The UWI appointed as Hub Chair for Climate Action by United Nations Academic Impact

UNAI SDG Hubs are designated institutions of higher education within the UNAI network that actively work to promote the SDGs by leveraging the power of academia to create positive social, economic, and environmental change that would bring the world closer to achieving the SDGs. In addition to incorporating sustainability considerations as a general policy and supporting the overall SDG agenda, each UNAI SDG Hub will focus on a specific SDG, fostering research, education, and global collaboration to advance that goal, while recognising the strong interdependencies across all 17 SDGs.

The UWI will lead the UNAI SDG 13 Hub for three years, from January 2025 to December 2027. Through this leadership role, The UWI will continue to play a crucial part in advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by focusing on innovative education, impactful research, and strategic partnerships as part of the larger UNAI network, which comprises over 1,700 universities and colleges across more than 150 countries.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the new UNAI SDG Hub Chairs cohort (2025-2027) on January 23, Sandrea Maynard, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Global Affairs at The UWI, noted that The UWI’s selection as the UNAI’s Hub Chair for SDG 13 further reinforces the global recognition of its work on climate action and the respect of the University’s academic leads who will join a fellowship of dedicated researchers to deepen global efforts to address climatic changes.

“This is a role that The UWI accepts with great appreciation as we strengthen our global positioning as the University leads on SDG-13 with the International Association of Universities and The Global University Consortium.” Our dedication to advancing the SDGs also led us last year to launch the International School for Development Justice (ISDJ)—the world’s first global business school dedicated exclusively to online graduate programmes that emphasise leadership in the SDGs,” she stated.

The UWI joins 16 other universities across the globe with UNAI SDG Hub Chairs for 2025 to 2027, including the University of Sao Paulo (SDG 1), York University (SDG 10) and Tsinghua University (SDG17).