Environmental and ethical foundations of a national strategy for sustainable development: a case study of Japan

National sustainable development strategies are focal points for integrating the environment-related issues into the decision-making process, as well as for identifying and implementing sustainable development priorities. Their significance and value were established three decades ago. The main task of national sustainable development strategies is to translate words into actions that will help countries take the path of sustainable development and keep up with the times. Strategies make it possible to determine the legislative and institutional mechanisms for the implementation of sustainable development goals. The article discusses the role of environmental ethics in the creation of national sustainable development strategies. We have made an attempt to determine the peculiarities of ecological ethics of Japan, and reviewed the current state of Japan’s strategic sustainable development.