10 May 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its regional human development report for Asia Pacific, titled “One Planet to Share – Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate.” The report emphasizes that, to achieve a shift to a greener economy, countries in the region will need to change their production patterns, including in the energy, industrial and agricultural sectors.

The report focuses on the need for the region to find ways to continue to grow economically while reducing poverty and tackling climate change and environmental concerns. The report argues that the policy choices and actions taken in the region will have a critical global impact, as it is home to more than half of the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities. It underscores that while cities occupy only 2% of land globally, they contribute more than two-thirds of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

At the launch event, held in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ajay Chibber, UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, stressed the need to “reduce poverty, increase prosperity, while leaving a smaller carbon footprint.”

The report notes that about 85% of the region’s primary energy comes from fossil fuels. It further indicates that the region accounts for 37% of the world’s emissions from agricultural production, including through growing crops and raising livestock, land use changes and deforestation.

The report provides a series of recommendations for adopting lower-carbon development path, including: encouraging the transition to green technologies; reducing industrial emissions; promoting greener agriculture; supporting cleaner energy generation; improving the prospects of the rural and urban poor; expanding sources of finance; strengthening climate knowledge for citizens awareness; and boosting transboundary cooperation. [UNDP Press Release] [UN Press Release] [Publication: Asia Pacific Human Development Report 2012: One Planet to Share – Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate]