Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal - Current Issue

I am pleased to introduce the first issue of 2024 of the Asia Pacific Sustainable Development Journal (APSDJ, Vol. 31, No. 1). The issue contains a thematic section, “Sustainable development in Pacific small island developing States: The role of regional cooperation”. The theme fulfils not only our promise to focus on countries in special situations, such as Pacific small island developing States, but also our commitment to promote regional cooperation for sustainable development.

This paper provides an overview of the ongoing trends in economic growth and sustainable development policies in the Pacific. The importance of contextualizing country differences through the lens of their own historical circumstance and development priorities are key to understanding the development trajectories. Amid the climate emergencies and post-COVID-19 pandemic recoveries, the analysis indicates that countries can balance their economic growth vis-à-vis sustainable development opportunities, while taking full advantage of their growing voice in regional and international platforms. The opportunities of regional cooperation and solidarity are at the heart of ensuring implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The future of human development depends considerably on sustainable, inclusive and climate resilient urban expansion. Pacific small island developing States are urbanizing rapidly and prone to environmental and climate change vulnerabilities. The role of regional cooperation and integration is critical to meet urban challenges. The present paper covers the theoretical discourse between urbanization, environmental/climate change and sustainable urban development. Urbanization trends in Pacific small island developing States are examined from the perspective of the environmental/climate change vulnerabilities along with the challenges, opportunities and the role of regional cooperation and integration in meeting the urban challenges to achieving sustainable urban development.

Pacific small island developing States are in unique geoclimatic settings, making them highly susceptible to hydrometeorological hazards. Safeguarding lives, livelihoods and infrastructure in these highly vulnerable countries requires the implementation of well-designed and functional early warning systems. For the present paper, an assessment is made of the early warning systems in the seven Pacific island States: Cook Islands; Fiji; Kiribati; Nauru; Niue; Tokelau; and Tuvalu. Specific challenges and distinctive requirements for each country or territory in establishing an effective early warning system are identified and recommendations are given to strengthen and advance the multi-hazard early warning system.

Cocoa beans are a valuable export commodity for Pacific island Countries. Cocoa is mainly cultivated by smallholder farms operated by families. Cocoa bean exports generates income, employment opportunities and export revenue. Smallholder cocoa farmers, however, face constraints on the production quality of cocoa caused by climate change, which exacerbates the effect of pests and diseases on cocoa trees, and causes variations in weather patterns and environmental conditions. Regional collaboration on developing quality standards and infrastructure that enhances climate resilience and improves sustainability in cocoa production is, therefore, needed.

The present paper reviews the effects of renewable energy consumption, economic development and financial development on environmental sustainability in the Pacific. A non-stationary panel data modelling framework is used to investigate the effects in a balanced sample of six major small island economies from 1990 to 2020. The findings reveal that renewable energy consumption improves environmental sustainability and economic development and financial development worsen it. Accordingly, the findings suggest that enhancing environmental sustainability in the Pacific requires significant financial sector reforms, adoption of sustainable development practices and investment in renewable energy infrastructure in the Pacific.

This paper presents results from an investigation on the impact of resource rent on sustainable development in three Pacific countries from 1990 to 2019 using the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach. The results show a significant negative relationship between natural resource rents and sustainable development in Fiji and Solomon Islands and no such relationship in Vanuatu. These findings have important policy implications, suggesting the need for strategies to enhance the value of resource revenue through value addition and to allocate a greater proportion of the revenue to investment in human and physical capital, in line with the "Hartwick rule".

This paper examines the effectiveness of aid allocation by considering (a) policy and institutions as the traditional criteria for aid allocation and (b) the level of vulnerability as a new paradigm, focusing on 35 selected small island developing States over the period 2002−2020. Using the generalized method of moments, the findings show that vulnerability-based allocation is the most relevant criterion for aid allocation. They indicate that regional cooperation can be a path to “raise the voice” of Pacific small island developing States to rethink the aid allocation mechanism in favour of a vulnerability-based allocation.

This paper focuses on major socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji. It includes a discussion on the country’s crisis management initiatives and on the view that the post-COVID-19 socioeconomic recovery is likely to be stressful for this small and vulnerable economy. It also provides imperatives for improving socioeconomic welfare by accelerating economic activity in the new normal and presents the following suggestions for moving the economy forward: promote economic diversification; develop and commercialize economic activity in neglected industries; and deepen technology for manufacturing. Some of these suggestions are also applicable to other small and vulnerable economies.

This paper examines sustainable development challenges in Papua New Guinea, focusing on education and child health. Regional disparities between mining and non-mining areas are assessed and the economic potential and social concerns associated with mining are reviewed. Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, the results of the study indicate that mining provinces exhibit poorer outcomes on proxies for human capital, child health, asset ownership, access to public goods and state capacity. In addition, a comparative analysis with Papua, Indonesia sheds light on the multifaceted challenges faced by Papua New Guinea in achieving sustainable development.

This paper reviews the environmental factors related to the maternal health prolems in slum areas of Hliang Thar Yar township, Myanmar using descriptive statistics, the Chi-square test and a binary logistic regression model. The results indicate that antenatal care visits and women’s age affect the abortion rate, and drinking water, cooking fuel and antenatal care visits have an effect on low birth weight, while distance from dump sites, toilet facilities, cooking fuel and occupation affect urintary tract infection rates among women. For better health outcomes, steps should be taken to reduce poverty, improve conditions in slum areas, disseminate health-related information.

The rising popularity of camel wool among apparel manufacturers has prompted Mongolia to firmly embed wool-processing facilities. Based on a literature review, an avenue for upgrading the camel wool industry and challenges involved are examined in this paper. Despite clear market opportunities, the challenging institutional dynamics and the country’s physical landscape have complicated the trajectory to upgrade the camel wool industry. Studies on global value chains commonly prescribe policies targeting firms and stakeholders; however, insights gained from this review suggest that equal, if not more, attention should be devoted to improving the broader institutional milieu that firms are embedded in.