University leaders commit to action on UN Sustainable Development Goals

Leaders from 56 global universities commit to action on reaching the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

The SDGs include five key aspects: 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 and constructive transnational cooperation on specific issues.

At the online forum which was hosted by Zhejiang University in China the universities committed to working together to meet SDGs.

With less than 9 years to go to meet targets and the pandemic slowing progress, the forum allowed leaders to share essential expertise on how to scale up efforts to deliver on the 2030 Agenda. The event gave academics a platform to clearly outline their action plans for human-oriented, innovation-driven and down-to-earth sustainable development.

Speakers from Nikhil Seth, UN Assistant Secretary-General reinforced how universities can work together to harness the power of technology to expand access to quality education. They also discussed how they should draw on their academic ecosystem to support scientific collaborations and knowledge transfer across disciplines.

UK Universities to join this commitment include University College Dublin, University College London, and the University of Bristol.

Nikhil Seth, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, said: ‘SDGs belong to each of us and everything we do impacts on the achievement, in the aggregate, to SDG achievement.”

Zhaohui Wu, President of Zhejiang University, added: ‘The ‘Global ZJU for Social Good’ plan establishes five objectives and associated actions to improve our sustainability-related education, research, and practices within the ZJU community and among other stakeholders in China and beyond. We aim to advocate for responsible sustainability, educate for a sustainable future, advance scientific collaborations, partner for collective well-being and create greener campuses.’

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