These days, there is hardly a day when you don’t hear the term SDGs or see its colorful logo. The term has become so widespread that in Japan it is becoming part of everyday life. At times, even a wedding dress for pets made from recycled materials is featured on news programs as an example of sustainable initiatives, giving the impression that every aspect of society and the economy is being discussed in relation to the SDGs. How do the SDGs stories we routinely encounter reflect the realities of an unsustainable world, and how do they depict the future we should be aiming for? We approached the reality through an analysis of SDGs coverage.

Then–Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida promoting the SDGs with Daimaō Kosaka (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 4.0])

The current state of the SDGs

SDGs stands for Sustainable Development Goals, a set of goals aimed at eradicating poverty, reducing inequality, and more by 2030 through action by the entire world. The 17 goals cover a wide range of areas, from development challenges such as poverty, hunger, and education to labor-related issues and environmental challenges. As the 169 targets show, these issues are interrelated. For example, under Goal 1, No Poverty, the targets include ensuring equal access to economic resources (Goal 10) and reducing vulnerability caused by climate change (Goal 13). Moreover, without improving poverty, it is difficult to make progress on hunger (Goal 2), health and well-being (Goal 3), and education (Goal 4). This demonstrates that the SDGs are not a set of completely independent goals; rather, they are interlinked, with comprehensive achievement across all goals being the aim.

The SDGs set the world in motion in 2015 toward achieving the goals, but how realistic is achievement by 2030? Unfortunately, as things stand, we must say the SDGs are far from being achieved. For instance, to understand the status of Goal 1 No Poverty, which aims to end extreme poverty, let’s look at estimates as of 2018. According to those estimates, if current trends continued, by 2030 more than 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa alone would be living in extreme poverty, defined as $1.90 a day or less.

A child walking over a mountain of waste (Photo: Shardar Tarikul Islam / Unsplash [Unsplash License])

What about Goal 4, Quality Education, which addresses education? This goal aims to “ensure that by 2030, all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.” In Japan’s education system, completion of secondary education corresponds to finishing high school. In other words, working backward on the premise that children receive 12 years of schooling starting at age six (or five), for all children to complete secondary education by 2030, all children needed to have access to primary education by 2018. Unfortunately, this has not been realized. Recent data also show that the proportion of children unable to access education is particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The global spread of COVID-19 pushed the SDGs even further out of reach. The UN called the increase in violence against women and girls during the pandemic the “shadow pandemic.” During this period, the burden of unpaid care work on women increased more than ever, and the economic vulnerability of women and girls became more pronounced. Moreover, there were major gaps in COVID-19 vaccine access between high- and low-income countries, which, needless to say, threatens everyone’s right to health. The UN Secretary-General criticized this situation, saying, “Vaccine inequality is the greatest moral failure of our time.”

In 2021 alone, an additional 97 million people fell into poverty, and the number of people in extreme poverty increased particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (UN data). Meanwhile, the wealth of the world’s billionaires increased, reflecting an imbalance that shows rising global inequality. Even from this alone, you can see how difficult the SDGs are to achieve, and how deeply rooted the problem of widening disparities is across the world and within societies, despite the pledge to “leave no one behind.”

SDGs coverage: What is reported, and how?

Given these global circumstances, how do the media cover the SDGs? We conducted an analysis based on Asahi Shimbun’s reporting during 2021 (※1). This time, we examined articles that included the keywords “SDGs” or “Sustainable Development Goals.” The search returned 321 articles. Looking at the number of articles since 2015, the launch year of the SDGs, under the same conditions, we found that the number of articles was in the single digits in 2015, rose to the 200s by 2019, and surpassed 300 for the first time in 2021 (※2). Compared to 2015, the volume in 2021 was about 46 times greater—an explosion. GNV has also previously published an article on SDGs coverage, which you may find useful.

How were the SDGs discussed in 2021 coverage? We also took a closer look at the countries featured in the articles and the areas of focus. As mentioned, data show that achieving the SDGs is difficult in low-income countries such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa. Focusing especially on Goal 1, most people living in extreme poverty are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, and related issues such as hunger, education, and health cannot be overlooked. Among the 169 targets that specify how to measure SDG progress, keywords such as “developing countries” appear frequently (※3), indicating that the SDGs focus on the places most at risk of being left behind—the areas currently under severe strain. In line with the SDGs principle of “leaving no one behind,” did the coverage encourage attention to these countries and regions, or convey the need for measures?

