Climate Finance

For a climate intervention to be sustainable, it must take into account not only the environmental, but also the social and economic consequences it generates. Otherwise, the trade-offs between environmental gains and social and economic losses could be detrimental to achieving true sustainability. On the other hand, without climate action we will not manage to advance the wider sustainable development objectives and might even face reversal through strains on the environment, which can jeopardize development gains.

The Ocean Cities Snapshot for Policy-makers serves as a companion document to the Ocean Cities Regional Policy Guide. The Ocean Cities concept is an integrated policy approach for ocean-focused and climate-responsive urban development strategies, with a focus on urban areas in Pacific island developing States. Ocean Cities are where urban landscapes and seascapes meet, where built and natural environments near coastlines interface and where human behaviour and urban development have profound impacts on both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

The Ocean Cities concept is an integrated policy approach for ocean-focused and climate-responsive urban development strategies, with a focus on urban areas in Pacific island developing States. Ocean Cities are where urban landscapes and seascapes meet, where built and natural environments near coastlines interface and where human behaviour and urban development have profound impacts on both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Ocean Cities are at the forefront of the climate change consequences, the urbanization challenges and other development pressures.

This report analyses Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) trends as well as data availability for monitoring progress in Asia and the Pacific and its five subregions. It assesses progress towards the SDGs and the gaps which must be closed for these to be achieved by 2030. This assessment is designed to ensure the region’s actions remain on target, shortcomings are addressed as they arise, and all interested parties remain engaged.

At UNESCO, we take this issue very seriously. With its World Network of Biosphere Reserves, as well as its capacities in the Natural Sciences, Education and Youth Mobilization, UNESCO is capable of playing a substantial role in addressing the problem. The Organization has a clear mandate in particular in the Natural Sciences, as well as in Education, with a view to the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. 

This brochure showcases beautiful imagery from landscapes, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks throughout the region; and features ongoing environmental projects and research initiatives aimed at enhancing scientific knowledge for sustainable human living in Asia-Pacific. Natural Sciences at UNESCO Bangkok supports the six cluster countries including: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

South-East Asia is regularly hit by droughts. Ready for the Dry Years offers a clear analysis of this subject, assessing prospects for the decades ahead and highlighting the principal risks. Though starting slowly, droughts can have devastating cumulative impacts – striking hardest at the poor and heightening inequality, as well as degrading land and increasing the prospects of conflict. The study shows that there will be many more dry years ahead, and the area affected by drought is likely to shift and expand.

Thanks to its deep engagement with local authorities across LDCs, UNCDF directly witnessed the early impacts of climate change at the local level on local economic development, across sectors. The LoCAL Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) has been designed to address this challenge, building on over two decades of UNCDF experience in fiscal decentralization, performance-based grants, local public financial management, and local investments and procurement around the world.

The landscape of climate planning instruments available to countries under the UNFCCC process includes National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long Term Strategies (LTS).  These instruments have emerged at different milestones such as the Cancun Adaptation Framework and the Paris Agreement and have specific characteristics and objectives which can contribute to and reinforce each other if leveraged effectively.

This brief aims to help decision-makers across sectors in Myanmar incorporate climate change risks into planning and investment decisions by summarising key messages from a detailed technical analysis of climate change in Myanmar that is released alongside this report.

To access the publication, follow this link.