On 20 February 2024, a side event on ‘Harnessing Technology, Data, and Capacity for Climate Resilient Development’ was successfully convened virtually amid the 11th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD). The event was well-attended by representatives and participants from government entities, research institutes, international organizations, and civil societies in the Asia-Pacific region. Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, delivered video remarks in the opening session of the event.

The side event focused on the nexus of technology, statistics, and capacity development in response to climate change challenges. It emphasized that strengthened efforts must be forged for fostering sustainable technology transfer and development, enhancing capacity for data management and analysis, improving investment in statistical infrastructure, and promoting capacity-building initiatives. This should be done through the adoption of integrated approaches that enable monitoring of climate impacts, informed decision-making, increased climate resilience in the region, and contribution to global efforts in mitigating and adapting to the challenges and threats posed by climate variations.

During the panel discussion, experts and practitioners from relevant agencies and organizations in the region delivered presentations. These included the Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China; the Central Building Research Institute of the Government of India; the Digital Connectivity & Cyber Security Partnership; and the Statistical Institute of Asia and the Pacific. They shared their experiences in their respective areas of expertise on how policy making, technology, data, and regional cooperation can be strategically integrated and translated into actionable insights. This included the experience derived in China on how data and cutting-edge technologies can be effectively leveraged into agricultural mechanization to build climate resilience in agricultural production and operation, and help farmers cope with extreme weather shocks such as droughts, floods, and other disasters.

The deliberations concluded that appropriate use of new technologies and well-governed data can provide effective mechanization-based solutions and significantly upgrade agricultural productivity and efficiency, improve rural livelihoods, safeguard food security, and help achieve accelerated sustainable development in the region.

The side event is a joint effort of ESCAP’s five Regional Institutions, including, Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) and Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP).