Tiles depicting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals are displayed outside the UN General Assembly Hall at the United Nations, Sept 23, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

MANILA - The impacts of climate change, including slow and sudden onset weather events, "are reducing" the ability of countries to meet their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a report released on Tuesday.

The report, titled People and Planet: Addressing the Interlinked Challenges of Climate Change, Poverty, and Hunger in Asia and the Pacific, warned that "more severe and frequent" climate-related hazards will result in reduced agricultural and labor productivity, loss of livelihoods and human displacement.

Those hazards strain socio-economic and environmental systems, and hinder efforts to promote food security and alleviate poverty, said the report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The report said there is an urgent need to develop stronger social protection systems for vulnerable people, to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity, and to strengthen their adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change

"The Asia and Pacific region has made steady progress in increasing food security, reducing the prevalence of malnutrition, and making improvements in health and well-being," ADB Managing Director-General Woochong Um said.

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"However, further gains are being hampered by multiple crises, including the increasing effects of climate change, the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis," Um said.

The report also listed promising solutions for the Asia-Pacific region that reflect the interlinkages between climate, poverty and food insecurity. One example is food systems approaches that, if designed properly, could support sustainable livelihoods for millions of farmers, ensure food security, and reduce the environmental and climate impacts of food production.

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There is an urgent need to develop stronger social protection systems for vulnerable people, to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty and food insecurity, and to strengthen their adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change, the report said.