New data published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that the overall 2023 air pollution levels in Jakarta were arguably the worst since 2019. Despite improvements between 2020 and 2022, the rise of pollution in 2023 is a notable setback. Over 29 million people …
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food Industry Asia (FIA) released a regional survey of consumers and food and beverage businesses across South-East Asia that shows a significant disconnect between expectation and action on reducing plastic waste. The challenges of plastic pollution have only increased in the past few …
This report sheds light on one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the world - ASEAN. ASEAN is expected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy and the third most populous by 20230. Countries within ASEAN are in themselves diverse, with economic, political, and cultural nuances. Over the next years, the …
Emerging economies are facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis. The synchronous collapse in global demand and the widespread disruptions in supply chains are inflicting severe economic pain through trade, financial and commodity prices channels. To contain the pandemic, emerging economies have imposed, to varying degrees, lockdowns and social distancing …
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Indonesia’s economy is expected to grow by 2.5% in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, down from 5.0% in 2019. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) forecasted a 1.0% growth, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a 0.5% growth in 2020.
While attention has been focused on the hefty downswings in the oil price caused by the collapse of demand from COVID-19 lockdowns, the coal price has been not insulated. Starting from US$70/tonne in January, the Newcastle benchmark price (6,300 kcl) has retreated to US$58.33/tonne. Such a rapid fall in prices …
A diverse community of plastic pollution action leaders across Indonesia’s public, private and civil society sectors released a joint Action Plan for combatting plastic pollution and waste. The strategy document, “Radically Reducing Plastic Pollution in Indonesia: A Multistakeholder Action Plan,” lays out an evidence-based road map towards reducing the amount …
The COVID-19 virus that triggered a supply shock in China has now caused a global shock. Developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), recovering from a trade war and struggling with a viral disease, now face the prospect of a global financial shock and recession. Significant economic pain …
International development partners have recognized Indonesia’s efforts to better meet its climate and environmental goals by pledging their financial support. Indonesia has pledged to reduce 29% emissions by 2030 on its own and 41% with international assistance. However, without adequate delivery mechanisms for climate finance that are capable of navigating …
Southeast Asia, perhaps more than any other region, encapsulates the full range of global challenges facing the management of biodiversity and trade in wildlife. Political and socio-economic disparities are large. Rapid development of infrastructure—often backed by foreign investments—and land conversion continues to challenge the region’s biodiversity hotspots. Levels of poaching, …
Supply Change and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) teamed up to examine the state of corporate reporting on deforestation linked to palm oil production in Indonesia. Supply Change’s database contains over 870 companies, which are tracked by their involvement in one of the “big four” commodity supply …
The Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) mandate to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy services for all, means that even the poorest and most disadvantaged in society should have access to modern energy by 2030. Energy Safety Net (ESN) is an umbrella term for government-led approaches to …
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN),launched in 2012, mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement. The SDSN was established by and works under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General. The SDSN supports the implementation …
The double burden of malnutrition (DBM), defined as the simultaneous manifestation of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity, affects most low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). This Series paper describes the dynamics of the DBM in LMICs and how it differs by socioeconomic level. This Series paper shows that the DBM …
Observations from many countries indicate that multiple forms of malnutrition might coexist in a country, a household, and an individual. In this Series, the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) encompasses undernutrition in the form of stunting, and overweight and obesity. Health effects of the DBM include those associated with both …
The Asia and Pacific region is home to more than half the world’s undernourished children, but also has the fastest growing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. With micronutrient deficiencies added to undernutrition and overweight/obesity, the result is known as the ‘triple burden of malnutrition’. This phenomenon is particularly stark …
This publication assesses the potential of carbon dioxide-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) technology to mitigate climate change in Indonesia. Although the technology was designed to rejuvenate oil production in mature oilfields, its value in permanently storing CO2 has recently attracted global interest. The publication concludes that CO2-EOR could provide a win-win …
A newly released study carried out by TRAFFIC and commissioned by the CITES Secretariat documents thousands of marine turtles and their parts found in seizures, in both physical and online markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam.
The CAT Climate Governance series seeks to produce a practical framework for assessing a government’s readiness - both from an institutional and governance point of view - to ratchet up climate policy and implement adequate transformational policies on the ground, to enable the required economy-wide transformation towards a zero emissions …
Intact tropical forests, free from substantial anthropogenic influence, store and sequester large amounts of atmospheric carbon but are currently neglected in international climate policy. We show that between 2000 and 2013, direct clearance of intact tropical forest areas accounted for 3.2% of gross carbon emissions from all deforestation across the …
Most estimates of global mean sea-level rise this century fall below 2 m. This quantity is comparable to the positive vertical bias of the principle digital elevation model (DEM) used to assess global and national population exposures to extreme coastal water levels, NASA’s SRTM. CoastalDEM is a new DEM utilizing …
