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2022 : Leaving no one behind : Armenia country brief
No full textLeaving No One Behind (LNOB) tool helps discover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. The LNOB country brief for Armenia provides insights into which groups are further ahead and further behind in various SDG indicators and where the biggest gaps are found in terms of access to opportunities or prevalence of barriers between the furthest behind and the furthest ahead groups in Armenia. </p
Tracking sustainable mobility in Asia-Pacific cities 2022
No full textFor many decades, cities in the Asia Pacific region have followed unsustainable patterns of transport development: worsening congestion and traffic safety, deteriorating air quality, high consumption of fossil fuels, and rising greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, many city governments are now developing sustainable transport strategies to target these issues and promote more sustainable modes, such as public transport and non-motorized transport. To date, however, their efforts to design effective strategies have been thwarted by their limited capacity to collect and analyze data.
The Sustainable Urban Transport Index (SUTI) is a tool to summarize, track and compare the performance of cities in sustainable urban transport and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly target 11.2 on access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all by 2030. The SUTI is a composite index made up of ten indicators, each measuring different aspects of sustainable urban transport.
This publication contains summary of the results of SUTI assessments conducted in 24 cities of the Asia and Pacific region between 2017 and 2021. The main aim of this publication is to demonstrate how SUTI can be used by policymakers to monitor progress towards sustainable urban mobility, as well as to identify those policies which will move urban transport systems towards sustainability.</p
ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee Strategic Plan 2022-2026
Get PDFThe purpose of this Strategic Plan is for the Typhoon Committee to identify regional Targets, Key Results Areas (KRAs) and Priorities which the Committee wants to achieve in 2022-2026 to save lives and property, mitigate damage, and minimize social and economic effects from tropical cyclone related events. Furthermore, the impact of climate change is thought to influence all of the KRAs, Targets and Priorities and thus an important consideration for this Strategic Plan
Review of progress made in the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs)by Afghanistan, Bhutan, Lao PDR, Mongolia, and Nepal
No full textConference paper prepared for the Euro-Asian final review of the Vienna Programme of Action for Landlocked Developing Countries for the Decade 2014-2024The year 2024 marks the conclusion of the implementation of the Vienna Programme of Action for the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) for the decade 2014-20241 (VPoA). The 5 Asian LLDCs2have achieved mixed progress in the six priority areas of the Programme during the period to 2021. Many of them experienced robust economic growth and significant poverty reduction. However, the overall achievement of the LLDCs in implementing the VPoA during the reporting period remained mixed and varied with many gaps and missed opportunities. The LLDCs continued to face severe challenges, making them some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable countries of Asia-Pacific region. Their isolation from important global markets with no direct access to sea imposed excessive transport and transit costs on their exports and imports, making them less competitive in international market. The overall underdeveloped nature of their infrastructure and gaps in their transport and transit infrastructure have continued to hold back their progress. This has also prevented them from benefiting from regional and global integration process. Structural economic transformation continues to be slow and undiversified with most of them dependent on few natural resources for growth and development. For most part, they have remained dependent on official development assistance and other forms of external flows to grow sustainably and deepen their development process.
The second half of the VPoA decade has proven to be particularly challenging for them which were severely affected by the adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts of Covid-193. With support from international community and concerted domestic efforts, the Asian LLDCs4 were well on their way to recovery from these adverse impacts and were engaged in exploring innovative sources of financing to support their sustainable recovery5. But the respite from Covid-19 proved to be short-lived and the LLDCs are now confronted with high rates of global inflation, soaring food and energy prices, exorbitant interest rates, and geo-political tensions created by the Ukrainian crisis. Global recession has become a real possibility6. Poverty and inequality are on the rise7. It is quite possible that these on-going unprecedented challenges will eliminate or compromise some of the progress made by this group of countries in implementing the VPoA and achieving the SDGs8. The goal of eliminating poverty by 2030 will also be missed with all indications that global progress in reducing extreme poverty is grinding to a halt9. Despite this dismal emerging economic environment, the LLDCs as a group have made concerted efforts in terms of undertaking wide range of policy reforms and measures as well as invested considerable financial and human resources in implementing the VPoA. They have addressed the fundamental transit policy issues and invested resources in infrastructure development and maintenance. Some progress has been noted in promoting participation in international trade and trade integration. The LLDCs in general have demonstrated heightened interest in fostering greater regional cooperation and integration and some managed to make modest structural economic transformation. In the area of means of implementation, efforts have gone into mobilizing both internal and external resources for sustainable development.
