The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
In August, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced an ambitious plan to buy high emissions coal-fired power plants in Southeast Asia and retire them within 15 years through an energy transition mechanism (ETM). According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ (IEEFA) latest report, if the ETM is …
Agricultural innovation has played a critical role in the economic transformation of developing East Asian countries over the past half century. The Green Revolution—in the form of modern seed varieties, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and modern machinery—has contributed to increased crop yields and farm incomes, and decreased poverty across the region. …
By this publication, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) offers a regional review of the employment status of persons with disabilities. The intent is to galvanize stakeholders into action and to inspire effective and innovative solutions, taking into account latest developments in the …
The state of food security and nutrition in the world, including that of the Europe and Central Asia region, was marked in 2020 by the outbreak of COVID-19 and resulting disruptions to markets, trade and food supply chains. The pandemic has had a negative effect on food security in the …
This working paper applies the Social Protection Reform Simulation (SPRS20) costing model to analyze the costs associated with social protection in 30 Asia and Pacific countries against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the SPRS20, the authors seek to estimate the cost of delivering standardized social protection packages through …
Anticipating the possible impacts of climate change has become a key global focus. Scenarios and many other methods and tools are used today to imagine climate futures and develop strategies for realizing new futures while governing climate change. With the proliferation of these processes in sustainability-related research and planning contexts, …
The Transport and Communication Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific is a peer-reviewed journal that is published once a year by the Transport Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Bulletin attempts to widen and deepen the debate on the issues …
After a dramatic year for the global economy, economic activity and international merchandise trade rebounded strongly in 2021. Global merchandise exports and imports are estimated to have surpassed pre-pandemic (2019) levels, with nominal growth of 24.6% and 23.8%, respectively. Likewise, growth in the value of exports and imports in Asia …
Drought frequency, severity, and magnitude have increased in South-East Asia, particularly over the past two decades. Prolonged and severe drought adversely impact agricultural productivity, threatening food security and livelihood of rural households and poor communities. The impact of drought is not limited to water consumption for agricultural purposes but also …
Most of the policy measures introduced in 2020 and 2021 as a response to the socioeconomic crises induced by the COVID-19 pandemic focused on addressing health concerns and a speedy economic recovery. Considerably less attention has been paid to combatting climate change and preventing environmental degradation, for which many governments …
This publication discusses how carbon pricing instruments can be designed to help achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets while enabling economic recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Carbon pricing is a key element of the broader climate policy architecture that can help countries reduce GHG emissions cost-effectively, while …
IFAD’s ASAP projects in Asia and the Pacific region offer a host of valuable lessons that can be applied in the design and implementation of other climate change adaptation projects targeting smallholder farmers and rural communities around the world. This study examines six projects, in three principal ecosystems of the …
This report presents a collection of case studies of how Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide are protecting and assisting communities in the context of climate-related displacement. And it calls for more ambitious climate action and investment in local communities and local organizations to address this urgent humanitarian challenge. …
Water pollution caused by microplastics generated from land-based sources (e.g. as tire-wear particles, broken road markings, synthetic textile microfibre from washing, microbeads from personal care products, discharged domestic wastewater from households, and others) is attracting attention in many countries and regions around the world as an emerging environmental problem, not …
This report examines social equality aspects related to resource recovery through solid waste composting and wastewater irrigation. The report shows that women are represented in greatest numbers at the base of the recycling chain, most often as informal waste pickers and as sorters of recyclables with limited access to resources …
First-of-its-kind research, REenergising Asia: Assessing Renewable Electricity Readiness Among Key Asian Markets, developed by global environmental disclosure platform CDP and funded by HSBC, reveals the comparative competitiveness of Asia’s ten key markets for renewable electricity (RE) representing more than 11,000 TWh in total annual electricity demand – close to half …
Extreme weather and climate change impacts across Asia in 2020 caused the loss of life of thousands of people, displaced millions of others and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, while wreaking a heavy toll on infrastructure and ecosystems. Sustainable development is threatened, with food and water insecurity, health risks …
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Global Map of Salt-Affected Soils, a key tool for halting salinization and boosting productivity. The map estimates that there are more than 833 million hectares of salt-affected soils around the globe (8.7% of the planet). Most of them can be found in …
As countries recover from COVID-19 pandemic, there are growing calls across societies to build forward better, more inclusively and greener, and accelerate the transition to net zero-carbon economies. This Guidance Note draws on the experiences in climate budgeting that emerge from Asia-Pacific countries and captures emerging global trends with adopted …
Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) sets out a global aim to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape report, developed by Sustainable Energy for All in partnership with Climate Policy Initiative and produced annually since 2017, provides a comprehensive analysis …
