[African Development Bank (AfDB)] The world's largest annual climate conference opens in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday, with African nations ramping up efforts to tackle climate change. At COP29, the African Development Bank aims to mobilize additional resources for climate action in Africa and launch a bold new approach to assessing African economies by including their "green wealth."

In a world where the fight for land rights often pits the powerful against the marginalized, Indigenous communities stand as resilient defenders of their ancestral lands. These communities, rich in culture and tradition, face numerous challenges, from encroachment and exploitation to climate change. Empowering Indigenous communities is not just a matter of justice; it is […]

[Shabelle] Cairo, Egypt -- Somalia took a significant step towards addressing its internal displacement crisis with the launch of the "Saameynta: Scaling Solutions to Displacement through Financing Inclusive Urban Development" during the World Urban Forum in Cairo on Thursday.

Last week, UN member states adopted the Pact of the Future – and its two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations. These action-oriented documents are envisaged to counter emerging threats to development and acceleration of progress on Agenda 2030. Nonetheless, there remains little political prioritization of reproductive justice on this agenda. […]

Social development in a global context shows the risk of trending downwards and not recovering if countries do not minimize the long-term impacts of multiple crises and work towards building up their resilience. As much as this will require national political will, it will also need global cooperation for it to be possible. The United […]

The Arab region is among the most water-scarce areas globally, as nearly 392 million people live in countries facing water scarcity or absolute water scarcity. So dire is the situation that, of the 22 Arab countries, 19 fall below the annual threshold for water scarcity in renewable resources, defined as 1,000 cubic meters per person. […]

Developing Asia’s outlook remains upbeat, with falling inflation and solid growth driven by strong domestic demand and exports. But risks remain, including geopolitical tensions and rising protectionism. How can the region remain resilient?

Intervention by Masatsugu Asakawa, President, Asian Development Bank, on behalf of the multilateral development banks at COP29, World Leaders Summit, 12 November 2024

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided loans to financial intermediaries to support projects “whose individual financing requirements are not large enough to warrant the direct supervision of ADB.”

Public financial management systems in Asia and the Pacific face significant challenges, with many indicators falling short of international standards. Fixing these issues requires a strategic, transparent, and carefully timed approach to reform.

Public financial management systems in Asia and the Pacific face significant challenges, with many indicators falling short of international standards. Fixing these issues requires a strategic, transparent, and carefully timed approach to reform.

To support e-commerce, public-private collaboration must prioritize closing the digital divide, supporting small businesses, and promoting environmental sustainability. Strengthening data governance, competition, and tax frameworks are also key to resilient and equitable e-commerce.

In Maldives, youth disengagement and gang violence have emerged as a significant issue, driven by socio-economic factors and limited opportunities for employment and vocational education.

World Mental Health Day is a timely reminder that integrating mental health care into schools, workplaces, and communities is critical for improving health outcomes and reducing costs. Expanding digital interventions and peer-support systems are also crucial, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

As a landlocked country, Uzbekistan’s roads carried 1.24 billion tons, or 90.6% of all freight, in 2020 (rail 5.2%, pipelines 4.2%).

Climate change financing is a key part of green finance, essential for driving investment towards climate action and achieving the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) carbon peaking and neutrality goals.

Armenia’s Crossroads of Peace initiative offers a vision of peace and stability through improved infrastructure and trade. It is also a great opportunity to build sustainable infrastructure, improve customs clearance, and promote green trade. Key reforms in road safety and foreign direct investment are essential for long-term success, positioning Armenia as a strategic hub for regional trade.

Armenia's data center industry offers significant opportunities for economic growth, with strategic reforms in regulation, financing, and technological innovation playing crucial roles. Addressing infrastructure challenges and fostering public-private partnerships will help position Armenia as a regional digital hub.

Climate change poses an increasing threat to people and their livelihoods. Record heat waves, catastrophic floods, prolonged droughts, and other extreme weather events in Asia and the Pacific are becoming more frequent.

Building intellectual capacity and fostering learning partnerships enhance long-term capabilities in organizations and communities. Localized solutions rooted in indigenous knowledge and governance reforms empower societies to achieve resilient, sustainable development.

Cities are engines of economic growth, generating over 80% of the global gross domestic product. As centers of innovation and technological development, they play a crucial role in creating jobs, driving commerce, and providing social services.

Lead exposure remains a significant public health threat in Asia and the Pacific, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The global effort to address lead poisoning must focus on stricter regulations, enhanced healthcare capacity, and coordinated international action to protect vulnerable populations.

Extreme heat is an invisible but increasingly tangible climate risk. It varies by time and place and has wide-reaching but unequal impacts, particularly to women and vulnerable people. As global temperatures rise, extreme heat events (heat waves) are becoming more frequent and severe.

Overcoming poor market depth and liquidity is crucial for Asia's capital markets to grow and remain attractive to investors. A coordinated approach addressing regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure, and risk management is essential for building resilient, diverse, and efficient markets.

Inclusive sports can empower women with disabilities, and foster accessibility, social integration, and gender equality in the Pacific. Recent Paralympic milestones and policy examples illustrate the ongoing need for supportive infrastructures and greater representation to create equitable opportunities in sports.

These charts illustrate that despite the broader adoption of disaster risk reduction strategies, escalating greenhouse gas emissions and intensified disaster impacts underscore the urgent need for more robust climate action and support across the region.

Asia and the Pacific is central to global climate change efforts, but robust capital markets are needed to mobilize private climate finance. Sustainable finance frameworks, transition finance, and carbon markets can build deeper markets that empower climate action.

This paper surveys the evolution of policy on private sector development in Indonesia post-independence.

Theoretical and empirical analyses of People's Republic of China's infrastructure and rural development.

This paper examines the role of finance in development in the light of the experience of Township and Village Enterprises in the People's Republic of China.

Lack of access to good road networks is a major constraint on the incomes and welfare of the poor. Using household expenditure survey data for Lao PDR this paper models the causes of poverty and shows the impact on poverty levels of road improvements.

This paper analyses economic and social indicators across provinces in the People's Republic of China.

The proposed TA will promote sustainable forest development for Papua New Guinea by (i) leveraging the effective management of existing Protected Areas and its expansion, (ii) promote low-emission loggings and timber legality standards for sustainable forest harvest, (iii) facilitate downstream processing and access to international market for timber and non-timber products, and (iv) exploring and piloting eco-tourism linked to a sustainable financing model for biodiversity and forest conservation.

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has recently launched the Bangladesh Climate and Development Partnership to drive climate actions at scale and with urgency. The BCDP is an example of country-led climate platform established to scale up implementation of climate actions and is being recognized as an important modality by the global community to deliver climate actions at scale.

The technical assistance (TA), which will be approved with the proposed Integrated Water Resources Management Project, will help the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology: (i) implement one of the activities of output 2 (para 6), (ii) inform rice farmers about and train them to implement innovative climate mitigative water management technology, and (iii) disseminate this innovative AWD technology to the entire country. The TA project's demonstration activities are expected to reduce emissions by 11,750 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

This brief shows how mainstreaming blue finance hinges on developing a solid regulatory framework that drives investment toward bankable marine-based projects and analyzes how to expand the sector in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

This report shares insights on economic corridor development (ECD) from the 2023 Regional Cooperation and Integration (RCI) Conference, discussing how ECD can help diversify trade, cut costs, and support regional growth.

Asia and the Pacific’s developing economies are projected to grow 5.0% this year on the back of resilient domestic demand and strong export growth, particularly in the electronics sector.