A survey was sent out in August 2011 to 135 United Nations Country Teams (UNCT) to collect information on how the United Nations at the country-level supports Member States to further the Rio+20 themes - green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development.
While many types of activities are being supported, environment seems to be the most frequent point of departure, suggesting more work is needed to ensure a balance among the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development. A number of suggestions to improve country level service delivery were identified by respondents. Key challenges and gaps that hinder supporting sustainable development themes were also cited.
This study shows how transport affects social, economic and environmental sustainability. It deals with issues and best practices for inland transport, namely road, rail, inland waterway and intermodal transport. It also outlines UNECE contributions and reviews progress towards the development of more sustainable inland transport.
This publication suggests solutions that can be built into the design of urban development projects undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to address the common problems and grievances of the urban poor, and to improve urban governance overall.
It also identifies successful or promising community-based approaches to dispute resolution that can be useful in urban project design.
It uses ADB's Governance policy as a framework for analyzing key findings of Access to Justice for the Urban Poor, a regional technical assistance grant to four developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific - Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The findings consist of case studies illustrating typical problems encountered by the poor in connection with access to urban assets and services, and identifies the types of grievances or disputes that may arise because of these issues. The publication reproduces key case studies to illustrate significant concepts.
Over the past decade, Asia and the Pacific has made significant progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. However, accelerating climate change is threatening to reverse these gains, and those who are already economically and socially vulnerable are likely to suffer soonest and most. To enable member countries cope with the inevitable impacts already locked into the climate system, as well as to transition them to low-carbon economies, ADB is working with urgency to put in place integrated solutions that will address both the causes and consequences of climate change in the region.
In 2009 to August 2011, ADB’s climate change-related interventions span a total of more than 110 projects, involving an investment of about $10 billion. During the same period, ADB has also provided more than $245 million in technical assistance to improve knowledge and capacities, support policy and institutional development, and ensure the feasibility of investments related to climate change.