Sustainable development goals and Japan: Sustainability overshadows poverty reduction

Abstract

The Development Cooperation Charter of Japan, which replaced the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Charter in February 2015, drives the country's cooperation towards non-poor countries and non-poverty issues. The Sustainable Development Goals put Japan forward in these directions. As a result, the country's focus on global poverty reduction is overshadowed by its national interests and sustainability under the concept of universality, which is a core principle of the Goals and differentiates them from the Millennium Development Goals.JEL classification: F35, F55, O20, O53.

Sustainable development in corporate strategy

“…In addition, Yamagata (2017) claims that poverty reduction and other sustainable issues are in conflict in their nature because poverty reduction goals address only a limited number of humans, while all other goals are oriented towards universal benefits of all humans. He claims that there can be only a part of sustainable development projects, which contribute to both to sustainability and poverty reduction.…”

Japan’s Policy-level ODA Evaluation: Reflections by a Third-Party Academic Evaluator

“…SDGs facilitate the private sector's playing greater roles in international development. It is anticipated that the public sector, including the government of Japan, is more likely to lower its profile in international cooperation, arguing that governments should play the role of a catalyst, not an engine, of international development (Yamagata 2016). As a result, attention to ODA evaluations was weakened, which allowed fewer resources to be mobilized for ODA evaluations in the third SDGs period.…”

“…This aid is designed to promote Japan's national interests in exporting products made in Japan. The stress on national interests as an aim of assistance was a feature of the Development Cooperation Charter as well (Yamagata 2016).…”