Dear partners, friends and colleagues,
Season’s greetings from the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability!
This year we celebrated two important milestones — the 50th anniversary of UNU and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. Reflecting on UNU’s evolution as the academic arm of the UN system, we redoubled our commitment to generating science-based solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.
At a special ceremony in September, UNU-IAS was honoured to welcome Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan for a private tea reception with 16 of our students, who engaged in an intimate exchange discussing their research topics and aspirations.
Throughout this year we held a series of events in celebration of the 50th anniversary, which exemplified the crucial role of UNU in bridging research, education and policy. These included a symposium on disaster recovery on the Noto Peninsula, a conference on urban ecosystem restoration, events at the 2025 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, a session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), workshops at Osaka EXPO 2025 and the 20th anniversary of the Regional Centres of Expertise (RCEs). We also launched a new podcast exploring the intersection of AI, higher education and sustainability.
Last month UNU-IAS experts were at the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil (COP30), which delivered new commitments to boost climate finance and accelerate action. We provided science-based expertise through events, policy dialogue and media commentary, and empowered youth by engaging university and high school students.
UNU-IAS continues to train the sustainability leaders of tomorrow through our postgraduate degrees and innovative short courses — including a specialization on the Paris Agreement. Applications are now open for our 3-year doctorate and 2-year master’s programmes, providing unique opportunities to build interdisciplinary knowledge and skills at a global university in the UN system.
Our recent publications include a book on action-oriented pedagogy for sustainability, a report on reforming subsidies that harm biodiversity and a policy brief on water valuation. In the media UNU-IAS experts have been offering valuable insights and recommendations on urgent topics such as climate adaptation indicators, Africa’s energy future, reimagining TICAD and bias in AI.
These highlights — and our many other activities this year — reflected the spirit of UNU’s 50th anniversary in mobilizing global partnerships to advance evidence-based solutions for sustainability.
We deeply appreciate your collaboration and support for the work of UNU-IAS. As this year draws to a close, we look forward to building on our shared successes and exploring the exciting opportunities ahead.
With very best wishes for the holiday season and a Happy New Year,
Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi
Director, UNU-IAS
