Expert Opinions & Stories

In a world grappling with climate change, innovative solutions are the need of the hour. BillionCarbon, an Indian climate tech start-up founded by siblings Ankita and Nikhil Vijayvergiya, is at the…

Despite efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on Climate Action has seen an overall regression in progress in Asia and the Pacific. A 2023 ESCAP…

The demand for adopting more inclusive value chains in the private sector is apparent on all fronts. Customers are more mindful of their purchases, with extensive access to product information…

Gulmira Kuzhagaliyeva, a former senior expert at Qaz-Trade, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade and Integration, has been exploring sustainable methods of food packaging and storage in her work  ̶…

It is undeniable that the world is rapidly approaching a climate change catastrophe. According to the  Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change …

As we reach the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it is an opportune moment to reflect on the Asia-Pacific region’s progress and accelerate efforts to achieve our goals.

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With COP27 ending last month in Egypt, the world’s attention has been laser-focused on the latest commitments from nation-states for solving humanity’s biggest challenge: climate change.

CO2…

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…

Five years after the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), many countries have made progress in implementing the agreement, much technical assistance has been provided, and…

In July 2021, the European Commission (EC) announced a proposal to implement a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on energy-intensive imports from third countries. The proposed CBAM would…

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region continue to make progress in digitalizing trade procedures. When these procedures are digital, they can be made simpler, more accessible, and quicker to execute…

It is widely believed that the biggest contribution of trade to climate change is from transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Indeed, as reported in the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment…

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can significantly contribute to the sustainable development of both home and host countries in several important ways: through expanding access to…

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to transform the world and is full of transformative commitments. The commitment to “promote transparent and accountable scaling-up of appropriate…

How will graduation impact countries in South Asia and the trade support they benefit from? How can they prepare?

Least developed countries (LDCs) are classified as such by the United Nations (UN)…

Our lives are anchored to the ocean in Asia and the Pacific. Yet, if we drift with the currents, we can wave goodbye to the ocean we know and love. Here are five reasons why we need to speed up our…

The success of Silicon Valley has been inspirational for many countries worldwide wishing to establish science and technology parks. In Asia, successful science and technology parks can be found in…

The state of implementation of the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is monitored at the global level by using the Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 169 targets and the 232…

My 10-year-old daughter is a very conscientious environmentalist. Very. She turns off water while brushing her teeth, picks up plastic from beaches, and—as many of my stubbed toes can attest to…

Structural economic transformation and the expansion of international trade are among the most pressing issues to be addressed, if Asia’s landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are to overcome the…