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Making a Difference in the World Through Water and Environmental Infrastructure

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of concrete policies and actions set by the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015, which are outlined in the outcome document titled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda).” Developed to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are touted as the most successful global framework ever to combat poverty, this new Agenda contains 17 field-specific SDGs with 169 associated targets (indicators) that the 193 UN Member States will be working on over the course of the years up to 2030. SDG 6 relates to “Clean water and sanitation.” At present, the circumstances surrounding water resources continue to deteriorate around the world. Although one of the MDGs—to halve the proportion of those without access to safe drinking water between 1990 and 2015—was achieved in 2010, it was estimated that approximately 660 million people were still without access to basic water supply services as of 2015^*1. Meanwhile, water demand continues to surge owing to the increasing population, economic development, and a higher standard of living. One report predicts that the global gap between existing accessible supply and 2030 water withdrawals could be as great as 40%^*2. To overcome this critical situation, SDG 6 is focused on the field of water and sanitation to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” To achieve this goal, it is vital that we develop infrastructure, provide sanitation facilities, and expedite improvement of sanitary conditions at all levels. To mitigate global water shortage, those in the international community are urged to further collaborate with each other by allocating limited water resources both efficiently and appropriately, increasing the sustainability of water use, and supporting water treatment technology in developing regions, in addition to protecting and restoring water ecosystems.

As water pollution problems surfaced in the 1960s when Japan was undergoing rapid economic development, Kubota was quick to establish the Water Treatment Business Division, which has since grown to cover a wide array of fields from water supply to sewage. Offering an unrivaled range of water-related products, including ductile iron pipes, pumps, valves, water purification systems, industrial wastewater / sewage treatment systems, and drainage systems, Kubota has played a key role in enriching the living environment for people the world over through the development of water and environmental infrastructure. More than 120 years have passed since the founder took on the challenge of domestic production of cast iron pipes for water supply. Throughout the years, Kubota has made it its mission to tackle social issues through its business. Here, one can see that Kubota’s founding objectives and the global initiative of the SDGs have much in common.

“We can safely say that more than a few of Kubota’s businesses overlap with the SDGs. I believe the success or failure of the SDGs will be determined by the organizational strength, financial strength, and human resources of the private sector. Because the SDGs seek to solve issues for all humanity in order to realize a sustainable world, I have to admit that some of their aspects may not be viable for business enterprises. From the viewpoint of the sustainability of business as well as the sustainable development of target countries, however, we believe that we should introduce state-of-the-art technologies and products, because this will help us to contribute to industrial and economic development and provide solutions to social issues in such countries over the next ten to fifty years. We believe that this is what a private enterprise can do to help achieve the SDGs.” (Kubo)