"Act boldly, innovate broadly, and implement adequetly!" Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) remarked at the ING Earth Day Forum in New Taipei City. To realize the SDGs, all of us, including governments, business, academia, and citizens, must take a part in the action.

It's only eight years left to 2030. According to the UN, however, it is not until 2065 will the Asia-Pacific region accheive the SDGs. To accelerate the process, the UCLG ASPAC continues to help cities and local governments to engage in Voluntary Local Reviews (VLR), Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSR), and to implement localized actions.

The UCLG ASPAC consists of over 10 thousand cities and local entities regionally, and is connected with over 100 thousand cities across 140 countries globally, aiming to become the voice of the Asia-Pacific area. In 2021, the UCLG ASPAC assisted Surabaya City in releasing the first VLR in Indonesia, and then helped Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka publish their own VSRs. All of these VLR and VSR reports would be presented in the UN HLPF this year.