Eurasian integration accelerates achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

ESCAP experts praised the efforts of the Eurasian Economic Commission to promote SDGs and green economy principles in the EAEU.

TASHKENT, October 10 - Sputnik. Representatives of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have noted progress in achieving the sustainable development goals that are consistent with the goals of the EAEU, the EEC press service reported.

The dialogue took place during the VIII Multilateral Forum of North and Central Asia on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), organized by the sub-regional office of ESCAP in Almaty.

At the session dedicated to SDG 8 “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”, Askar Dzhapparkulov, Director of the EEC Macroeconomic Policy Department, noted that in 2023, the EAEU's GDP grew by 3.8%, outpacing the growth rate of the global economy. This year, the rate of economic development is even higher: at the end of the half-year, the Union's GDP grew by 4.6%.

According to him, one of the tools for achieving sustainable growth of the Union countries is the green transformation of the EAEU. In this context, an important document developed by the EEC is the Concept of the introduction of green economy principles in the Union. The preparation of this document is a concrete step towards utilizing the integration potential to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

“The Concept proposes a unified approach to the development of a green economy, promoting mutual recognition of national environmental regulatory systems. This, in turn, will allow avoiding the so-called 'climate barriers' - restrictive measures introduced on environmental or climatic grounds,” Japparkulov explained.

ESCAP representatives noted that despite the fact that the region of North and Central Asia faces serious challenges in achieving the SDGs by 2030, progress is being made on some SDGs, including those that correlate with the goals of the EAEU, such as SDG 8 and SDG 17. The countries of the Union are performing well on them.

“On SDG 17 (partnership for sustainable development - ed.) all the Union states have improved their statistical capacity to monitor the achievement of SDGs. Thus, the thesis was confirmed that Eurasian integration accelerates the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals by the EAEU states,” the report says.

The VIII Forum was attended by representatives of the World Bank, ADB, Eurasian Development Bank, International Labor Organization, FAO, UNICEF, WHO, as well as delegations from Uzbekistan, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the five regional commissions of the UN Economic and Social Council. It was organized in 1947 to stimulate economic cooperation among member countries. Currently, the main task of ESCAP is to manage the process of globalization in the field of environmentally sustainable development, trade and human rights.

Reprinted from https://uz.sputniknews.ru/