Consultant's Column #3

Positivity Is a Recommended Cure for SDGs Fatigue

Are you tired of hearing about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? In early 2021, I posted this phrase to a blog as a part of my former job in a PR company. It was supposed to be buried in obscurity. Surprisingly, however, it had the largest number of visits in the year. From the responses, I sensed that many people were confused about or tired of the flood of information about the SDGs and sustainability which also contain false or misleading information. In fact, headlines with the phrase "sustainability fatigue" became more conspicuous on major media outlets in 2023.

The SDGs are said to be the first example of the United Nations' communication design. This means smart communication to establish a common understanding among people for purposes such as problem solving. Difficult UN documents were converted into 17 colorful tiles and simple words to appeal to the senses of the people who read or see them. As a result, the SDGs quickly spread all over the world and is considered the first-ever successful example of sustainability-related goals. In particular, the recognition of SDGs in Japan is internationally outstanding. As you can see in these examples, The SDGs are an embodiment of excellent communication design. Recently, however, people have begun to feel side effects. It is a common practice in the advertising industry to expose consumers to the same information a certain number of times or more, so that they grow to recognize or even like a specific product. This is referred to as Zajonc's mere-exposure effect. But I am afraid that people's exposure to the SDGs is too frequent, and it has already reached a point where they don't want to hear the word any more. Some researchers say that communication comes first regarding the SDGs, which have not been very effective in changing behaviors or nurturing values. I am beginning to hypothesize that these tendencies are causing many people to get tired of the SDGs.

The SDGs are a set of goals that must be achieved to solving global issues. We should absolutely prevent fatigue from prevailing to achieve the SDGs. One of the strong measures for doing this is positivity in my view. This is not about positive thinking. I mean positivity as a realistic means of solving problems.

For example, SDGs 15, Life on Land, aims to halt the loss of terrestrial biodiversity. The related goal of nature positive has been increasingly talked about recently. This emphasizes the pursuit of greater positivity as well as preventing loss.

Luckily, nature positive is increasingly making its presence felt as a new form of communication design. The Japanese government formulated the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2023-2030, and it will provide a platform for enterprises to release nature positive declarations in October 2024 and publicly support them. Searching major news article retrieval services, there were 139 hits for the phrase "nature positive" in 2022, with the number surging to 568 in 2023. People's exposure to the phrase in the media is expanding. The national government revised its SDGs implementation guidelines at the end of 2023. This clearly states the government's intention to lead other major countries in nature positive.

Water and forests are among the candidate issues that are nicely compatible with positivity, a goal for achieving a positive state. More companies are starting to take action regarding these issues. It seems these companies are identifying the effects of encouraging cooperation with stakeholders and changing people's behaviors. Positivity is as hard to achieve as being ambitious, but it may contribute to a company's ability to differentiate itself since it helps the company express its aggressiveness and superiority. If the cause of SDGs fatigue is the flood of false information, then a one-step approach - 'positivity' - would work to resolve it. Good medicine tastes bitter. I recommend the active utilization of positivity as an effective but bitter cure.