Strengthening The Environmental Dimensions Of The Sustainable Development Goals In Asia And The Pacific Stocktake Of National Responses To Sustainabl

This report presents the results of a stocktake of national responses to Sustainable Development Goals 12, 14, and 15, and selected environment-related targets that have a direct relationship with responsible consumption and production, and sustainable marine and terrestrial ecosystems management, by 15 developing countries in Asia and the Pacific. The report was completed under the first phase of a technical assistance project by the Asian Development Bank, with the aim of understanding and helping its developing member countries address the issues and challenges behind effective integration of these goals and targets into national policies, plans, and programs.

ADB, in collaboration with UN Environment, prepared this tool compendium to help developing countries address challenges faced upon the successful implementation of the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals. The tools presented here can help policy makers gain a better understanding of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) interlinkages, establish horizontal and vertical policy coherence, and select appropriate guidelines, indicators, and institutional arrangements for effective integration into national policies, plans, and programs. This publication reflects the high-level commitment of ADB and UN Environment to support efforts to accelerate progress in implementing the environmental dimensions of the SDGs.

LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT THROUGH FORESTRY Written and edited by a group of experts in the field, this groundbreaking reference work sets the standard for engineers, students, and professionals working in forestry, agriculture, ecology, and environmental science, offering the scientific community a way toward combating climate change and land degradation. This outstanding new volume covers the diverse issues of land degradation around the world and its restoration through forestry, agroforestry, and other practices. The editors have integrated many different concepts and applications into a single place from which scientists, research scholars, academicians, and policymakers can benefit. New insights in this area are critical, as our very existence depends on forest sustainability and land restoration management. The work consists of chapters addressing the issues of land degradation, deforestation, intensive agricultural practices, sustainable intensification, soil and forest-related services, land and environmental management, and overall sustainability of the ecosystem. The contributors address current issues and their management through a holistic and integrated approach, presenting the context of land degradation and its problem, identifying the potential areas of research in the field of land restoration, identifying the land-based services and their potential role for ecosystem sustainability, creating awareness so that future policies can be framed for the betterment of human civilization, and addressing sustainable intensification for land and environmental management and service. A standard reference work for the disciplines of forestry, agriculture, ecology, and environmental science, it will also be a way forward for combating climate change. Useful to academics, researchers, ecologists, environmentalists, students, capacity builders, and policymakers, it is a must-have for any library.

This book provides policymakers, researchers, and other interested audiences with knowledge on how to quantify and integrate and advance co-benefits in their decisions. It begins with an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the concept of co-benefits. This followed by a section that details quantitative approaches to estimate co-benefits, particularly in cities. A third section presents a series of case studies from the energy sector in Northeast and Southeast Asia. A final section focuses on new perspectives on co-benefits from linking climate change with biodiversity, social justice, and through new models of co-innovation. The book is particularly timely as many countries in Asia seek to achieve objectives in the national climate policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The climate emergency poses an increasingly severe threat to the health and well-being of more than a billion people in Asia. Policymakers in the region have sought to curb this threat by adopting clean energy, energy efficiency, and other sectoral policies. In some cases, these policies can bring additional benefits beyond mitigating climate change. These so-called “co-benefits” --ranging from improved air quality to better health to socioeconomic equity--could not only offset the costs of climate mitigation but also make Asia’s development more sustainable. Yet all too frequently policymakers lack the analytical methods and practical experiences to incorporate co-benefits into their decisions. This has created difficulties in aligning climate and sustainable development policies in Asia.

This report is a combined effort by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU), and the Institute for Global and Environmental Strategies (IGES), and is being published as governments and other stakeholders prepare to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – a plan for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. While “transformation” has become a buzz-word during the formulation of this agenda, how to make it happen has not been addressed properly. This report underlines that the Sustainable Development Goals will only be achieved when key Asia-Pacific megatrends are managed in a way that creates opportunities for achieving sustainable development outcomes. It supports national and regional efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda. Regional megatrends such as urbanization, trade and economic integration and rising consumption and changing consumption patterns are already shaping the future patterns of resource use, and defining who will be the ‘winners’ and who will be the ‘losers’. The report examines the four critical determinants of the relationship between the economy, people and nature explored in this publication as targets for a fundamental transformation – social justice, resource efficiency, investment flows and economic structures.

This publication presents a snapshot of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) environmental strategies, programs, initiatives, partnerships, and a range of activities that demonstrate ADB's commitment to support environmentally sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific---a strategic agenda of ADB's Strategy 2020. The report highlights innovations designed in selected ADB-supported projects with environmental sustainability as a theme that were approved in 2008–2010. It also discusses the emerging environmental challenges in the region, and previews ADB's strategies to strengthen its operational emphasis on the environment, including climate change, that would help realize green growth in Asia and the Pacific.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a common global agenda for development. However, the emerging policy issues vary greatly across the world. With 32 contributors, this volume provides a timely, research-based overview for the need for policy interventions to improve the sustainability and development models of the ten selected countries in Asia and the Pacific. The volume is firmly positioned at the cusp between research, policy and practice.

This report is a combined effort by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU), and the Institute for Global and Environmental Strategies (IGES), and is being published as governments and other stakeholders prepare to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - a plan for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. While 'transformation' has become a buzz-word during the formulation of this agenda, how to make it happen has not been addressed properly. This report underlines that the Sustainable Development Goals will only be achieved when key Asia-Pacific megatrends are managed in a way that creates opportunities for achieving sustainable development outcomes. It supports national and regional efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda. Regional megatrends such as urbanization, trade and economic integration and rising consumption and changing consumption patterns are already shaping the future patterns of resource use, and defining who will be the 'winners' and who will be the 'losers'. The report examines the four critical determinants of the relationship between the economy, people and nature explored in this publication as targets for a fundamental transformation - social justice, resource efficiency, investment flows and economic structures