Abstract
When one lives in an island nation like Japan, one realizes the reality of the phrase, “Resources are limited.” This paper, focusing on islands, introduces examples from both overseas and Japan dealing with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14 and 15, and explains how to introduce innovations to solve these issues. It is important not only to discard old things and embrace new ones, but also to make use of old things to meet the needs of the present day. However, when working on innovations, there will be trade-offs such as cost benefits. Therefore, it is always necessary to consider such potential trade-offs. Using Noto in Ishikawa, Japan, as an example, trade-offs were discussed because the indiscriminate adoption of new technologies aimed at technological innovation, efficiency, and high yields could cause further deterioration in the environment and deplete resources in fisheries. In the case of Noto, collective decisions needed to be made to adopt or reject this technology. Such cases may offer important suggestions as to the potential solutions and pathways for achieving the SDGs.
