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Amid a sea of high-rises and blocks of concrete, taking a walk through Bangkok’s Lumphini park or New Delhi’s Sunder Nursery can give you a much-needed break to “touch the grass,” in the midst of…

Photo credit: Freepik/Jcomp Blog

As countries in Asia and the Pacific strive to achieve sustainable development against mounting climate change challenges, engaging youth in digital innovation is recognized as one strategy for…

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In the Asia-Pacific region, due to urban sprawl and transport infrastructure characteristics, the distance from a location to a public transport node is often longer than the 500m mark to…

ESCAP Photo/Madan Regmi Blog

As cities in Asia and the Pacific continue to expand, the demand for transport services to accommodate commuters is increasingly challenging. Integration of public transport systems has emerged as a…

Photo credit: UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Blog

Stories of growing vulnerability make regular headlines across all Asian and Pacific small island developing States (SIDS). With tens of thousands of people displaced every year due to climate and…

iStock/Nikada Blog

Digital innovation and technology have become an integral part of the way governments, businesses and individuals function, transforming the speed and efficiency of communication, service delivery…

Photo credit: Unsplash/Nina Plobner Blog

As we celebrate the World Environment Day this year, it bears repeating that the world is in the midst of an extinction crisis. Asia and the Pacific sees the most rapid and serious decline in…

ESCAP/Aneta Nikolova Blog

The Asia-Pacific region has the world’s highest estimated number of children and youth (ages 24 or younger), counting over 1.7 billion in 2020. This represents 1.7 billion distinct lives and,…

Photo credit: ESCAP/ Chanju Lee Blog

With a population of around 4.9 billion people, the Asia-Pacific region is home to 63 per cent of the world’s inhabitants. As of 2021, the region accounts for around 37 per cent of global GDP (USD 35…

ESCAP/Kibae Park Blog

In a few days, global leaders will gather at UN headquarters in New York to make certain we recognize the value of water, appreciate its vitality to life and embrace a visionary Water Action Agenda…

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As countries gathered at the United Nations’ biodiversity conference, or COP15, to agree on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, policymakers, scientists, and rights advocates reaffirmed…

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The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is closing fast and what is on the table currently is insufficient to…

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For those in Seoul looking to avoid a frustrating commute home or needing transportation after a late night out, getting around is now much easier thanks to new “smart mobility” technology.

The…

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As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of challenges that…

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The inauguration of 414 km electrified standard gauge Lao-China railway line has a potential to change the dynamics of international transport among the ASEAN member States and beyond.

The railway…

Jeepney a popular indigenous paratransit in Manila (Photo credit: Dorina Pojani) Blog

Asia and the Pacific is a region where diverse modes of transport play special roles in facilitating mobility. Mass transit modes (trains, trams, Bus Rapid Transit and ordinary buses) coexist with…

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The rise of the omicron variant is pushing the end of the COVID-19 pandemic further into the future. It remains to be seen if this new variant will wreak as much havoc as previous ones on public…

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Transport ministers from across Asia and the Pacific are meeting this week to consider a potentially transformational agenda for how people and goods are moved around the region and across the globe…

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As the leaders of Asia and the Pacific prepare to head to Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), they can be sure that our region will be in the…

Photo credit: William Potter/shutterstock.com Blog

The Covid-19 crisis has upended lives across the globe, wreaking havoc on economies and societies.

Looking beyond the pandemic, climate change poses the single most important threat to the…