Regional Roadmap for Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and The Pacific

At the global level in 2015 countries set in motion the most far reaching and ambitious development agenda of our time, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In Asia and the Paci c, countries have already begun translating this ambitious agenda into action and many have already set up the national architecture for coordinating and promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the policy transformations required to put countries on track to achieve the SDGs have yet to take shape across this or any other region. Business as usual policies and investments are locking countries into unsustainable pathways that will create a gap between ambition and action.
To help address this gap, cooperation and action is needed at the national, regional and international levels. Regional cooperation can support and complement the e ectiveness of national mechanisms upon which the ultimate success of the global 2030 Agenda rests. Transboundary challenges such as climate change and natural disasters, energy security, ecosystem degradation, and contamination of oceans, seas and marine resources require regional actions. Transboundary infrastructure networks can help reduce vulnerability, and cooperation can help develop energy solutions and ensure environmental protection of cross-border resources and ecosystems. Regional economic cooperation and integration will facilitate better transport, energy and ICT connectivity which in turn will increase access to services such as education, health, and housing as well as electricity and markets for marginalized populations.