ASIAN Geographic – Issue 159, 2023
English | 108 pages | pdf | 38.8 MB
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an urgent call for action on everything from ending poverty o ensuring sustainable consumption, conserving marine resources to combatting climate change. In 2023, at the mid-way point towards 2030, those goals are in deep, deep trouble. Encouraging trends after the adoption of the SDGs saw extreme poverty reducing, electricity access in poor countries on the rise, and the expansion of marine protected areas. But many of these advancements have proven to be fragile and sluggish, and progress is stagnating or reversing. Developing countries and the world’s poorest people – many of which are in Asia – are bearing the brunt of our collective failure.
Nevertheless, while the outlook is bleak, there is hope. Around the world, people are working hard to put sustainability into practice. In this “Sustainability Edition” of ASIAN Geographic Magazine, we take a careful look at the work of just some of the organisations active in the Asian region. We learn how one group is coming up with “spicy” solutions to solve human–elephant conflict in Thailand. We investigate the technologies that
promise to clean up the vast expanse of plastic garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean. And our cover stories, focused on Myanmar, expose the shocking exploitation of the sea that is occurring in the Mergui Archipelago, and how NGOs are involving the community in managing their marine resources more effectively.
If you’re horrified by some of the stories – and the images – in this issue, you should be. The damage we are doing to the planet is truly shocking. But we need to move past any feelings of outrage or despair.
In ways large and small, we can all take action: donate, volunteer, recycle, use less water, turn down the air-conditioner. Let’s all do something.
Ian Bongso-Seldrup
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