HLPF Side Event- People and Planet: Addressing the Interlinked Challenges of Climate Change, Poverty and Hunger in Asia and the Pacific
About the session
Against the backdrop of compounding crises such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent cost-of-living crisis, inequalities have been exacerbated, extending beyond income and increasing the vulnerability of individuals to threats such as food insecurity and enduring poverty.
This year’s Asia-Pacific SDG Partnership report, by ESCAP, ADB and UNDP, delves into the multifaceted relationship between climate change, poverty, and hunger. Through nexus thinking, the report analyzes the overlapping, interconnected crises and highlights synergistic policies and solutions, encouraging their upscaling and replication throughout the region.
The 60-minute roundtable discussion, co-hosted by ESCAP, ADB, UNDP, with the Government of Nepal, will bring together senior representatives from the three partner organizations, representatives from governments of Asia and the Pacific as well as private sector, civil society and academia organizations to reflect on the insights and opportunities featured in the report.
Programme
Opening remarks:
- Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
- Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Woochong Um, Managing Director General, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Roundtable Discussants:
Open discussion among experts and participants around the following issues:
- Key issues and challenges in your country or sector in the face of increasingly interlinked climate change, poverty, and hunger.
- Promising solutions (or policy measures/reforms) that can enable transformative change to simultaneously address climate change, poverty, and food insecurity.
Discussants:
- Dionisio Da Costa Babo Soares, Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the UN
- Cataleya Phatoomros, Deputy Director General, Department of International Organization, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
- Stefanos Fotiou, Director, Office of Sustainable Development Goals, Director, UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, FAO
- Emma Torres, VP of the Americas & Head of New York Office, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
- Pratik Rijal, Co-founder & COO, Nepal Tea Collective
- April Porteria, Programme Officer, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
Closing remarks:
- Lok Bahadur Thapa, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations
Moderator:
- Yoko Watanabe, Director, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, ADB