ISLAMABAD: Progress towards each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia and the Pacific remains significantly off track, with most targets advancing too slowly or stagnating despite ongoing efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, revealed a new United Nations report published on Tuesday.

The Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025, released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), said the progress towards several goals was far too slow, particularly on responsible consumption and production (Goal 12), quality education (Goal 4), and decent work and economic growth (Goal 8).

Key drivers of this stagnation include increases in fossil fuel subsidies, poor proficiency in reading and mathematics, and unsustainable production patterns.

In addition, negative trends on environmental indicators, such as the economic benefits from sustainable fisheries and the extent of land degradation hinder progress on life below water (Goal 14) and life on land (Goal 15), according to the report.

Alarming regression on climate action (Goal 13) has been driven by the region’s vulnerability to disasters and continued greenhouse gas emissions, which account for half of such pollution worldwide. In contrast, the region has made notable progress on industry, innovation and infrastructure (Goal 9) and good health and well-being (Goal 3), driven by expanded access to mobile networks and remarkable improvements in maternal, infant and child health, demonstrating that targeted investments and effective policies can yield significant gains.

The report said lack of progress towards environmental sustainability was a key obstacle for regional progress towards the 2030 targets. Among the 117 targets with sufficient data, only 16 were on track to be achieved by 2030 and 18 showed a negative trend in need of urgent reversal. The majority of the 18 targets are related to climate-related challenges and disaster risk.

While Asia and the Pacific is outperforming the rest of the world on most of the goals, it falls behind on others. The region has shown notable strength compared to the average progress by the rest of the world on several goals.

The region leads in progress on Goal 1 (mainly for progress on reducing income poverty), Goal 2 (for reducing the prevalence of undernourishment), Goal 9 (for passenger and freight volume and small-scale industries with a loan or line of credit), Goal 12 (for reducing hazardous waste generated), Goal 15 (for a slower land degradation) and Goal 16 (for reducing detected victims of human trafficking and intentional homicide).

However, the region falls significantly behind the rest of the world in progressing on Goals 8, 13, 14, and 17. Progress assessments at the national level reveal the diversity of progress across the region, with emerging and regressing trends providing critical early warnings for policymakers. While strong progress is evident overall on Goal 9 and Goal 3, some countries are lagging behind and need targeted attention to accelerate progress.

Conversely, although the region shows regression or stagnation on Goals 12 and 13, some countries are leading in these areas, offering valuable lessons for others to follow. The emerging regressing trends are particularly noteworthy in areas of high achievement, where safeguarding past gains on sustainable development is essential.

Development benefits often bypass vulnerable groups, with intersecting factors like age, gender, education, location and wealth exacerbating inequalities. Household survey data reveals that poverty is the most significant factor contributing to inequality of opportunity. Education level follows as the second most critical factor.

Data availability across countries in the Asia-Pacific region shows a slow yet positive trend with an average of 54pc of indicators having at least two data points in 2024, a small increase from the previous year. Notably, the region outpaces the rest of the world by 6pc.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025