Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
This book explores how Asia’s fast-growing cities can fulfil their potential as engines of economic prosperity and provide a livable environment for all citizens. Major challenges faced by Asian cities include poor planning, a lack of affordable housing, inequalities, pollution, climate vulnerabilities, and urban infrastructure deficits. The book’s 19 articles …
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the critical need for detailed, timely information on its evolving economic impacts, particularly for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where data availability and lack of generalizable nowcasting methodologies limit efforts for coordinated policy responses. This paper presents a suite of high frequency and granular country-level indicator tools that …
NITI Aayog released a report outlining the range of investment opportunities in various segments of India’s healthcare sector, including hospitals, medical devices and equipment, health insurance, telemedicine, home healthcare and medical value travel. India’s healthcare industry has been growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of around 22% since 2016. …
The Landscape of Climate Finance in Kenya is the first attempt to track the climate finance flows in the country since the Paris Agreement. The report finds that KES 243.3 billion (USD 2.4 billion) flowed to climate-related investments in 2018, one third of the finance needed annually. Led by the …
The 2021 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development warns that COVID-19 could lead to a lost decade for development. The report highlights the risk of a sharply diverging world in the near term where the gaps between rich and poor widen …
The goal of this project is to explore and understand the potential for “Green Investment Banks” and National Climate Change Funds (NCCFs) to increase the capacity of African countries to access and mobilize climate finance in support of implementing NDCs and related national climate and development goals. This initiative includes …
The Asia Water Development Outlook – a flagship publication by the Asian Development Bank - monitors progress in water security in the Asia Pacific region. For the first time, the 2020 edition documents financing flows that contribute to – or that are needed to enhance – water security in the …
Southeast Asia is one of the hotspots for global energy development. This report by Climate Analytics, supported by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, looks into the need to stop the expansion of coal and phasing out coal for power generation to avoid the catastrophic climate change impacts that threaten the region.
The pandemic has thrown into stark relief the global battle of cities for cleaner air and a better future. The 2021 edition of REN21’s Renewables in Cities Global Status Report, the only stocktaking of cities’ energy transition efforts worldwide, shows that one billion people live in cities with a renewable …
The Case Digest- An Initial Analysis of the Financial Flows and Payment Mechanisms Behind Wildlife and Forest Crime, provides a thorough examination of the financial data from more than 40 wildlife crime cases from across the globe, including 11 detailed case studies. The report is a product of years of …
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is a key nature-based solution (NBS) for the forest sector. Drawing on lessons from UNDP’s support to REDD+ countries over the past decade, this paper describes crucial areas for policy makers to consider when seeking to enhance their NDCs and support NDC …
To shed light on the long-term prospects for clean energy, investigate the historical financial performance of energy companies around the world in search of broad structural trends. This is the second in a series of joint reports by the International Energy Agency and Imperial College Business School examining the risk …
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 100,000 African lives and nearly 4 million cases have been recorded so far. Africa’s COVID-19 story is one of nuances. Only 10 countries account for over 80% of all cases, island nations suffer peculiar impacts, rural-urban differentiation is evident, socioeconomic implications reveal gender biases, …
Average levels of various pollutants, including PM10, PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide, in Delhi last year were the lowest since 2014, according to the Delhi Economic Survey report. Government data also showed that average levels of the major pollutants in the city have been decreasing steadily over the years. The annual …
The report presents data and information mainly extracted from the climate budget report titled Climate Financing for Sustainable Development 2020-21 published by the Finance Division. Its purpose is to draw the attention of wider audience to key data on climate allocation across twenty-five selected Ministries/Divisions together with six thematic areas …
Global materials use is expected to grow in the coming decades in the absence of new policies, bearing substantial negative impacts for the environment. This report analyses the mechanisms through which resource efficiency and circular economy policies can achieve a decoupling between economic growth and material use. Using the OECD’s …
The World Report on Hearing (WRH) has been developed in response to the World Health Assembly resolution (WHA70.13), adopted in 2017 as a means of providing guidance for Member States to integrate ear and hearing care into their national health plans. Based on the best available evidence, this report presents …
This report sets the stage to explore the mandate and capacities of National Development Banks in accelerating financing for local governments’ climate-smart urban infrastructure. Infrastructure financing needs have been estimated at USD 4.1-4.3 trillion per year from 2015 to 2030. An additional USD 0.4-1.1 trillion per year is required in …
This report identifies ways to overcome key barriers to private sector investment in adaptation and resilience, laying out a coordinated and data-driven Blueprint for Action to help governments and their development partners to close the adaptation finance gap. Although climate adaptation finance flows have increased by 35% in recent years, …
When it comes to water security, businesses cannot afford to wait. In 2020, companies reported maximum financial impacts of water risks at US$301 billion – five times higher than the cost of addressing them (US$55 billion). Beyond risk management, there are also business opportunities when investing in water security – …
