Regional Context and Priorities
Infant mortality rates fell in Asia and the Pacific by 52 per cent between 1990 and 2012, and this trend is expected to continue until 2040. South Asia, with a rate of 42 deaths per 1 000 live births in 2012, has the highest infant mortality in the region.
Alongside more than 1 billion young people representing more than half of global youth (UNFPA 2014),the population aged 65 and over is projected to increase from about 312 million in 2015 to more than 834 million in 2050. Indeed, older people are expected to represent about 20 per cent of the population by 2050. Life expectancy at birth was about 71 years in 2010–2015, and is projected to rise to 76 years by 2045–2050 (UNDESA 2015), alongside which the crude death rate, deaths per 1 000 of the population, for Asia and the Pacific was about 7.6 in 2012, lower than the world average of around 7.8.
Low fertility societies and those with large numbers of older people tend to raise their environmental footprint as a result of increased consumption. Such societies also tend to have fewer fiscal resources that can be allocated to environmental remediation and investment in green technology.
Lifestyles are changing in Asia and the Pacific
To sustain progress in human development (Figure 1.1.6) more attention needs to be paid to the impact of human beings and their lifestyle on the environment. The region’s overall goal is high human development and a low ecological footprint per person, and it is the more developed and urbanized countries in the region that increase material consumption, drive land-use change and raise greenhouse gas emissions.
Asia and the Pacific’s economic development is coupled to unsustainable consumption patterns and waste production. Intensive human activities and energy consumption in urban areas lead to the generation of increasing amounts of pollution and waste, with multiple adverse impacts on urban environments.
There have been significant changes in employment in Asia and the Pacific. Agriculture employment is decreasing, while industrial and services employment is increasing. With growing industrial activities and consumerist lifestyles, the large amounts of industrial, solid and hazardous waste generated degrade the region’s environment.
New households in urban settings add pressure on the environment through increased consumption. Regional cities account for 67 per cent of all energy use and emit 80 per cent of all greenhouse gases (IEA 2014). In terms of transport, the increase in the number of private vehicles has resulted in higher fossil fuel consumption, causing more air pollution.
In Asia and the Pacific, obesity and under-nutrition coexist, mainly due to wide socioeconomic disparities. Malaysia has the highest prevalence of obesity in Southeast Asia (14 per cent of the population), followed by Thailand with 8.8 per cent, while more than 50 per cent of the population is overweight in at least 10 Southwest Pacific Island countries (FAO 2015). Viet Nam (1.7 per cent) and India (1.9 per cent) have the lowest obesity rates in the region (WHO 2013).
Food supplies have grown faster than the population over recent decades, leading to increased food availability per person in most sub-regions. FAO estimates that “the average dietary energy supply adequacy increased by about 20 per cent in Eastern Asia and Southeast Asia. Because of this growth, only one country in the region, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, now has total food supplies inadequate to meet people’s average dietary needs” (FAO 2015).
In common with global trends, average food consumption per person per day has grown in Asia and the Pacific and is expected to continue to rise. Average consumption per person in Eastern Asia was 12 812 kilojoules (kJ) per day in 2015 and is expected to rise to 13 356 kJ per day in 2030, while that of Southern Asia is projected to reach 12 142 kJ by 2030 (FAO 2015). But food safety and security remain as grave challenges in the region.
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