Asia Pacific‘s leading platform for sustainable development
11. Sustainable cities and communities
More than half of the world’s population now live in urban areas. By 2050, that figure will have risen to 6.5 billion people – two-thirds of all humanity. Extreme poverty is often concentrated in urban spaces, and national and city governments struggle to accommodate the rising population in these areas. Making cities safe and sustainable means ensuring access to safe and affordable housing, and upgrading slum settlements. Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way we build and manage our urban spaces.
Read our stories to learn more about SDG Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities is supported by ABB
Berita
Decrepit, sanction-busting fuel tankers are flouting regulations and creating environmental consequences for poorer countries.
Bandar-bandar
Trees sacrificed for ‘development’: advocates slam DENR’s green light for mass tree cutting in Philippines
The environment department has since paused the Manila operations amid public backlash but insists tree-cutting in Manila and Palawan complies with safeguards and will be offset by seedling replacement. Environmental and public transportation advocates counter that tree protection is a more sustainable approach.
China’s solar exports hit a record high in March as rising fossil fuel prices and looming tax changes accelerated demand across Asia and Africa.
Indonesia’s environment ministry has reapproved a controversial zinc and lead mine in North Sumatra, less than a year after the Supreme Court forced it to revoke the project’s earlier environmental approval over disaster-risk concerns.
Pendapat
If development programmes are serious about long-term change, they have to create real pathways towards paid, respected roles within the communities women already belong to.
Polisi & Kewangan
Fossil fuel investments are a fiduciary risk
The Iran war has reminded everyone, but especially Africans, of the structural instability of fossil-fuel prices. For African trustees, directors, asset managers, and other fiduciaries, the question is not whether capital should reposition, but whether institutions will act before events compel them to do so.
Polisi & Kewangan
Sustainable economies will own the future
The Covid-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Iran have reframed the issue of sustainability, which is now as much about sovereignty and economic security as it is about planetary health. Countries and companies that fail to recognise this have everything to lose in the coming years.
While tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are rattling global oil markets, energy security is no longer defined solely by access to fossil fuels. What China has understood, and Europe has not, is that security now depends on electricity systems that can deliver low-cost power at scale and support heavy industry.
Polisi & Kewangan
Beyond green extractivism: Asean's security depends on justice
Makanan & Pertanian
How Asean can reduce its heavy dependence on imported agricultural inputs
Video
Karbon & Cuaca
‘Resilience is not a buzzword’: Palm oil leaders call for industry reset amid global shocks
In the inaugural episode of Eco-Business's new Resilience podcast series, industry leaders say the palm oil sector's ability to weather disruption will depend not on certification alone, but on rethinking the relationships that underpin the entire supply chain.
Eksklusif
Tune in to this webinar where our guest speakers discuss the region's plastic crisis, the state of play on the Global Plastics Treaty and circular economy strategies for businesses.
The impact documentary exploring Asia's mounting waste crisis – and its solutions – is now streaming exclusively for Eco-Business subscribers.
In the latest episode of the Climate Tech in Asia series, we speak to Breakthrough Energy and Green COP about what the shifting geopolitical landscape means for the climate tech ecosystem in Asia.
Audio
Sisa Kumbahan
Waste-to-energy ‘safe’ for Filipinos amid health, pollution fears: environment official
Amid back‑to‑back trash slides and a landfill fire in one of Southeast Asia’s leakiest waste systems, Philippine environment undersecretary Jonas Leones touts new science‑based safeguards for a waste‑to‑energy buildout in the country.
Karbon & Cuaca
Jeffrey Sachs: China is unequivocally the world’s climate power today. Asean’s opportunity is next.
Eksklusif
The economist and president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network told the Eco-Business Podcast how China’s green industrial and financial capabilities can help accelerate Southeast Asia's transition to net zero.
Sisa Kumbahan
We don’t need a plastics treaty for nations to enact polluter-pays laws now: Doug Woodring
The head of waste management non-profit Ocean Recovery Alliance tells the EB Podcast that recycled content mandates will drive the circular economy better than caps on virgin plastic production. Brands should be pressured more than petrochemical producers to phase out unnecessary plastics, he says.
Bangunan Hijau
Are our climate targets too weak or too ambitious? Hang Lung Properties’ sustainability chief John Haffner
Having "stretch targets" can spur innovation, says the sustainability chief for one of Hong Kong's largest real estate firms in the latest episode of "On the frontlines". He also shares why the firm has chosen to publish the draft of its net zero plan for open discussion of its climate targets.
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