Promoting Enabling Environment for Inclusiveness by Localizing SDGs

With Junichi Fujino (Programme Director at IGES) as moderator, Japan, Indonesia, and Philippines shared their efforts on implementing SDGs at the local level, and the mayor of Naga, Philippines, the mayor of Banda Ache, Indonesia, and the deputy mayor of Kitakyushu, Japan, presented their model cases on localizing the SDGs. With these inputs, participants discussed how to improve inclusivity. Moreover, the President of IGES, Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi, presented the concept and cases of the “Circulating and Ecological Economy” as a key to localizing the SDGs, and which was also mentioned in the 5th Basic Environment Plan, adopted by the Cabinet of Japan.

At the end of the side event, Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) and its first online information hub in the world, the “VLR Lab” (https://www.iges.or.jp/en/press/20190325.html), were introduced by Yatsuka Kataoka, Joint Programme Director at IGES, as a way to assist sustainable development at the local level. It was launched during the side event with a signing ceremony for the Letter of Cooperation between Dr. Takeuchi, President of IGES, and Dr. Tjandradewi, Secretary-General of UCLG-ASPAC, as the first partner institute.

• Localisation is key to promoting implementation of the SDGs. Local governments have been at the forefront of such efforts, and are carrying out many activities for localization.
• National frameworks for implementation and monitoring are useful for local governments in their implementation of the SDGs.
• Circulating and Ecological Economy can guide local governments in implementing the SDGs. Each government has to identify the necessary scale of resource and carbon circulation.
• Local Governments should more proactively engage in Voluntary National Reviews through the use of Voluntary Local Reviews.

Related Publication 

Discussion Paper

March 2019

March 2019

Circulating and Ecological Economy - Regional and Local CES: An IGES Proposal

Author:

Kazuhiko TAKEUCHI

Junichi FUJINO

Fernando ORTIZ-MOYA

Bijon Kumer MITRA

Atsushi WATABE

Tomoko TAKEDA

Zhen JIN

Sudarmanto Budi NUGROHO

Hirotaka KOIKE

Yatsuka KATAOKA

This paper explores the current understanding regarding the Circulating and Ecological Economy (CEE) and the Regional/Local CES concepts put forward by Japan’s Fifth Basic Environment Plan. The CEE and the Regional/Local CES advance a low-carbon, self-reliant, and decentralised society based on living in harmony with nature. The Regional/Local CES...