The second Sustainability Report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offers easily accessible information on ADB’s policies, programs, and practices as they relate to the social and environmental sustainability of development in Asia and the Pacific, and on changes in this work that have occurred since ADB published its first Sustainability Report, in 2007. The report also documents ADB’s continuing efforts to minimize its corporate environmental impact, especially at its Manila headquarters. For comparability, ADB’s current Sustainability Report is structured similarly to its first. Both reports respond to the latest guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative while adapting to the particular characteristics of ADB’s work and the many different audiences interested in the information presented.

The third Sustainability Report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) offers easily accessible information on ADB’s policies, programs, and practices as they relate to the social and environmental sustainability of development in Asia and the Pacific, and on changes in this work that have occurred since ADB published its second Sustainability Report, in 2009. The report also documents ADB’s continuing efforts to minimize its corporate environmental impact, especially at its Manila headquarters. For comparability, ADB’s current Sustainability Report is structured similarly to its first two. All three reports respond to the latest guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative while adapting to the particular characteristics of ADB’s work and the many different audiences interested in the information presented.

Most Asian cities have grown more congested, more sprawling, and less livable in recent years; and statistics suggest that this trend will continue. Rather than mitigate the problems, transport policies have often exacerbated them. In this book, the Asian Development Bank outlines a new paradigm for sustainable urban transport that gives Asian cities a workable, step-by-step blueprint for reversing the trend and moving toward safer, cleaner, more sustainable cities, and a better quality of urban life.

The Asian Development Bank Sustainability Report has been produced biennially since 2007. It enables stakeholders to understand and assess ADB’s sustainability performance in its project investments, technical assistance, knowledge services, and corporate footprint. The publication consists of two parts. Part I: Highlights presents the major economic, social, and environmental impacts of ADB’s operations and headquarters for 2018 and 2019. Part II: The Global Reporting Initiative Content Index provides detailed information and data on the integration of sustainability in ADB’s operations, facilities, and organizational activities against the reporting standards of the Global Reporting Initiative.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued its Sustainability Report every 2 years since 2007. For 2015, the Sustainability Report highlights the sustainability of ADB’s investments and organizational activities during 2013–2014. A separate detailed Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index contains the responses of ADB to standard and specific material disclosures in the GRI’s G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and G4 Financial Services Sector Guidelines. The Sustainability Report and detailed GRI Index are available online at www.adb.org/documents/ asian-development-bank-sustainability-report-2015. The Sustainability Report focuses on (1) ADB's investments in poverty reduction and inclusive economic growth, environment and climate change, regional integration, and infrastructure; (2) ADB's private sector, finance and knowledge partnerships, and governance and safeguard matters; and (3) ADB's human resource activities, environmental footprint, and community activities as topics that are material to ADB's stakeholders in a sustainability context.

This study examines major challenges and issues associated with developing regional infrastructure through the fostering of regional cooperation in Asia, and provides a framework for pan-Asian infrastructure cooperation. The study's long-term vision is the creation of a seamless Asia (an integrated region connected by world-class, environmentally friendly infrastructure) in terms of both "hard" (physical) and "soft" (facilitating) infrastructure. The soft part supports the development and operation of the hard component. Findings indicate that the benefits of upgrading and extending Asia's infrastructure networks are substantial, and that all countries in the region would benefit. A logistics network is only as good as its weakest link; each country in a regional supply chain gains from infrastructure improvements made in others. Improving connectivity in the region would bring Asia large welfare gains through increased market access, reduced trade costs, and more efficient energy production and use. According to the study, to achieve this Asia needs to invest approximately $8 trillion in overall national infrastructure between 2010 and 2020. In addition, Asia needs to spend approximately $290 billion on specific regional infrastructure projects in transport and energy that are already in the pipeline

How do we take stock of the state and direction of the world’s environment, and what can we learn from the experience? Among the myriad detailed narratives about the condition of the planet, the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) reports—issued by the United Nations Environment Programme—stand out as the most ambitious. For nearly three decades the GEO project has not only delivered iconic global assessment reports, but through its multitude of contributors has inspired hundreds of similar processes worldwide from the regional to the local level. This book provides an inside account of the evolution of the GEO project from its earliest days. Building on meticulous research, including interviews with former heads of the United Nations Environment Programme, diplomats, leading contributing scientists, and senior leaders of collaborating organizations, the story is told from the perspective of five GEO veterans who all played a pivotal role in shaping the periodic assessments. The GEO’s history provides striking insights and will save valuable time to those who commission, design and conduct, as well as critique and improve, assessments of environmental development in the next decade.