Asia’s sustainability drive falters amid weak coordination, fossil dependence | The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:

The race toward a sustainable future across Asia is being slowed by a lack of coordination. Experts warn that the region’s most urgent sustainability challenges are tangled in fragmented governance, weak enforcement, and deep dependency on fossil fuels that continue to lock economies into carbon-heavy growth paths.

Environmental and policy experts from across the region shared their thoughts with The Express Tribune ahead of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) flagship sustainability event. Without stronger institutional links and accountability across borders, progress remains uneven.

The multi-layered event includes the 3rd Sustainability Expo, 16th South Asia Economic Summit, and UNESCAP’s 9th South and South-West Asia Forum on Sustainable Development. The conference runs from November 4 to 7 at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad.

Coordination crisis

“Asia-Pacific’s core sustainability problem is coordination, not ideas,” said Dr Talha Yalta, Professor of Economics at TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Türkiye. The barriers are well known. The most pressing ones are cheap fossil lock-ins, fragmented regional governance, weak enforcement capacity, and poor data transparency that inflates risk.

More regional partnerships are needed to address these common issues. One promising example is the recent Türkiye-Pakistan effort to deepen energy, trade, and digital connections through initiatives like the Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad corridor and new cooperation in offshore exploration. Türkiye’s broader experience in linking energy, trade, and digital corridors could offer a useful model for regional coordination across the Asia-Pacific.

Climate adaptation

Asia is highly vulnerable to climate impacts like rising sea levels and extreme weather. Urban and coastal resilience begins with better long-term planning and people-first protection. Cities need to map their heat, flood, and surge risks and zone accordingly. Strict enforcement of building standards is essential.

Dr Yalta emphasised that early warning systems, heat and health action plans, and backup power for hospitals and water systems are the need of the hour. True resilience in the future will depend on data-driven governance. Digital tools and AI must be used to monitor risks, coordinate across agencies, and keep essential services running during crises.

Countries like Türkiye, which face frequent earthquakes, and those in South Asia, which endure intense floods and heat, have much to learn from one another. Shared vulnerability can become a basis for cooperation and joint innovation for adaptation.

Public-private collaboration works best when governments reduce policy risks and the private sector sees clear, predictable investment opportunities, he suggested. This means coherent transition plans backed by high-quality regulation toward sustainable infrastructure.

Dr Yalta said he would prioritise targeted risk-sharing over blanket subsidies through mechanisms such as revenue guarantees, credit enhancements, and local currency hedging in shallow markets. Communicating these efforts clearly to the public is crucial. Credibility comes from transparency in data and measurement, and from the use of digital tools and AI for real-time performance monitoring.

South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) Executive Director Dr Paras Kharel said adapting to climate change is a critical challenge facing the region. Among the impacts, the loss of lives, property, and livelihoods due to extreme weather events is the most serious. The frequency of such events is rising. An effective early warning system supported by regional collaboration, including through data sharing, is key to minimising losses from such events.

Just transition

To ensure the transition to a sustainable economy is just and inclusive, suggested Dr Yalta, particularly for vulnerable populations and those in the informal economy, a sustainable economy means shared prosperity. Progress must benefit everyone in a rapidly changing economy. This means targeted social protection, time-bound cash support, and an efficient education system so households do not fall into poverty.

The second pillar is opportunity. Active labour market programmes, retraining linked to real vacancies, apprenticeships in clean industries, and SME finance are needed so local firms can join green value chains. The third pillar is financing. Revenues from carbon pricing or subsidy reform can be recycled to households and small firms and earmarked for place-based transition funds in the most affected regions.

SDPI Executive Director Abid Qaiyum Suleri said governments and the private sector can collaborate to de-risk green investments by aligning policy certainty with financial innovation. Governments should provide predictable regulations, credible carbon pricing, and transparent project pipelines that lower perceived risks for investors.

Public finance institutions can use guarantees, concessional loans, and blended finance to crowd in private capital for renewable energy, resilient housing, and low-carbon transport. Private investors can bring efficiency, technology, and long-term management capacity.

Effective collaboration requires reforming procurement and approval processes so that public-private partnerships are timely and accountable. Asia’s ability to attract sustainable finance will depend on whether governments can create confidence and continuity while the private sector delivers scale and innovation. Mikiko Tanaka, Head of South and South-West Asia Office at ESCAP, emphasised land and water management. He pushed for integrated solutions that mix nature-based approaches, waste management, infrastructure resilience, and empowering people.