Decades of high economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region have transformed its socioeconomic landscape – lifting a billion people out of extreme poverty in the past two decades and raising living standards of even greater numbers.

Financial analyses, which consider financial costs and income, have typically informed energy-related decision-making and investment planning. Economic analyses, however, take societal impacts as a whole, and include social, economic and environmental costs and benefits, which are especially critical in energy policymaking and planning.

Growth in the region is expected to slow sharply to 2.2% in 2020 under the effects of the current health emergency and then rebound to 6.2% in 2021. Excluding Asia’s high-income newly industrialized economies, growth will drop from 5.7% to 2.4% this year before recovering to 6.7% next year.

As governments and businesses grapple with the effects of COVID-19, other global challenges remain. Once the immediate crisis abates, countries must intensify environmental action to tackle climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, even while restarting their economies. Trade policy has a vital role to play.

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.

This report aims to contribute to discussions of how the international response to gender based violence (GBV) in crisis settings can be strengthened through greater alignment and coordination between humanitarian and development funding, policy and delivery mechanisms.

The States and Union Territories (UTs) are the actual implementers of the country’s ambitious development agenda.

The Asia-Pacific country profiles provide a snapshot of the energy policy highlights of the ESCAP regional member states.

Empowering people, ensuring inclusiveness and equality is fundamental to realizing sustainable development. What change is needed to strengthen empowerment and promote inclusion and equality of all people within our efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda, including its central aspiration to leave no one behind?