Environmental concerns are among the chief impediments to Asia’s long-term development success.  Rapid economic growth has led to dramatic increases in the use of natural resources and wrought unprecedented damage on Asia’s forests, fisheries, wildlife, and vulnerable ecosystems.  Asia’s developing countries are among the world’s leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the Asia-Pacific region is also greatly affected by climate change due to the high concentrations of vulnerable populations living along coastal areas and river basins.

USAID supports regional partnerships and private sector engagement to improve natural resource management, accelerating energy sector transformation and reducing deforestation and emissions from the land use sector.  USAID uses a market-based approach to strengthen sustainable fisheries management and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, ensuring fisheries resources are legally caught and properly labeled. USAID promotes the application of environmental and social safeguards to protect valuable natural resources, sustain economic growth, and improve governance. .

To minimize threats to biodiversity and regional security, USAID’s regional wildlife trafficking efforts reduce consumer demand for illegal products and increase law enforcement capacities.  USAID uses science and technology to better inform policies that address large-scale hydropower and irrigation, and to properly value ecosystem services.

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Community foresters measure the diameter of a tree to calculate the amount of carbon it stores. USAID offers training in forest management across Asia and the Pacific.

Updates from USAID's Regional Development Mission for Asia

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ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity and the United States Announce Protected Area Management Partnership to Mitigate Climate Change

The ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment have endorsed the U.S.-ASEAN Alliance for Protected Area Conservation—a new project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and co-created with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP) and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)—to strengthen the management of protected areas and reduce land-based greenhouse gas emissions across the ASEAN region.  

USAID Announces Initiative to Boost Southeast Asia Investments in Low-Carbon Land Use

Today, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a five-year initiative to increase investments in sustainable commercial agriculture, forestry, and other land uses in Southeast Asia. USAID Partnerships for Green Investment (PAGI) will collaborate with investors and companies working with agricultural and forestry commodities to reduce carbon emissions, enhance climate resilience, protect biodiversity, and improve equitable benefit sharing with communities. This initiative will seek to advance the US-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by leveraging finance to achieve net zero goals, catalyzing private sector investments across the region that will spur economic growth, advance financial inclusion, and leverage technology to support food security, with particular attention to small and medium-sized enterprises as well as civil society. 

USAID Launches Competitive Procurement Center to Promote Clean Energy Transition in Southeast Asia

Today, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Competitive Procurement Center (CPC) during the Asia Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) Partnership Forum held in Bangkok, Thailand. The CPC will be a one-stop-service and focal point for the dissemination of best practices and provision of technical know-how for the competitive acquisition of clean technology, clean energy systems, and associated services. The launch marks a significant step forward in accelerating clean energy deployment in Southeast Asia and fostering transparent, affordable procurement practices. Over 100 participants from public, private, and non-governmental organizations joined USAID and partners to celebrate this milestone.

MRC and USAID Announce Partnership to Enhance Mekong Basin Management

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed a Grant Agreement with the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to launch their new Mekong Basin Partnership. The signing ceremony, held at the MRC Secretariat, demonstrates the continuous support of the United States to strengthen transboundary coordination and management of water and related resources, contributing to the achievement of the MRC’s Basin Development Strategy.