Global HE leaders commit to climate change action

University presidents from 56 universities across six continents have committed to working together on climate change.

The global HE leaders – which included Durham University, the University of Bristol and University College London – signed the Joint Statement of Global University Leaders on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the first global online forum for university leaders, hosted by Zhejiang University in China.

The initiative includes five key aspects which all signatories have agreed to:

• implementing the concept of sustainable development
• improving sustainable development competence
• supporting scientific research in response to global challenges
• working with global partners to provide innovative solutions
• constructive transnational cooperation on specific issues

UN officials including Nikhil Seth, UN assistant secretary-general and Stefania Giannini, UNESCO assistant director-general for education, joined the panel of speakers including Yale University president Peter Salovey, president of the International Association of Universities Pam Fredman and Eric Labaye, president of École Polytechnique.

“Co-operation and cohesion among higher education institutions and organisations will foster knowledge development and sharing,” said Pam Fredman, president of the International Association of Universities, Paris.

The Joint Statement of Global University Leaders on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been signed by the following institutions (in alphabetical order):

1. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
2. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
3. Durham University, UK
4. École Polytechnique, France
5. Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
6. Ghent University, Belgium
7. Harvard University, USA
8. Hitotsubashi University, Japan
9. Hokkaido University, Japan
10. Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
11. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
12. Korea University, Korea
13. Kyoto University, Japan
14. Kyushu University, Japan
15. Lingnan University, Hong Kong, China
16. Mahidol University, Thailand
17. Makerere University, Uganda
18. Moscow Aviation Institute, Russia
19. Nagoya University, Japan
20. National University of Singapore, Singapore
21. Northwestern University, USA
22. Peking University, China
23. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Russia
24. Politecnico di Milano, Italy
25. Stellenbosch University, South Africa
26. Tel Aviv University, Israel
27. The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
28. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
29. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
30. The University of British Columbia, Canada
31. The University of Novi Sad, Serbia
32. The University of Sydney, Australia
33. The University of Western Australia, Australia
34. Tohoku University, Japan
35. Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
36. Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
37. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil
38. Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
39. University College Dublin, Ireland
40. University College London, UK
41. University of Alberta, Canada
42. University of California, Davis, USA
43. University of Bergen, Norway
44. University of Bristol, UK
45. University of Cape Town, South Africa
46. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
47. University of Lagos, Nigeria
48. University of Macau, Macau, China
49. University of Oslo, Norway
50. University of Ottawa, Canada
51. University of Toronto, Canada
52. University of Vienna, Austria
53. University of Washington, USA
54. Waseda University, Japan
55. Yale University, USA
56. Zhejiang University, China

You might also like: Sustainability in education: Advance HE and QAA publish new guidance

Green Gown Awards: Keele clinches top sustainability prize