Climate change and its impacts, such as extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels, are devastating and unprecedented. In the Asia-Pacific region, typhoons, floods, heatwaves and droughts, are resulting in human and economic losses that continue to undermine hard-won development gains across the region.

The sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report, notes that adverse impacts from anthropogenic climate change will continue to intensify, and provides mitigation pathways to limit warming to 1.5°C particularly by rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This 2023 Review of Climate Ambition in Asia and the Pacific: Just transition towards regional net-zero climate resilient development, developed jointly by ESCAP, UNEP, UNFCCC/RCC Asia-Pacific, ILO, UN Women and UNIDO, and the members of the Issues-Based Coalition for Raising Climate Ambition of the Regional Collaboration Platform for Asia and the Pacific members, applies the Panel’s recommendations for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the analysis and recommendations for Asia-Pacific member States to set more ambitious NDC commitments. The report also investigates opportunities to develop and apply just transition tools, policies and framework policies that will ensure society wide support and engagement in implementing low carbon and net zero economy-wide transition. Furthermore, in the analysis of the trends in ecosystems changes in the Asia-Pacific region, the report seeks to identify new and innovative approaches to both mitigation and adaptation, as well as to increase investments in the maintenance and restoration of terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems to leverage nature-based climate solutions.