UN ESCAP Chief Calls On Asia-Pacific Countries To Step Up Efforts Tackling Climate Change

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) Andrei Savenkov. Regional governments must step up their action on fighting climate change as the Asia-Pacific region looks set to miss out on complying with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), told Sputnik in an interview.

In 2015, UN members adopted 17 social, economic, and environmental goals that aim to protect the planet and ensure global prosperity. The UN set 2030 as the implementation deadline. The UN ESCAP said in a report this past week that the Asia-Pacific region would likely be unable to achieve the required level of progress for meeting the SDGs by 2030.

"On its current trajectory, the region will not achieve any of the 17 goals by 2030.

Most alarmingly, environment-related goals are not on track. The region must accelerate action and reverse current trends on climate action and sustainable consumption and production," Alisjahbana, who also serves as a UN under-secretary-general, said.

There is still hope that the region may achieve some of the SDGs if it mobilizes investment for the development and implements up-to-date technology, the UN official stated.

In a report detailing the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19, published on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the international community must focus on building inclusive and sustainable economies that are able to respond to pandemics, climate change, and other global challenges.