Expert Opinions & Stories

The summer of 2024 has shattered heat records, starkly illustrating the harsh realities of our warming planet. In India alone, the heatwave has claimed over 100 lives and caused more than 40,000…

Scientific assessments reveal that the Third Pole (TP), encompassing the vast glaciated mountain systems of Asia, is warming at an alarming rate of over 0.3 ºC per decade, surpassing the global…

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…

Over four billion people will take to the polls in 2024 as 76 countries are set to hold elections.    In Asia, this includes populous countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,…

The ESCAP Asia-Pacific SDG Progress Report 2024 flagged the region’s regression on SDG 13, climate action. To reverse this trend, it is imperative that both mitigation and adaptation go hand in hand…

Based on the current rate of progress in Asia and the Pacific, the Sustainable Development Goals will only be achieved by 2062 – a sobering reminder of how much work remains.  Women and girls…

Have you ever tried to register a birth, a death or maybe your own marriage? Unfortunately, many of these vital events in Asia and the Pacific remain unregistered often with dire consequences for…

Between 1970 and 2022, disaster events in Asia and the Pacific caused 2.04 million deaths and $2.71 trillion in economic damages. ESCAP estimates that among these totals, tsunamis rank as the third…

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are relevant to all countries, whether high, middle or low income. With increasing attention to the SDGs, countries are progressively turning to data as a…

Each year, the births of 64 million children under the age of five and deaths of 8.4 million people are invisible to governments in Asia and the Pacific. Most countries in the region are yet to…

Drought is a slow-onset disaster that causes significant damage to the environment.  Unlike most other natural hazards, the effects of drought often accumulate slowly over an extended period…

“How many people have died from COVID-19?” - this seemingly straightforward question cannot be answered in many countries due to the absence of a complete and well-functioning civil registration…

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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Every year, millions of people in Asia and the Pacific die without their deaths being registered. The under-registration of deaths has serious consequences for individuals, families, communities and…

Multiple earthquakes, the strongest being of 7.7 magnitude, struck southern Türkiye and northern Syria on 6 February 2023. The earthquake was extremely powerful, and more deadly because it…

Last week, the death certificate of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II made international news. Such certificates rarely make the headlines, possibly with the notable exception of the discussions…

Asia and the Pacific is the most digitally divided region of the world, and South-East Asia is the most divided subregion. The Covid-19 pandemic detonated a “digital big bang” that spurred people,…

Increasing attention is being paid today to gender equality. There is growing awareness of the importance of narrowing gaps between girls and boys, women and men in all spheres of their lives -…

Sustainability, inclusive development, diversity, resilience, to name a few, are terms and phrases often bandied about in the universe of discourse on international development. One that we hear a…

The Asia-Pacific region is at a crossroads today – to further breakdown or breakthrough to a greener, better, safer future.

Since the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP…