THE ASIA and the Pacific region is not expected to meet any of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) said on Thursday.
“At the current pace, the Asia and the Pacific region will not achieve the 17 SDGs before 2062, making it a 32-year delay,” ESCAP Deputy Executive Secretary Lin Yang said in a virtual briefing launching its SDG progress report.
She also noted that the progress so far in the region is “uneven and inadequate.”
“We see that as a region, we’re not actually on track to meet any of the 17 goals by 2030,” Rachael Beaven, director of the ESCAP statistics division, said. “As we’ve said, the average progress towards achieving all SDGs is increasing, but it’s increasing very slowly.”
“Back in 2017, it was at 4.4% and in 2023 it reached 17%. Based on that rate of progress, as we said, we’re not going to achieve all the SDGs until 2062,” she added.
At this rate, the region will only make a third of the necessary progress on SDGs by 2030.
Ms. Beaven also noted that the progress in some SDGs is even showing regression.
“For Goal 13 or climate action, we’re not just making any progress. We’re actually regressing. And so to address this, it’s essential that robust climate action measures are integrated into national policies, strategies and plans,” Ms. Beaven said.
“We also see the SDG progress very significantly across different segments of the population. We see that women and girls face different challenges than those faced by men,” she added.
The SDGs on eliminating poverty and industry, innovation and infrastructure have shown the most progress, but ESCAP said it is still “too slow” to make the 2030 target.
The report said that this “sluggish performance” is attributed to global headwinds and impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disrupted global supply chains.
ESCAP estimated that the Philippines made progress in 83 indicators, was stagnant in 28, and is regressing in 43. Meanwhile, there is insufficient data for the remaining 94 indicators.
To accelerate SDG progress, Ms. Beaven said that countries in the region must ensure “inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” as these would cascade towards achieving other goals.
“Many countries across Asia and the Pacific have now established national benchmarks for Goal 4 in the area of education and these are really helping to revitalize momentum towards this goal,” she said.
“The benchmarks are helping to hold countries accountable for their commitments to education, as well as helping to enhance national planning processes and encouraging discussions on challenges and good practices,” she added.
However, it said that lack of data is making it difficult to correctly assess progress towards SDGs.
“Improved data availability is contributing to improved development outcomes, particularly for vulnerable groups, including children and stateless populations,” the report said.
“Our report highlights how the Philippines is using better data to understand and address financial barriers to supporting children with disabilities,” Ms. Beaven added.
The report also found that improved urban data in Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines are “helping to gain a better understanding of urbanization dynamics, and that’s those changing elements that make up the urban environment.”
“The information collected is allowing policymakers to distinguish between rural and urban areas, and also to better understand the particular challenges that the populations in both of these areas face, including their differing access to basic services,” Ms. Beaven added. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
