Purpose of This e-Book

Abstract

In 2015, the United Nations declared “Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development,” which aims to follow up millennium development goals (MDGs) and expand the efforts over the next 15 years targeting not only develo** countries but also developed countries and aiming to solve the most pressing problems of the world regarding sustainable development by 2030. In other words, the SDGs call for identifying problems in all areas and working to solve them by 22030. Japan’s rapid economic growth has given rise to many pollution-related diseases, and we have been fighting to overcome them for more than half a century. Part 1 of this e-book covers the causes of pollution-related diseases in Japan, such as Minamata disease, Itai-itai disease, Yokkaichi asthma, and Toroku arsenic poisoning, and the struggle to restore the environment, while Part 2 describes how we are using the advances in scientific technologies over the past half century to solve the various problems we are currently facing. In Part 3, we discuss what is necessary for academia, industry, and local governments to utilize the new scientific technologies to achieve the goals of the SDGs and build a healthy and well-being future society.