Asia Pacific‘s leading platform for sustainable development
8. Decent work and economic growth
Over the past 25 years the number of workers living in extreme poverty has declined dramatically, despite the lasting impact of the 2008 economic crisis and global recession. In developing countries, the middle class now makes up more than 34 percent of total employment – a number that has almost tripled between 1991 and 2015.
However, as the global economy continues to recover we are seeing slower growth, widening inequalities, and not enough jobs to keep up with a growing labour force. According to the International Labour Organization, more than 204 million people were unemployed in 2015.
Read our stories to learn more about SDG Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth
To adopt SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth, in support of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, please contact us at partners@eco-business.com
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Corporate Responsibility
Asia demonstrates least transparency on AI safeguards for workers: report
Only 7 per cent of more than a thousand firms surveyed in the region are using artificial intelligence with adequate safeguards to help workers adapt to the technology’s impact, according to new analysis by AI Company Data Initiative.
Policy & Finance
Critics call US–Indonesia trade deal ‘extractive colonialism’ over mining, fossil fuels
Activists warn a new US-Indonesia trade deal could accelerate mining, deforestation and fossil fuel use, with weak, nonbinding environmental safeguards.
Energy
Government bureaucracy ‘not a show-stopper’ for Philippine renewable energy development: ACEN chief
As the Philippines accelerates its renewable energy push, balancing community rights with national electricity needs remains crucial, say officials at a clean energy forum.
Food & Agriculture
War and climate stress push Afghan farmers to the brink
Afghanistan’s conflicts repeatedly hurt its farmers who endure droughts, floods and rising financial uncertainty.
Manufacturing
Beneath Indonesia’s big EV dreams loom local costs
Food & Agriculture
Cash crop boom in Bangladesh’s hills puts ecosystems at risk
Opinion
Food & Agriculture
Women farmers are the first defenders of a warming Southeast Asia
Countries can improve the lot of its women farmers by improving whose names land is registered in, who signs contracts, receives credit and training, and sits in the room when climate‑risk maps are drawn.
Policy & Finance
AI can propel women forward – or set them back further
AI will mostly benefit those already well positioned to leverage it – men. Businesses and governments cannot afford to overlook gender as they invest in talent policies for the AI age.
Vietnam’s stalled Chinese-backed solar factories underscore how Global South nations must demand technology transfer and value addition – not just capital inflows – from China’s expanding overseas clean-tech investments.
Food & Agriculture
How mountain terraces have helped Indigenous peoples live with climate uncertainty
From the Ifugao highlands to Morocco’s Anti-Atlas Mountains, Indigenous terrace farming illustrates how long-standing, locally adapted practices capture water, conserve soil and diversify crops to withstand intensifying climate extremes.
Carbon & Climate
As climate diplomacy stalls, the economics are racing ahead
Policy & Finance
Global power struggles over the ocean’s finite resources
Policy & Finance
Strategic priorities for Asean's newest member
Corporate Responsibility
Sustainability reporting tools must bridge impacts of local businesses and Earth's limits
Videos
The impact documentary exploring Asia's mounting waste crisis – and its solutions – is now streaming exclusively for Eco-Business subscribers.
In the latest episode of the Climate Tech in Asia series, we speak to Breakthrough Energy and Green COP about what the shifting geopolitical landscape means for the climate tech ecosystem in Asia.
Policy & Finance
Simplifying sustainability reporting for SMEs
EB Studio
As Malaysia forges ahead with its 2050 net zero climate ambition, businesses must reshape their supply chains for a low carbon future. This Eco-Business video looks at how SMEs can adapt to new sustainability reporting requirements.
Policy & Finance
Navigating uncertainty: AIA’s long-term bet on sustainable investing
In this wide-ranging fireside chat moderated by Eco-Business CEO Jessica Cheam, AIA Group's chief investment officer Dr Mark Konyn asserts there is “no U-turn” among corporates invested for the long term, even as political regimes change amid a new world order.
Podcasts
Carbon & Climate
The challenges of the environment beat: A conversation with journalists in Southeast Asia
The Eco-Business Podcast speaks to reporters Nadiah Rosli, Adelia Dinda Sani, Gerald Flynn and Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez about funding limits, data access, and reporting against the odds in one of the world's most climate-vulnerable regions.
Food & Agriculture
Faraway tale of pastoralist struggles spotlights China’s green growth complexities
A researcher lived with camel herders in Inner Mongolia for years to find out how they're coping with both conservation schemes and modernisation. He tells the Eco-Business Podcast about their challenges and lessons for the world.
Carbon & Climate
‘Five years ago, everyone wanted to be Elon Musk’: Where is climate tech in Southeast Asia now?
Entrepreneur Steve Melhuish tells the EB Podcast where the biggest opportunities to reduce emissions and make money are in Southeast Asia, and why finding the right economic incentives is critical for climate tech startups.
Policy & Finance
The race to insure Southeast Asia against climate risk
Asia lags the world in natural catastrophe protection. Part of the problem could be counting extreme weather losses only after they happen, industry insiders tell the Eco-Business podcast.
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