On 5 December 2023, UNU-IAS held a press conference at the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP28) in Dubai, highlighting the institute’s new initiative — a postgraduate degree specialization on the Paris Agreement.
UNU-IAS experts announced plans to expand access to the course, scaling up its impact in strengthening the institutional and technical capacities needed to implement the Paris Agreement across the globe.
Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi (Director, UNU-IAS) highlighted that insufficient knowledge and technical skills were one of the key constraints holding back climate action. She stressed the urgent need to build and strengthen climate capacities across society through education and training programmes. UNU is uniquely placed to meet this need, as a global think tank bridging the UN system and the international academic community. Prof. Yamaguchi introduced the UNU-IAS postgraduate degree specialization on the Paris Agreement, which was launched in September 2023. It aims to develop future climate leaders who will be at the forefront of implementation in governments, the private sector, and beyond.
Prof. Yamaguchi announced that UNU-IAS would expand access to these courses in the near future, offering them as a flexible standalone diploma programme on Paris Agreement implementation. She underlined that, at this critical turning point for climate action, capacity development and training must be at the core of global efforts to deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement.
Akio Takemoto (Head of Programme and Administration, UNU-IAS) provided further details on the diploma programme. In addition to the existing courses, UNU-IAS is developing multiple options to address topics such as transparency on greenhouse gas emissions measurement, reporting and verification (MRV), carbon markets, climate adaptation and loss and damage. He added that UNU-IAS was developing a curriculum for practicum training to understand MRV transparency at multiple levels, to be delivered in summer 2024.
A video recording of the press conference is available on the UNFCCC website.
