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 …
The 2021 issue of ESCAP’s Financing for Development Series, Financing the SDGs to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and the Pacific, reviews a range of financing instruments, strategies and mechanisms that can help Asia-Pacific economies recover from the pandemic and effectively pursue the SDGs. In particular, …
Economies in the Asia-Pacific region need to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including to maintain their trade competitiveness as carbon taxes at borders threaten to rise, according to this new United Nations report Around 16 million new jobs could be created in clean energy, energy efficiency, engineering, manufacturing and construction …
The ASEAN State of Climate Change Report (ASCCR) provides an overall outlook of the state of play of climate change issues in the ASEAN region. ASCCR is also a forward-looking report, which includes recommendations on making the transition toward 2030 and on to 2050 for both adaptation and mitigation, considering …
COVID-19 economic recovery can be advanced by greater efforts to boost longer-term resilience and sustainability in Asia and the Pacific. COVID-19 economic recovery can be advanced by greater efforts to boost longer-term resilience and sustainability in Asia and the Pacific, including coordinated, targeted responses to mounting climate risks and measures …
This publication provides insights on deliberations regarding the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) transition and implications for Asia and the Pacific, in preparation for the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26). This publication aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the CDM transition along with its relevance to economies in the Asia …
Incorporating gas-powered generation as a sustainable investment into Asian taxonomies could have unintended consequences, finds a new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Doing so could lock Asia into a high-emitting future while also posing a credibility and greenwashing problem that Asian policymakers and ESG …
North and Central Asia countries are rich with energy sources. Energy was a key driver of economic growth in the subregion for several years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the years after independence, the expansion of conventional energy sources and the initiation of market reforms allowed countries …
This sequel to the Groundswell report includes projections and analysis of internal climate migration for three new regions: East Asia and the Pacific, North Africa, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative analyses of climate-related mobility in countries of the Mashreq and in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are also …
The sixth annual report on Monitoring progress towards UHC and the health-related SDGs in the South-East Asia Region provides a comprehensive overview on where we are and what is needed to achieve the UHC and health-related SDGs. The report highlights progress in the areas of reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child …
This report forecasts growth in developing Asia of 7.1% in 2021 and 5.4% in 2022 in an uneven recovery caused by divergent growth paths. Its theme chapter explores sustainable agriculture. Growth forecasts are revised up for East Asia and Central Asia from the projections made in April, but down for …
In Asia, where rapid urbanization is occurring, inadequate water and sanitation services are a problem due to insufficient investment. Asia’s urbanization rate has risen from 32.8% in 1991 to 51.1% in 2020, and more than half of the world’s urban population already lives in Asia. The Beijing Gaobeidian Wastewater Treatment …
This study identifies the impacts of plastic pollution on land and freshwater migratory species protected by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). The CMS report is the result of a collaboration between CMS and the UN Environment Programme as part of the Japan-funded CounterMEASURE …
This policy brief discusses the issues and practical interventions that United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) member States and countries in other parts of the world can consider to accelerate the transition to sustainable cooling. Cooling is a fundamental requirement to improve the well-being …
The Sand and Dust Storms Risk Assessment in Asia and the Pacific provides a long-term horizon of the risk and potential socio-economic losses associated with sand and dust storms in the region for a better understanding of the severe multidimensional impact of this hazard, including the deterioration to human health, …
Annual economic losses arising natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region could almost double to US$ 1.344 billion equivalent to 4.2 per cent of regional GDP under the worst case climate change scenario, according to estimates in this new report released by the UNESCAP Since the incursion of COVID-19 pandemic, the …
This report highlights why governments should reinvest underperforming public agricultural subsidies in land restoration. Evidence from Africa, Asia and Latin America shows that subsidies for low-carbon agricultural techniques like agroforestry and silvopasture can improve food security and rural incomes, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting vulnerable ecosystems. By investing …
The 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has highlighted the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in protecting human health. However, while the Asia Pacific region has seen significant progress towards SDG 6 targets during the past 20 years, the region still faces critical challenges due to scarce water resources, growing …
South Asia is highly exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of natural hazards. It has been affected by several large-scale disasters over the past two decades, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Multiple small and medium disasters have also occurred with increasing frequency, disrupting the …
This study reviews the status of the legal recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples to the carbon in their lands and territories across 31 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Together, these countries hold almost 70% of the world’s tropical forests and the …
Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2021, the 52nd edition of this series, includes the most recently available economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for the 49 regional members of the Asian Development Bank. It presents the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and …
