The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan presented the Sapporo Declaration titled "Declaration on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - Chemical Engineering for Human Well-Being" at APCChE 2019. With the SDGs as our shared vision, our primary objective is for chemical engineers to contribute to the promotion of human wellbeing through the advancement of chemical engineering and related technologies, in order to change from Efficiency to Sufficiency, from a society that pursues efficiency to a society where people can feel sufficiency.
To realize the Sapporo Declaration, symposia have been held at the Fall and Annual Meetings on themes related to the Declaration, such as "Realization of Circular Economy in Collaboration with Diverse Players," "Contribution of Chemical Engineering to Safe Water," and "Future Chemical Factory with Diversity and Decent Work." And group discussions have been held to deepen discussions with all participants from inside and outside the society.
In this symposium, with the theme "From Efficiency to Sufficiency, Transformation from a Society Pursuing Efficiency to a Society Feeling Sufficiency," the results of activities undertaken by the members of the SDGs Committee will be reported and discussed. More specifically, the results are summarized into the basic concepts of (1) Efficiency and Sufficiency are not opposing concepts, but rather Efficiency + Sufficiency; (2) Engineers need to recognize that they are working together with users and citizens to create a society; and (3) It is important to consider what each region needs (social issues to be solved), whether existing technologies are compatible with those needs, and if not, what kind of technologies are needed. The shared vision of the Sapporo Declaration will be embodied by discussing and integrating opinions and ideas with people from diverse fields, and the way to "Chemical Engineering for a Desired Future Society" will be explored.