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Photo credit: ESCAP Photo/Mailee Osten-Tan Story

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…

Photo credit: Unsplash/Arie Oldman Blog

While each Small Island Developing State (SIDS) has its own unique characteristics and circumstances, as remote island economies each share similar challenges and opportunities. They have limited…

Photo credit: iStockphoto Blog

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…

iStockphoto / Ijeab Op-ed

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.

Photo: iStock/South_agency Blog

A defining feature of the post-pandemic world is the digital transformation that has permeated every aspect of our lives. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “…as we recover and…

Photo credits: Freepik/tawatchai07 Blog

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…

Photo credit: Shutterstock/Tsetso Photo Op-ed

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…

Photo credit: iStockphoto/peterschreiber.media Blog

Secure and sustainable energy systems are a key driver of economic growth and social development. Together with technological innovations, which open new opportunities, the modern world faces…

Photo credit: Shutterstock/ArtisticPhoto Blog

The world is facing multiple overlapping challenges. The recovery from COVID-19 and the impacts of climate change along with the food, energy and cost of living crises are straining the economies of…

Photo credit: iStockphoto/imacoconut and Pexels/Oliver Sjöström Blog

The Indonesia G20 Presidency has faced unprecedented challenges. The emergence of global geopolitical tensions from the start of 2022 have presented complexities in international relations and…

Photo credit: iStockphoto/metamorworks; iStockphoto/coffeekai Blog

The recently released IPCC report ‘Climate Change 2022 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability’ published in February 2022 makes it abundantly clear that we must accelerate efforts to decarbonize our…

Photo credit: UN Photo; iStockPhoto/pixelfusion3d; iStockPhoto/trangiap; iStockPhoto/quangpraha Blog

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…

Photo credit: iStock/FroYo_92 Blog

The last two years have seen several significant disturbances to global energy markets. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic shutdowns at first depressed demand, leading to significant…

Photo credit: Alexey Kravchenko Blog

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…

Photo credit: iStock/monsitj Blog

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for over half of total final global energy consumption, 85 per cent of which comes from fossil fuels. The associated emissions are expected to increase as the region…

Photo credit: Jonas Flake Blog

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…

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On 24 September, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, will convene the High-level Dialogue on Energy at summit level, under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. This will be…

Photo credit: iStockphoto/FinestWorks Blog

Asia and the Pacific is home to around 60 per cent of the global population with no access to clean cooking solutions. Clean cooking solutions refers to fuel-stove combinations with emissions…

Photo credits: iStock/Andree_Nery/bookzaa/MicroStockHub/golero Blog

In New York this September, the High-level Dialogue on Energy will be convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations at a summit level. In the first global energy meeting under a UN mandate…

Unsplash / Guillaume de Germain Op-ed

The world before COVID-19 looks very attractive right now. In light of the disease, mass unemployment and social distancing, a return to pre-pandemic normality seems appealing. Yet we should remember…