After the introductory section I, the paper in section II offers a comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the progress made, constraints encountered, and lessons learnt in implementing the VPoA during the decade of 2014-2024 by five Asian LLDCs under the six priority areas of the VPoA. An assessment will also be made whether and how their progress in implementing the VPoA has helped them to overcome or attenuate the adverse impacts of their structural weaknesses such as the lack of territorial access to sea, physical remoteness from important international markets, and lack of scale economies and limited resource endowments. In section III, a brief overview of issues for consideration in the next programme of action for the LLDCs including accelerating progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), building climate-resilient infrastructure in key sectors such as transport, energy, and information and communication technologies and creating green jobs, promoting sustainable regional and subregional connectivity, and exploring new generation of sustainable financing for infrastructure development will be presented. </p
2022 : Leaving no one behind : Kiribati country brief
No full textLeaving No One Behind (LNOB) tool helps discover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. The LNOB country brief for Kiribati provides insights into which groups are further ahead and further behind in various SDG indicators and where the biggest gaps are found in terms of access to opportunities or prevalence of barriers between the furthest behind and the furthest ahead groups in Kiribati. </p
Mongolia climate change and disaster risk profile
No full textMongolia is a land-locked country sharing its borders with the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation. It has a population of 3.3 million, nearly 2/3 of which lives in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. While the country’s GDP per capita tripled since 1991, in 2017 it recorded a poverty rate of 21.6% and it still retains a lower middle-income country status as per the World Bank classification. At the same time, Mongolia is rich in mineral resources such as coal, copper and gold. Nearly 90% of its exports are directed to China. The agricultural sector contributes to nearly 11% of the GDP and 40% of Mongolia’s workforce is nomadic, herding livestock in the country’s extensive pasturelands. Services contribute to 55% and mining to 17% of the GDP (UNFCCC, 2017).</p
Strategic foresight to applications of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) to achieve disaster-related sustainable development goals
No full textThis report is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 highlights the need for strategic foresight and discusses the data and methods used in the report. Chapter 2 discusses GeoAI, its evolution, features, and current state and trends. Proponents for the integration of GeoAI in disaster-related SDGs are discussed in chapter 3. Chapter 4 focuses on the uptake of GeoAI for disaster-related SDGs. The representative applications, opportunities, foresight and policy recommendations are also presented in this chapter
Chapter 5 presents a list of key policy recommendations to prompt the adoption of GeoAI in the disaster management sector at the national level. These policy recommendations are the primary output of this strategic foresight. As a product of strategic foresight, this report does not aim to
define a plan, but rather support the development of strategies and plans to use GeoAI to help achieve disaster-related SDGs. UNESCAP, through the Asia-Pacific Plan of Action on Space Applications for Sustainable Development (2018–2030), has a service delivery model in place to
assist interested agencies in developing strategies and plans to adopt AI for all key areas discussed, at the national or sub-national level
2022 : Leaving no one behind : Viet Nam country brief
No full textLeaving No One Behind (LNOB) tool helps discover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. The LNOB country brief for Viet Nam provides insights into which groups are further ahead and further behind in various SDG indicators and where the biggest gaps are found in terms of access to opportunities or prevalence of barriers between the furthest behind and the furthest ahead groups in Viet Nam. </p