Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report 2025: Engaging Communities to Close the Evidence Gap (Asia-Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap) by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), officially released on February 18, 2025, presents in-depth insights on
the performance and challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of countries in the Asia-Pacific region

This article summarizes key findings from the report “Asia-Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap” to provide all readers with the latest updates on SDG progress in our region

I. Overview of SDG Progress in the Asia-Pacific Region

Figure 1 Snapshot of regional SDG progress since 2015 (Figure 1 Overview of regional SDG progress since 2015)

Source: Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap

Environmental and climate issues remain key priorities requiring urgent action.

This is another year that this report series confirms the prediction that no SDG targets will be achieved on time by 2030 without transformational changes and closing data gaps to enable policies that cover populations at risk of being overlooked. Data from the assessment of SDG implementation progress in the Asia-Pacific region indicates that progress in this region continues to move slowly or has stagnated

In assessing goal-level progress with current trends, the Asia-Pacific region will achieve all 17 goals later than the global community has set, particularly Goal 13 Climate Action, which shows a regression trend due to the region’s vulnerability to disasters and continuous greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, largely resulting from coal energy use in the region. Greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia-Pacific region account for more than half of global greenhouse gas pollution

However, Thailand has set a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065 or earlier, establishing corresponding policies and measures such as the draft Climate Change Act which requires reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and establishing mandatory greenhouse gas reduction mechanisms including carbon tax and emissions trading system, currently being prepared for submission to the Cabinet meeting and expected to enact secondary legislation to implement enforcement measures by 2026, and the Power Development Plan (PDP) which will emphasize clean energy electricity generation at a higher proportion of 51% (solar energy 16%, other renewable energy 16%, and hydropower from abroad 15%)

Figure 2 Dashboard of expected achievements

(Figure 2 Dashboard summarizing projected achievement trends)

Source: Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap

When examining deeper at the target level according to Figure 2, it is found that there are 15% or 18 targets that show regressive development trends and half of these issues are directly and indirectly related to environment, climate, and natural disasters such as land degradation levels and reduced economic benefits from sustainable fisheries hindering progress in marine resources (Goal 14) and terrestrial ecosystems (Goal 15)

Figure 3 Targets showing negative trends

(Figure 3 Summary of targets showing negative trends)

Source: Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap

Regressive targets related to environment (Figure 3) include protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems including lakes, rivers, and mangrove areas (target 6.6), sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources (target 12.2), economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources (target 14.7), protecting global biodiversity (target 15.5), and increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the global energy mix (target 7.2)

Three targets (1.5, 11.5, and 13.2) relate to building resilience to disasters, and four targets under Goal 8 (8.4, 8.8, 8.9, and 8.b) relate to decent employment and economic growth, representing the highest proportion of red-status targets. This data emphasizes the urgent need to prioritize these issues within the region

Conversely, the goals with the most outstanding progress as clearly seen from the SDG implementation progress assessment data visualization (Figure 1) are Goal 9 Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure and Goal 3 Good Health and Well-being. This progress is driven by increased expansion of mobile network access and maternal, infant, and child health development

II. Data Gaps: Barriers to Progress

Regarding data (Figure 2), the report reveals that one-third of targets lack sufficient data to assess SDG implementation progress

Of all 169 targets, 52 targets show gray status indicating inability to assess achievement due to lack of data. Among measurable targets, only 14% or 16 targets have the possibility of being achieved on time by 2030 (shown in green)

Facing insufficient data is a barrier to understanding key issues that lead to designing development innovations, particularly Goal 5 Gender Equality, Goal 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Goal 13 Climate Action, Goal 14 Life Below Water, and Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities as shown in Figure 4

Figure 4 Disparate data availability across goals in Asia-Pacific region

(Figure 4 Disparate data availability across goals in the Asia-Pacific region)

Source: Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap

Benefits from sustainable development often do not cover vulnerable populations, disaggregated by relevant factors such as age, gender, education, location, and wealth, all contributing to worsening inequality. Data from the report shows that poverty and education level are the two most important factors causing opportunity disparities. Poor rural households with low education levels are most likely to be disadvantaged in accessing basic services such as water, sanitation, and clean energy

This report therefore confirms the urgent need to develop data collection and analysis that covers vulnerable populations and considers all stakeholders to close data gaps, which will benefit policymakers such as government agencies in using comprehensive population data more appropriately and effectively. Additionally, community participation and academic collaboration using various innovations can enhance database efficiency for SDG implementation, monitoring, and evaluation in the Asia-Pacific region, enabling policymakers to draft appropriate policies with confidence that SDG development is comprehensive and truly leaves no one behind

“Data that remains missing and making certain vulnerable population groups invisible in official statistics limits policymakers’ ability to respond effectively to their needs”

– Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP emphasized

Conclusion

The efforts of many countries including Thailand to assess progress are an important part that helps provide an overview of SDG implementation in the region. This data not only shows good progress but also reflects warning signs of regression, enabling all sectors involved in sustainable development to use this information to drive work and development in appropriate directions. If relevant agencies choose not to act or ignore, or if people continue to live lifestyles that negatively impact natural resources and environment, it will not be possible to reverse regressive goals for the better. Although the report shows clear progress in Goals 3 and 9, when considering overall sustainable development progress in this region, it tends to be unable to achieve results within the timeframe set with the global community in 2030. Some countries, particularly Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), still maintain progress levels that lag behind other countries in the region. Therefore, it must be remembered that sustainable development is important for everyone and everywhere, requiring cooperation to develop statistical systems that are flexible, able to cope with constantly changing global conditions, and cover all population groups. The report’s recommendations mention three important components for statistical system transformation: promoting strong political leadership, mobilizing long-term sustainable investment in digital transformation and statistical systems such as IT or statistics-related businesses, and finally strengthening cooperation from all sectors

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Strategy and International Cooperation Coordination Division
National Economic and Social Development Council

References

Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2025: engaging communities to close the evidence gap. (2026, February 18). ESCAP. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://www.unescap.org/kp/2025/asia-and-pacific-sdg-progress-report-2025

Mishra, V. (2025, February 17). Asia-Pacific falling behind on sustainable development and climate targets. United Nations. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160216

New UN report lauds community-driven innovations in closing SDG data gaps in Asia and the Pacific. (2025, February 18). ESCAP. Retrieved March 4, 2025, from https://www.unescap.org/news/new-un-report-lauds-community-driven-innovations-closing-sdg-data-gaps-asia-and-pacific

SDG Move Research and Support Center. (February 21, 2025). ESCAP Progress Report Asia-Pacific indicates may not achieve SDGs by 2030 amid ‘environmental and disaster’ challenges. SDG Move. Retrieved from https://www.sdgmove.com/2025/02/20/escap-sdg-progress-report-highlights-2025/

Kasikorn Research Center. (January 29, 2025). Sustainability issues to watch in 2025. Retrieved from https://www.kasikornresearch.com/th/analysis/k-social-media/Pages/SUSTAINABLE-ISSUES-2025-CIS3555-FB-2025-01-29.aspx

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