged pandemic, 2023 has seen progress being made in balancing infection control with economic activity, and this may have led to a relative diminishment of awareness of “poverty issues”

Moreover, “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions” ranked second in 2023 after “Good Health and Well-being”. In February 2021, when people were in the midst of the pandemic, “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions” was no. 1. This was a time when the world was caught up in various issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this priority on “justice” was probably a reflection of the need for dealing with these issues in a fair manner, rather than acting selfishly and thinking only of one’s own interests. At the same time, the resurgence of “Peace and Justice” in 2023 can be seen as a sign of people’s desire for peace. The military invasion of Ukraine that began in February of last year still continues, with daily reports on the damage in the region, the displaced people, and the various effects of the war on the economy and energy sectors as well. This year’s ranking appears to be a reflection of people’s desire for the war to end and peace to be restored.

Another noteworthy point in the 2023 ranking is the rise of “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, which was outside the top 10 in 2021 and 2022, but ranked 7th in 2023. What is behind this change?

Life Won’t Get Easier Without Economic Growth

When considered in relation to the social issues and areas of concern to people, it becomes clear that the recent rise in prices and living costs is a major factor behind the growth of interest in “Decent Work and Economic Growth”.

Fig. 3 shows the results when respondents were asked to select from a list of 30 social issues/topics their own “Concerns” (multiple answer) and their “Biggest concern” (single answer). For both the “Concerns” and “Biggest concern”, the top response was “Rising prices and living costs”, whose “Biggest concern” score surpasses that of the second place issue by more than 8 percentage points. While people’s lives have been hit hard by rising prices, wages have been stagnant in Japan for more than 20 years. Some companies have started to raise wages, but there is a strong feeling that life will not get any easier unless the economy improves, and this feeling seems to have led to the growth of interest in “Decent Work and Economic Growth”.

Fig. 3

Interest in Issues Directly Related to Life Stage

Next, let’s look at the social issues and areas of concern to people by age group. Overall, we can see a marked trend toward interest in social issues and topics that are directly related to people’s own life stage (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

For mid-career people in their 20s-40s, “Work style/work-life balance” is a major concern; for those in their 20s-30s, who are about to start a family or already have small children, “Childcare/declining birthrate” is a leading concern; and for those in their 50s-60s, who are about to start caring for their own parents or retire, “Super-aging society/nursing care/generational disparity” are among the top concerns.

Moreover, among 15-19 year olds, the younger segment of Generation Z referred to as “tech natives”, “Digitization” is a leading concern. “Educational disparity” and “Gender gap/equality” also tend to be stronger concerns in this segment than in other age segments. Concern about “educational disparity” seems to reflect a growing sense of inequality in educational opportunities, as indicated by the popularity of the term “parent lottery” in recent years. The interest in “Gender gap/equality” may be a reflection of the value placed by this generation on individuality and diversity.

On the other hand, every age group shows a high level of concern about “Food loss and waste”. With retailers adopting measures to deal with food loss and new services to reduce food loss being offered, this appears to be an issue that has penetrated into consumers’ daily lives. Another noteworthy issue is “Mental health/loneliness”, which is a leading concern in the 20s, 30s, and 50s segments. Loneliness and isolation have become a social problem, and the government is trying to take stronger measures to address this issue. This survey confirms that people themselves are also highly concerned about loneliness.

Conclusion

Over the past few years, SDGs have gained wide recognition. For the next stage, the focus is more likely to be on how to convert the goals into actions. The results of various independent surveys on sustainability conducted by INTAGE suggest that in order to take “action”, it is important for people to have time, money, and peace of mind, as well as a sense that they themselves will benefit in some way. When promoting sustainable actions, we need to consider not only the positive impact on the earth, the environment, and society, but also how it will be good for people themselves. The findings of the survey on social issues and areas of concern show that people are highly interested in issues directly related to their own lives. When promoting sustainable behavior in the future, it will be important to develop communication that “translates” actions into “how this will benefit me/my life”.

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