Economic inequality, societal polarization, and intensifying environmental dangers are the top three trends that will shape global developments over the next ten years — not least of all this year says this report.

Global economic growth is forecast to accelerate moderately to 2.7 percent in 2017 after a post-crisis low last year as obstacles to activity recede among emerging market and developing economy commodity exporters, while domestic demand remains solid among emerging and developing commodity importers, the World Bank said in a report.

In the past few decades rapid economic growth in emerging Asia has led to a critical increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in China, which has now become one of the biggest GHG emitting countries in the world.

In recent years, some counties in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) have experienced growth in their economies and improvements in living standards.

This research paper, commissioned as part of the series ‘Starting Strong: the first 1000 days of the SDGs’, identifies key actions toward addressing the unfinished business of the MDGs and how to reach those who are furthest behind in relation to the new SDGs.

Global poverty is increasingly concentrated among a group of 48 countries, which are falling further behind the rest of the world in terms of economic development, according to a United Nations report released by UNCTAD.

This technical paper firstly addresses the negative impacts of climate change, such as through natural disasters, heat waves or droughts on employment and livelihoods.

Economic conditions have stabilized in the Asia-Pacific region in the second half of 2016, as such stable economic conditions provide an opportunity to make progress on the productivity and inclusiveness fronts. However, despite recent stability, the likely impact of some risks for the near-term economic outlook should not be underestimated.