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 …
This paper provides an overview of poverty and well-being trends in India since the mid-1990s. Poverty reduction since 2005 has been much faster than the earlier decade, as a result of broad-based growth across most geographic areas. Underlying this is a pattern of high mobility in economic status that has …
Asia and the Pacific is a dynamic region. Regional megatrends, such as urbanization, economic and trade integration and rising incomes and changing consumption patterns, are transforming its societies and economies while multiplying the environmental challenges. These environmental challenges range from growing greenhouse gas emissions, poor air quality, land use change, …
Water and sanitation, as absolute necessities for people, planet and prosperity, are at the very core of sustainable development. In embarking upon the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a dedicated goal on water and sanitation, credible data is needed to underpin sector advocacy, stimulate political commitment, inform decision making …
Three out of four of the jobs worldwide are water-dependent. In fact, water shortages and lack of access may limit economic growth in the years to come, according to the 2016 United Nations World Water Development Report, Water and Jobs, launched on 22 March 2016, World Water Day, in Geneva. …
Transforming development by capitalizing on policies and measures that have climate and development co-benefits is the focus of the newly released Asian Co-benefits Partnership’s (ACP) second White Paper. Entitled “Putting Co-Benefits into Practice: Case Studies from Asia”, the paper “helps present this global opportunity and demonstrates how cases that put …
The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and the new international climate treaty could put 2015 into the history books as a defining year for setting human development on a more sustainable pathway. The global climate policy and SDG agendas are highly interconnected: the way that the climate problem is …
The main message emerging from this new comprehensive global assessment is that premature death and disease can be prevented through healthier environments – and to a significant degree. Analysing the latest data on the environment-disease nexus and the devastating impact of environmental hazards and risks on global health, backed up …
UNESCO published a report on transboundary water cooperation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) in partnership with the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) prepared the report in the context of the ongoing negotiations on Target 6.5 indicators calling countries to implement …
At a global level, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 1.2 of halving poverty according to national definitions gets less attention than the target of eradicating extreme poverty worldwide. For country governments focusing on implementing the 2030 Agenda however, national poverty is more politically salient and relevant to policy. Governments …
On 25 September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Central to this agenda are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that apply to all countries. Member States now have to translate the global SDGs into national targets and policies. The Netherlands already has national …
Sustainable Development has been a global agenda since the last 25 years. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) based on Millennium Declaration in the year 2000 by the United Nations (UN) has set foundation for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development held …
The Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2015 is a reference of current and emerging trends of economic, social and environmental development in Asia and the Pacific For the first time the Yearbook is presenting analyses of the major development trends for countries in Asia and the Pacific as …
This report by the Measure What Matters team examines the current state of corporate and government reporting of water sustainability in India. Businesses, governments and global-level actors all gather data on water resources. However, serving different purposes, their accounting systems are rarely harmonized, which can lead to information asymmetries between …
As foreign investments in agriculture and extractive industries increase pressures on land and natural resources, the effective use of legal tools, by government and advocates alike, has become an important ingredient of public efforts to ensure that foreign investment contributes to sustainable development. This handbook is about how to use …
The world economy continues to grow at a disappointing pace, and over 2016 and 2017 it is projected to continue growing well below the levels achieved prior to the onset of the crisis. As a result, global unemployment is expected to increase by nearly 2.3 million in 2016, and by …
Water and sanitation, as absolute necessities for people, planet and prosperity, are at the very core of sustainable development. In embarking upon the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with a dedicated goal on water and sanitation, credible data is needed to underpin sector advocacy, stimulate political commitment, inform decision making …
The world is spending only $3 trillion a year on infrastructure, half of the $6 trillion a year required from 2015 to 2030. Given the scale of investment requirements and limits to public-sector financing capacity, increased private-capital mobilization for long-term infrastructure investment, especially in developing and middle-income countries, will be …
A dedicated goal for water has recently been endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly as part of the sustainable development goal (SDG) framework. This study provides an assessment of the global costs of meeting the WASH-related targets of Goal #6. The targets assessed include achieving universal and equitable access …
This report presents the conclusions of the independent expert group on the 'Follow-up to Rio+20, notably the sustainable development goals (SDGs)' that was established by the European Commission (EC) to provide advice on the role of science, technology and innovation (STI) for implementing the new global sustainable development agenda (2030 …
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the international community on 25 September 2015, the new development framework that seeks to transform our world and will guide all global, regional and national development endeavours for the next 15 years. These …
