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 October 2019, the World Bank and UNESCO Institute for Statistics proposed a new metric, Learning Poverty, designed to spotlight low levels of learning and track progress toward ensuring that all children acquire foundational skills. This paper provides the technical background for that indicator, and for its main findings—first, that …
The Asia-Pacific region must accelerate progress everywhere and urgently reverse its regressing trends on many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve its ambitions by 2030, says a report released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The 2021 edition of the Asia and …
The Public Accounts Committee (2020-21) present this Thirty-second report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on Preparedness for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on C&AG; Report No.8 of 2019 relating to NITI Aayog, Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The report highlights the crucial role of engineering in achieving each of the 17 SDGs. It shows how equal opportunities for all is key to ensuring an inclusive and gender balanced profession that can better respond to the shortage of engineers for implementing the SDGs. It provides a snapshot of …
More than 930 million tonnes of food sold in 2019 landed in waste bins, according to new UN research, released in support of global efforts to halve food waste by 2030. Produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partner organization WRAP, the Food Waste Index Report 2021 reveals that …
The UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 has gathered the latest country, region and world data on all the global indicators for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which is to ensure water and sanitation for all by 2030. In a new summary progress update, the initiative outlines where the …
The water-sensitive cities (WSC) approach offers an opportunity to deliver services, improve city functioning and liveability, strengthen ecosystem servicing, and transform urban health and well-being. This report provides an overview of the WSC approach, the rationale for how it can complement conventional approaches. It outlines the five principles and 10 …
Adopted in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were intended to motivate governments and the international community to address the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges. However, most countries are not on pace to achieve the SDGs. The economic and human …
The transition to sustainable energy requires an assessment of drivers of the use of clean and dirty fuels for cooking. Literature highlights the importance of access to modern fuel for switching from dirty fuels. Though access to cleaner fuels such as electricity promotes clean fuel use, it does not necessarily …
Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) launch new briefing paper on ‘Strengthening gender equality in access to water, sanitation and hygiene’. The gender briefing paper explores actions that can be taken to improve gender equality. Water and sanitation form part of the basic services that all people require to enable …
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledged to move away from growing inequality to more inclusive, shared growth, away from ecocide, mass extinction of our plant and animal biodiversity, and waste and destruction of our planet’s abundant but still finite natural resources to practices that respect and protect our common …
Recent developments in frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology, have shown tremendous potential for sustainable development. Yet, they also risk increasing inequalities by exacerbating and creating new digital divides between the technology haves and have-nots. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed this dichotomy. Technology has been a critical …
The impacts of COVID-19 threaten to put a hold on progress for the sustainable development agenda and erase gains made thus far in the North and Central Asian subregion. By recognizing that it is not a zero-sum game between enacting COVID-19 recovery measures and achieving the 2030 Agenda, countries can …
Sustainable Development Goal 7 on energy (SDG7) outlines clear targets for universal access, increasing renewable energy and improving energy efficiency, while Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement provides a basis for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, while many countries have made considerable progress towards these goals, the Asia-Pacific region …
Some 4 billion people still cook with traditional polluting fuels and technologies. The adverse development impacts from households continued use of polluting stove-and-fuel combinations are significant. Transitioning this population to modern cooking services (MECS) - part of United Nation (UN) sustainable development goal 7 - remains a significant challenge. This …
Provision of modern energy services to communities grappling with poverty and inequality can have a transformative effect on economic standing, health, education, poverty, and inequality. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with Goal 7 dedicated to energy, sets the target to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030. To date …
Food for cities in Africa is changing under the triple effect of growth demography, urbanization and transformations in agricultural production and trade. These changes create risks: African cities increasingly face the challenges of undernutrition and malnutrition. But they also generate new opportunities: the economy food is the continent’s main source …
A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic reached every corner of the world, infecting more than 90 million and, so far, has killed close to 2 million people worldwide. Governments around the world responded rapidly—and boldly—to stem the health and …
Namibia launched its National Action Plan on Health Security (NAPS) in 2020. The Plan aim to facilitate multi-sectoral engagement using the One Health approach and to guide implementation of activities for progress towards the attainment of the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 core capacities for the country. This is an …
The 2020 report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the Asia and Pacific region, provides an update on progress towards the 2030 targets (SDGs and WHA) at the regional and country level. Selected indicators look at undernourishment, food insecurity, childhood stunting, wasting and overweight, adult overweight, child …