First, we examined which countries were treated as related countries in SDGs coverage (※4). The analysis showed that in 294 of the 321 articles, “Japan” appeared as a related country. This means that 91.5% of the articles placed Japan as a central actor in some way. The next most frequently mentioned countries were the United Kingdom and China, at four mentions each out of 321—significantly fewer than Japan. Among Sub-Saharan African countries where extreme poverty is severe, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Rwanda appeared only once each. In South America, El Salvador and Colombia appeared once each. Only three articles focused on “developing countries.” This shows there was very little attention paid to regions like Sub-Saharan Africa where the SDGs are most urgent. If this tendency occurs every year and is common across many media outlets, then the SDGs as seen through the media reflect only a small part of the world—a very fragmentary picture. Based on these facts alone, Japan-centered SDGs coverage cannot be said to present a comprehensive view of the world the SDGs aim to achieve.

One characteristic of the SDGs is that the goals are set by sector. Therefore, to examine the balance of coverage across sectors and goals, we also looked into which of the 17 goals were being reported (※5). The most common category was “no specific goal,” with 156 out of 321 articles reporting on the SDGs without touching on any particular goal. Some of these articles only included “SDGs” as a keyword, while others used the term adjectivally to describe the current era, such as “Now that environmental issues and the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are in the spotlight, …” (※6), or focused on normative aspects like “Under the theme of the SDGs principle of ‘leaving no one behind’ …”

Next, excluding the “no specific goal” category, we examined which goals were covered in the remaining 165 articles. The most frequently featured was Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, appearing in 47 of those 165 articles. This was followed by environmental goals: Goal 15, Life on Land, in 31 articles, and Goal 14, Life Below Water, in 29 articles. Goal 5, Gender Equality, appeared in 27 articles, and Goal 13, Climate Action, in 26 articles.

Overall, there was a large gap between the goals that received attention and those that did not. Of the 165 articles dealing with specific goals, 47 (28%) included Goal 12. Articles classified under the environmental goals—Goal 14 and Goal 15—numbered 42 (※7), meaning that in 25% of the 165 articles, either or both of these goals appeared. In simple terms, roughly half of the 165 articles addressed Goal 12, Goal 14, or Goal 15. Meanwhile, Goal 1, No Poverty—the first of the SDGs—appeared in only nine articles, just 5%. The least-mentioned goals were Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation (4 times), Goal 17, Partnerships for the Goals (4 times), and Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (once). Even more strikingly, when we added the term “extreme poverty” to the search keywords used (※8), there were zero results. To repeat, the first goal of the SDGs is to end poverty. Target 1.1 calls for ending extreme poverty everywhere, and poverty-conscious targets are also articulated under other goals. Given that, as noted earlier, 97 million people reportedly fell into extreme poverty during the pandemic, what kind of “leave no one behind” world is SDGs coverage depicting when the term “extreme poverty” doesn’t even appear?

Looking more closely at the contexts in which each goal was discussed, keywords such as “recycling,” “reuse,” and “food loss” stood out in relation to Goal 12. We therefore examined which keywords appeared across all 321 articles. We found that 34 articles included keywords related to recycling (※9), and 19 included keywords related to food loss (※10). Among the 42 articles classified under Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, 34 included at least one of the keywords related to food loss or recycling, or both. The SDGs targets include metrics for measuring achievement and the means for achieving them (※11), and indeed, targets under Goal 12 include resource reuse and reducing food loss. At the same time, however, as part of the means to achieve the goal, reductions in fossil fuel subsidies through tax reforms and the phase-out of harmful subsidies are also called for. This shows that Goal 12 aims for a fundamental transformation of current systems of production and consumption; it is clearly about more than just recycling and food loss. Searching the entire sample for articles containing “fossil fuel” returned seven pieces (※12). These included articles that criticized Japan’s slow move away from fossil fuels, but even there, the need to reduce fossil fuel subsidies was not spelled out. Compared to mentions of recycling and food loss, the number was smaller, revealing that even within the same goal, some aspects receive attention while others do not.

(Photo: Patrick Hendry / Unsplash [Unsplash License])

Whose perspective are the SDGs from?

Not all the articles we examined reported on SDGs initiatives uncritically. For example, among the 321 articles were descriptions warning that even if SDGs appear to be achieved in high-income countries, the burdens may be shifted onto low-income countries, as well as pieces pointing to structures and inequalities that have generated the current disparities (※13). Some articles also mentioned “SDGs-washing,” which refers to merely giving the appearance of efforts without substantive action (※14). There were also two articles that noted how difficult it would be to achieve the SDGs. One was reader feedback, and the other quoted an expert saying the goals would have been achieved had it not been for COVID-19, but were made unachievable by the pandemic (※15). However, as noted earlier, data already showed before the spread of COVID-19 that the prospects for achieving the SDGs were slim; the basis for the claim that they would have been achieved otherwise is unclear.

