Expert Opinions & Stories

Following persistent and determined efforts, Africa has achieved a breakthrough in advancing the establishment of an African credit rating agency (ACRA), with the proposed launch scheduled for…

When students from poor families in developing countries are offered places at prestigious universities, they are often faced with a tough choice. One option is to accept the offer and create more…

“Climate change impacts everyone, but not equally,” says Shreya KC, a young climate activist from Solukhumbu, Nepal.

Shreya has seen firsthand how women and young girls in rural communities have…

We are living in an era of a polycrisis: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue to send shockwaves through Asia and the…

The recent crises have erased at least one decade of development progress. Why?

The 2023 ESCAP-ADB-UNDP SDG Partnership report explores the impacts of the polycrisis of COVID-19,…

The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2023 highlighted that 19 countries in the region are facing a high risk of debt distress.[1] While the public debt-to-GDP ratio is the most…

More and more developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region are struggling under mounting public debt, making it difficult for them to invest in sustainable development.

External debt servicing…

The latest synthesis report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes for grim reading: Every fraction of a degree of warming comes with escalated threats, from deadly heatwaves to…

The unprecedented fiscal firepower used to protect the vulnerable from the harsh socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic contraction have pushed the average…

Cities are key players in combatting climate change and its effects. They are responsible for 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and consume 80 per cent of global energy. Thus, without…

The start of the “Decade of Action” to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has also marked the start of an unprecedented period of overlapping crises.

The Covid-19…

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…

After two years of human devastation, the world is learning to live with COVID-19 while trying to balance the protection of public health and livelihoods.

For countries in Asia and the Pacific,…

The risk of public debt distress is considerably high in almost all Pacific small island developing States (PSIDS). The debt levels in most PSIDS were on a rising trajectory since early 2010s and are…

The Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) are among the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change. The World Risk Index 2021 ranks several Pacific Island…

In a joint statement, the Executive Secretaries of the United Nations Regional Commissions have called for enhanced regional cooperation to develop nature-based and technological solutions for…

If the world wants to beat back the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure no one is left behind in the recovery, two issues thrown into sharp relief by the pandemic need attention: digitalization and regional…

The world is emerging from the biggest social and economic shock in living memory, but it will be a long time before the deep scars of the COVID-19 pandemic on human well-being fully heal.

In the…

The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects…

Tomorrow marks the entry into force of a new international agreement promoting paperless trade, a timely reminder of how the COVID-19 pandemic has brought digital solutions to regional development…