MANILA, Philippines — Asia Pacific countries need to address weaknesses in the region’s energy, food and finance systems to advance progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hampered by multiple crises, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said.
“To achieve the SDG targets of ending hunger and ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, countries must take urgent action to address the weaknesses in the region’s energy, food, and financial systems and improve the resilience of these systems to future shocks,” the ESCAP, ADB, and UNDP said in the 2023 Asia Pacific SDG Partnership Report released yesterday.
The three institutions said the convergence of multiple crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian invasion of Ukraine, and worsening climate crisis have further derailed the region’s efforts to meet the SDGs by 2030.
They said the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year came at a time when the global economy was still struggling to recover from the pandemic, and both caused disruption to the global energy, food and finance markets and pushed up prices of some commodities to record levels, affecting the poor and vulnerable groups the most.
These disruptions have pushed more people into poverty, reversing at least a decade of progress toward achieving the SDGs.
In addition, disasters triggered by natural hazards and climate crisis have also further hampered the progress toward achieving the SDGs.
Countries in Asia Pacific are vulnerable to the impact of disasters, with the World Risk Index 2022 showing the Philippines, along with India and Indonesia as the top three countries with the highest disaster risk.
Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN had already observed that the Asia Pacific region would need until 2065 to achieve all 17 SDGs.
“The extensive disruption of the energy, food, and finance systems calls for urgent action to improve the resilience of governments, businesses, and people to future shocks,” the ESCAP, ADB and UNDP said.
To respond to the challenges, the three institutions said strengthening regional and national partnerships across the energy, food and finance sectors would be needed.
The three institutions said countries should strengthen existing regional partnerships and explore the benefits of establishing new ones in transforming the energy, food and finance sectors.
They said there is also a need to engage national stakeholders across the three sectors to align policy and planning.
In addition, the three institutions cited the need for data-driven and agile institutions that can come up with more effective solutions to the energy, food and finance crises.
They said using big data and digital technologies present opportunities to improve the effectiveness of policies and solutions.