November 2015: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has invited stakeholders to submit written contributions and provide feedback on the themes of its 2015 regional report, which will identify the changes needed for progress on sustainable development aims.

The 2015 regional report will seek to support implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia and the Pacific. According to ESCAP, the report will examine structural changes needed to make sustainable development a reality in the region, and identify elements of a “green transformation,” as well as the collective action that is needed.

Stakeholders will be able to contribute to development of the regional report through social media and online discussion forums.

ESCAP advocates for “green growth” as a strategy to bring country and regional policies in closer alignment to sustainable development. The Commission notes that Asian and Pacific countries have contributed indigenous approaches to sustainable development, such as Bhutan’s principle of gross national happiness, Thailand’s “sufficiency economy,” and China’s emphasis on quality of growth.

The report will be the seventh in a series of five-year reports that ESCAP has published since 1985. The series provides input to the ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development, which convenes every five years. The previous report was published in 2012, and addressed the theme of green growth, resources and resilience. [Call for Stakeholder Contributions] [Report Series]