The Asia-Pacific region is not on track to secure the global environmental commons encompassing the planet’s shared environmental resources, including freshwater, marine, coastal, land and forest ecosystems and the biodiversity they host.
Ecosystems in Asia and the Pacific are vulnerable to climate change and threatened by degradation. In 2020, Asia and the Pacific recorded the world’s highest number of threatened species (12,523). Between 2000 and 2015, the regional net loss in forest area (calculated as forest area minus planted forest) is estimated at 135,333 km2, accounting for 10.6 per cent of the world’s total natural forest loss. Lastly, freshwater ecosystems in the region are threatened by pollution and over-extraction for the provision of drinking water, energy production and irrigation.
Find out more on the Asia Pacific SDG Gateway.
