Reduced Inequalities

Since its inception in 2015 the ESCAP biennial series on financing for development has published research on a range of critical issues on financing for development from the regional perspective of Asia and the Pacific.

This report is part of ESCAP Financing for Development Series. The report examines the trends challenges and opportunities that policymakers regulators and private finance (banks issuers and investors) in Asia and the Pacific face in mobilizing public and private financing for key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly around climate action. Its aims to spur a more robust and informed debate amongst key stakeholders within member States to establish consensus on critical measures to move the region towards a net zero path and to bring greater clarity regarding the benefits and consequences of selected policy and financing choices in the short and the long- term. The report proposes eight Principles for Action in Sustainable Finance for further deliberation and dialogue among ESCAP member States: (1) the establishment of new partnerships for financing climate action including policymakers regulators and private finance; (2) effective NDC financing strategies helmed by government authorities with sufficient mandate and authority to implement them; (3) Redoubling of efforts to build capacity in climate carbon and financial skills of policymakers regulators and private finance; (4) Regulation to drive forthcoming change in financing decisions; (5) Policymakers need to send clear signals to investors who make investment decisions; (6) strengthen project preparation through engaging private finance and project developers in the pre-investment phase; (7) local investors in Asia and the Pacific need to adopt net zero pledges in line with NDCs; and (8) regional cooperation on taxonomy alignment convergence project preparation cross-border capital investment and data comparability.

Climate change has been called “a wicked problem par excellence” because it constitutes of a series of interconnected problems that cannot be solved in isolation.

In 2022 the Asia-Pacific region experienced unprecedented weather catastrophes such as heat waves and droughts typhoons and floods that resulted in substantial human and economic losses and eroded hard-won development gains.

The Asia-Pacific region is not on track to meet the SDGs by 2030 nor achieve climate ambitions with current financial requirements far exceeding available resources.

ESCAP’s biennial series on financing for development publishes monographs on selected issues on financing for development from a regional Asia-Pacific perspective. The series aims to contribute to regional and national dialogues on strategies for the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This will be the fourth report of the series and to be published in 2021. The report will discuss policy options that countries in Asia and the Pacific can pursue to finance the SDGs and build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. Three chapters are being prepared as part of this report as follows. Chapter 1 analyzes selected policies options proposed in the global FFD process in the context of Asia and the Pacific. Chapter 2 considers innovative financing mechanisms. Chapter 3 focuses on developing digital financing role in fostering sustainable development.