A ZEN approach to post-2015: addressing the range of perspectives across Asia and the Pacific

The Asia and the Pacific region is gaining increased influence in the world economy but is still grappling to overcome interrelated challenges of poverty and sustainable development. This paper discusses key challenges faced throughout this region, underlying that the region’s priorities will be of significant importance in informing the contents of any post-2015 global development framework.

The paper finds the following:

• despite the region’s overarching economic progress, it still faces a significant task in ending extreme poverty in its many forms
• in addition, the region will still face deep challenges of relative poverty and inequality, both within and between countries
• the interrelated challenges of environmental sustainability are also becoming increasingly serious, and the issues are only on track to grow in consequence
• indeed, many parts of Asia will still need global support in meeting these challenges
• at the same time, Asia will increasingly need to identify areas where it contributes to meeting global challenges

As a result, the paper suggests a conceptual Asian-based framework for setting a new generation of global goals. The “ZEN” framework stands for the following targets:

• the distinct challenges of achieving zero extreme poverty (Z)
• setting country-specific “epsilon” benchmarks for broader development challenges (E)
• promoting environmental sustainability both within and across borders (N)

The author highlights that a viable goal of zero extreme poverty, in Asia and around the world, has the potential to inspire people around the world. Moreover, many of the world’s most significant challenges lie at the intersection of these E and N goals, thus cross-country coordination will be essential to success.

The document recommends the adoption of ZEN framework, claiming that a post-2015 global framework will not achieve success unless it helps addressing Asia’s challenges directly.