On the other hand, there were many instances where the rhetoric of companies claiming SDGs or “sustainable” initiatives was taken at face value. For example, an article covering higher sales at department stores marketing “sustainable” winter gift foods mentioned pork raised on feed derived from food ingredients as an example of a sustainable product. Yet meat consumption has been linked to a host of issues, including land degradation, air pollution, excessive water use, and deforestation. These are closely related to Goal 6, Clean Water and Sanitation; Goal 13, Climate Action; and Goal 15, Life on Land. The article did not touch on these “unsustainable” aspects of meat consumption, instead adopting the department store’s framing of “sustainable meat.”

Similarly, an article on Expo 2025 Osaka noted the use of recycled materials in official merchandise and highlighted contributions to the SDGs. Of course, efforts to reduce environmental impact and use recycled resources are better than doing nothing. However, to truly realize a sustainable world, even the production and sale of official merchandise for every event must be reconsidered. Without raising fundamental questions about the way our society currently operates, simply relaying trends wrapped in the vague term “sustainable” does little to deepen understanding of what a sustainable world requires.

Media covering the SDGs (Photo: United Nations Photo / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Furthermore, the fact that the keyword ESG investment—considering Environment, Society, and Governance—appeared in 15 of the 321 articles (※16) suggests an awareness of business and economic trends that see the SDGs as a commercial opportunity. In articles noting that ESG investment is being propelled by the SDGs, for example, there was especially active discussion of future economic trends and expectations for corporate behavior.

The SDGs are intended to be goals that the entire world must work toward. Within that, it is of course necessary to reexamine domestic challenges and undertake initiatives to address them. Some articles did address important issues within Japan, such as the technical intern training program and gender issues.

If the aim is to look across the world and “leave no one behind,” it is also essential to focus on countries and regions where many people are in difficult situations. The SDGs also have a deadline. To improve the lives of more than 600 million people living in extreme poverty by 2030, staying the current course has long been known to be insufficient. When will initiatives that companies describe as “starting with what we can” and “without overextending” begin to improve the lives of people in urgent situations like poverty and hunger? Some media professionals praise the strong interest in the SDGs in Japanese media as proof that “global challenges are truly an ‘immediate crisis’ for our own country.” But if global challenges are truly being taken personally, the response to life-and-death crises such as extreme poverty would be more sensitive, and this is no time to be leisurely saying “start with what we can.” One has to wonder whether the media really sees the global scale of the problems.

The SDGs are fundamentally based on the concept of backcasting: envisioning the desired future first, then working backward to identify what needs to be done now to get there. In contrast, the approach of piling up what can be done within the current limits to try to achieve goals is called forecasting. If the media simply accepts and reports corporate efforts that “start with what we can,” it will not be able to present a comprehensive picture of the structures of today’s world—structures that have become so strained as to necessitate goals like the SDGs. Worse, it may even hinder understanding of why the SDGs are necessary, what kind of world they aim for, and what is happening now. Of course, we cannot solve everything immediately. But unless we face what cannot yet be done, devise ways to make it possible, and put them into action, the SDGs will remain nothing more than pie in the sky.

It is not only the media that fails to grasp the global scale of the challenges. Even the UN, which set the SDGs, presents “The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World,” with tips like “Level 1: Things you can do from your couch,” “Level 2: Things you can do at home,” “Level 3: Things you can do outside your house,” and “Level 4: Things you can do at work.” On another UN website, the Goal 1 icon, “No Poverty,” is overlaid with the message “Donate what you don’t need.” To begin with, donating unwanted items comes with various problems, and poverty cannot be solved without addressing structural issues such as unfair trade and tax havens that create poverty.

UN website showing the message “Donate what you don’t need” for Goal 1, “No Poverty” (Photo: Kaoru Kataoka)

Toward SDGs coverage with a global view

The future envisioned by the SDGs is one in which no one is left behind—including those currently in dire situations such as poverty and hunger—and everyone can live sustainably. The SDGs may provide an opportunity to re-recognize issues such as global inequality and poverty that have long been neglected, and to begin moving toward solutions as problems for the whole world.

