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 2017, the Philippines adopted a set of long-term development goals for the country called AmBisyon Natin 2040. Developed through a participatory process, these goals provide overall guidance as well as a target for a series of more specific development plans. The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 presents a series of …
This study provides guidance on pricing policy reform to promote sustainable and socially inclusive water use and management in Vietnam. The study considers investment needs in the water sector, and reviews alternative approaches to water pricing that are likely to generate much-needed financial capital. Importantly, these changes can also motivate …
The World Bank Group has allocated over $14 billion to help weak economic activities in African Countries in order to meet the target of achieving its twin goals and delivering 2030 Agenda. World Bank Country Director, Nigeria, Rachid Benmessaoud stated at Ideas for Action Africa in Abuja, explained, it would …
National income is underpinned by a country's wealth--measured comprehensively to include all assets, produced capital, human capital, natural capital and net financial assets--and sustained economic growth over the long term requires investment in this broad portfolio of assets. While a macroeconomic indicator like GDP provides an important measure of economic …
Over the last decade, a policy revolution has been under way in the developing and emerging world. Country after country are systematically providing noncontributory transfers to poor and vulnerable people, in order to protect them against economic shocks and to enable them to invest in themselves and their children. Social …
Last year saw the biggest increase in billionaires in history, one more every two days. This huge increase could have ended global extreme poverty seven times over. 82% of all wealth created in the last year went to the top 1%, and nothing went to the bottom 50%. Dangerous, poorly …
The new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) at its core. A dedicated Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) declares a commitment to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Monitoring progress toward this goal will be challenging: direct measures of water …
The Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) programme in Andhra Pradesh can help six million farm families in the state and make significant progress towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said an independent study. The study, by non-profit Council on Energy, Environment and Water, was released by Andhra Pradesh Chief …
On average, Africa has reached the Millennium Development Goals horizon with remarkable performances in five of the eight Goals, even though not all five were fully achieved. The five Goals are: Goal 2 (Enrolment in primary education); Goal 3 (Gender equality and empowerment of women); Goal 4 (Child mortality reduction); …
The purpose of the document is to lay out the findings from this diagnostic exercise. Its key messages include stressing the need to reach higher to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for water and sanitation in the light of little improvement in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era; …
The world’s forest ecosystems provide critical and diverse services and values to human society. As primary habitat for a wide range of species, forests support biodiversity maintenance and conservation. Yet, continuing forest loss worldwide negatively impacts the livelihoods of millions of people and poses major challenges to sustainable development, in …
The global business environment has undergone a major transformation that requires greater knowledge to address the social and environmental challenges of our time. Due to the widening of gaps between socioeconomic groups and the increasing threat of climate change, businesses are pressured to change normative managerial practices and operations towards …
This new report reviews initiatives undertaken by cities in the Asia-Pacific region to stem the social and economic losses from increasing congestion and pollution. It calls for improving road safety and acknowledges the increasing role of intelligent transport systems for urban and inter-city mobility. The Review of Development in Transport …
Asia and the Pacific is home to more than 60% of the world’s population and 62% of the global economic output. But the region still faces enormous development challenges and with economic growth, it has become a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This has exposed Asia and the …
Conflict and protracted crises in a handful of countries in the Near East and North Africa are hamstringing efforts to eradicate hunger in the region by 2030, according to a new FAO report. The 2017 edition of the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in the Near East and …
India generated nearly 2 million tonnes of electronic waste last year, of the 44.7 million tonnes produced globally reveals this new report released by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union. Electronic waste poses ‘growing risk’ to environment, human health, UN report warns. The Global E-Waste Monitor 2017 highlights increasing levels …
At least half of the world’s population cannot obtain essential health services, according to a new report from the World Bank and WHO. And each year, large numbers of households are being pushed into poverty because they must pay for health care out of their own pockets. Currently, 800 million …
The United Nations Development Programme has launched its Income Inequality Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa report during the African Economic Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, Determinants, and Consequences explores and analyzes country trends and provides policy guidance that can help Sub-Saharan Africa reduce income …
Without a renewed commitment to policy change, commodity-dependent developing countries (CDDCs) are by 2030 set to lag behind countries with more diverse economies in their social and economic achievements, UNCTAD and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report. The Commodities and Development Report …
The Transport and Communications Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific is a peer-reviewed journal published once a year by the Transport Division (TD) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The main objectives of the Bulletin are to provide a medium for the …
