As the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting approaches in Shenzhen this November, it is time to review the achievements made and challenges ahead for the Asia-Pacific region.
"On the APEC side, it has a convening power," noted Guillaume Lafortune, Vice President & Head of Asia at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) in a recent exclusive interview with South.
Detailing his analysis of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Asia-Pacific region, Lafortune expected that APEC economies could make progress through dialogue on issues such as war and peace, AI and digital technologies, as well as maintaining open trade, as all of them are ultimately critical to achieving sustainable development.
Guillaume Lafortune delivers his speech on the Asia Pacific on August 23, 2026, in Guangzhou.
Remarkable SDG progress in the Asia Pacific despite diverging trends
Prior to his speech titled APEC & Sustainable Development: An Empirical Review of Progress and Commitments Towards Long-term Policy Goals at an academic conference held in Guangzhou in late August, Lafortune elaborated on his observations of new trajectories in the region. These insights are based on the Sustainable Development Report 2026 published this June by SDSN.
Since the SDGs' adoption by all UN Member States in 2015, SDSN has tracked the progress that countries are making in moving towards this agenda, aiming for balanced economic growth, social progress and environmental sustainability.
"Overall, the picture looks quite positive in terms of progress for East and South Asia in our assessment," Lafortune underscored. As the region made the fastest progress on this agenda, he listed rapid progress on the SDGs related to education, innovation, infrastructure, no poverty (SDG 1) and affordable and clean energy (SDG 7).
For all the achievements reached, there are still some challenges ahead in East and South Asia, Lafortune warned.
He detailed sustainable cities and communities of SDG 11. He also addressed air pollution and marine and terrestrial biodiversity under SDGs 14 and 15, as well as peace, justice and strong institutions under SDG 16 in some countries. "You cannot implement sustainable development in the middle of a major conflict," Lafortune stated.
As for APEC members, there are diverging trends and performance on SDG progress, the Vice President pointed out.
He elaborated on the performance of Japan, the only non-European country in the top 20 of the SDG index, and on progress in China. Nonetheless, there are countries such as Papua New Guinea that lag behind, ranking 157 out of 169.
Also, Lafortune highlighted various situations in terms of SDG commitment and willingness to embrace this agenda among APEC members. Countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Canada and Mexico have incorporated sustainable development into many public management practices and procedures.
Indonesia, the Philippines and Mexico have all submitted their action plans to the United Nations four times as part of the voluntary national review. By contrast, the United States very clearly opposes the SDGs in the Paris Climate Agreement.
Guillaume Lafortune delivers his speech on the Asia Pacific on August 23, 2026, in Guangzhou.
China is an example of commitment and contribution
As China has progressed by 14 ranks in the SDG assessment since 2015, it has shown quite a remarkable commitment when it comes to sustainable development and climate actions, Lafortune said.
Given its record-breaking renewable energy production each year and the falling costs of renewable energy technologies, "Overwhelmingly, China is among the countries that are highly committed towards this agenda," he noted.
With less than four years remaining in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, Lafortune saw a brighter prospect for the post-2030 agenda with China's participation.
"Hopefully, countries such as China and other countries that have shown leadership should make their voice heard, so that we have an ambitious agenda moving forward," he added.
The next era of sustainable development, in Lafortune's view, should focus on implementation to a large extent. He welcomed China's adoption of its 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) this March. There are a number of countries in the region working on long-term plans, often very much aligned with, or at least referencing, the sustainable development goals.
"It's important still for the region to safeguard peace and so to work on regional, but also global security architecture and remain committed to UN-based multilateralism," noted the UN official.
The imminent APEC meeting endows convening power among world leaders
A number of pressing short-term issues around war and peace, AI and digital technologies, along with trade wars, will take center stage, and rightly so, at the upcoming APEC meeting in November, Lafortune projected.
In spite of the conundrums along the way, he is still optimistic about the approaching meeting as the big strength of APEC is to be able to "convene these world leaders together".
The Vice President of SDSN expected progress inside APEC in agreeing on certain ways to move forward when it comes to sustainable arrangements and regulations, not only the narrative, but also outcomes within some of the subcommittee groups.
He took forestry and logging as an example. The 2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Forestry in Shenzhen managed to come up with an agreement on a declaration around forestry and sustainable logging in late July.
"Hopefully, there is still room for specific issues to advance sustainable development and sustainable trade systems," he said.
Reporter | Zhang Ruijun
Video & Poster | Xu Anrui
Script | Zhang Ruijun
Photo | Zhang Ruijun