Journalism is supposed to serve as a “mirror” reflecting the world as it is. Precisely because of that, the media must depict the world that necessitates goals like the SDGs as it is, and reexamine the challenges on the ground. From this study, it has become clear that SDGs coverage focuses on specific countries, goals, and targets. We also saw a media posture that uncritically relays initiatives carried out “starting with what we can” from a corporate or domestic perspective, and that turns into vague forecasting without scrutinizing the meaning of each target under the SDGs. As media are being criticized for their domestically centered stance, when will they realize that, of all issues, the SDGs cannot even approach achievement if they are viewed through a self-centered lens?

※1 The analysis used Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database. In this study, we searched for articles between January 1 and December 31, 2021, that included the keywords “SDGs + Sustainable Development Goals” in the headline, body text, or auxiliary keywords, excluding local sections. Of the 323 search results, 321 articles were used for analysis, excluding two that could not be viewed due to copyright.

※2 This reflects only the number of articles returned by the search. Some articles may not be viewable due to copyright or other reasons.

※3 For example, among the 169 targets, the term “developing countries” appears 77 times.

※4 For related countries, mere mention of a country name was not counted. We counted it as a related country if there was an explanation that conveyed the circumstances or situation in that country, or if the main organizations or institutions discussed were based there. For individuals, we counted the country where their organization or institution is based. If no particular country was relevant, we marked “no related country.” Because multiple countries could be featured in a single article, the total number of related countries exceeds the total number of articles. If the same country appeared multiple times within one article in different contexts, it was still counted only once.

※5 Regarding the goals covered, we counted the relationship between the article’s central theme and the 17 SDGs. However, if specific goals were mentioned only as part of an SDGs explainer, we judged that they were not the central theme. If the relationship between the article’s content and any specific SDG goal was unclear, or if the piece was an introduction to the SDGs themselves or related to all goals, we marked “no specific goal.” Because multiple goals could be featured in a single article, the total number of related goals exceeds the total number of articles. If the same goal appeared multiple times within one article in different contexts, it was still counted only once.

※6 For example:

Asahi Shimbun, “Fifty million years from now, on an Earth without humans — creatures envisioned by a paleontologist appear at the Fukuoka City Science Museum [Western edition],” Evening edition, December 6, 2021

※ 7 Articles classified under Goal 14 numbered 29 out of 321; those under Goal 15 numbered 31. Of these, 18 were classified under both Goal 14 and Goal 15. Therefore, there were a total of 42 articles classified under either or both of the two goals.

※8 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same and using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&極度の貧困” as the keywords returned zero results.

※9 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same, using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&リサイクル” returned 25 results. Using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&再利用” returned 17 results. Checking for overlap, there were 34 articles that contained either “リサイクル” (recycling), “再利用” (reuse), or both.

※10 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same, using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&フードロス” returned 11 results. Using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&食品ロス” returned 10 results. Checking for overlap, there were 19 articles that contained either “食品ロス” or “フードロス” (food loss), or both.

※11 Some SDG targets are numbered only, while others have a lowercase letter after the number. Number-only targets indicate the issues that must be solved to achieve the goal, while lettered targets represent the means or measures for achieving those targets.

※12 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same, using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&化石燃料” returned seven results.

※13 For example:

Asahi Shimbun, “(Bestsellers) ‘Capital in the Anthropocene’ by Kohei Saito,” Morning edition, January 16, 2021

Asahi Shimbun, “(Good to Know) Making the SDGs your own: 1 — Isn’t this just a goal for governments and companies?” Morning edition, June 12, 2021

※14 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same, using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&ウォッシュ” returned three results.

Asahi Shimbun, “(Forum) The climate crisis and youth,” Morning edition, November 21, 2021

Asahi Shimbun, “(Update watch) SDGs and wristwatches: How serious are they?” Evening edition, June 17, 2021

Asahi Shimbun, “(Good to Know) Making the SDGs your own: 1 — Isn’t this just a goal for governments and companies?” Morning edition, June 12, 2021

※15 Asahi Shimbun, “(be between: created with readers) Are you interested in the SDGs?” Morning edition, May 22, 2021

Asahi Shimbun, “Globe No. 238 Facing familiar SDGs issues; COVID-19 also affects achievement,” Morning edition, February 7, 2021

※16 In Asahi Shimbun’s “Kikuzo II Visual” database, keeping other search conditions the same, using “(SDGs+持続可能な開発目標)&ESG” returned 15 results.

Writer: Kaoru Kataoka

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