The UWI’s Outstanding SDG Leadership Continues

The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica, West Indies. Friday, May 9, 2025—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is proudly maintaining its position as a globally recognised higher education leader in universal solutions for the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDG-engaged university over the last academic year is celebrated in its recently published 2023/2024 annual report under themed ‘Regionally Respected. Globally Celebrated’.

Presenting the report to the annual meeting of The UWI’s governing Council on May 2, 2025, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles expressed pride in the international respect that The UWI has earned from global players such as the International Association of Universities (IAU) and the United Nations. Crediting the University’s decades of ‘unique and stellar’ research on climate change Vice-Chancellor Beckles explained The UWI’s current positioning — “The world came to realise that The UWI has the most developed series of detailed research on the topic [climate change] and so we were catapulted into COP research and policy formulation. The universities of the world and the United Nations identified us to lead the research around the world on climate change. This is the result of decades of hard work by our scholars, researchers and academics.”

Since 2018, The UWI has led an IAU Global University Consortium on SDG 13: Climate Action. In January 2025, the university was appointed Chair for the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) Sustainable Development Goals Hub for SDG 13. This role connects over 1700 institutions worldwide, allowing The UWI to lead efforts in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Narrowing focus to advancements made over the last academic year, the 2023/2024 annual report features the launch of The UWI’s International School for Development Justice (ISDJ) and the Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE). Also highlighted are a perfect Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking score; new SDG-focused programme offerings and research clusters; and the reveal of the world’s first sargassum powered vehicle ¬— the culmination of rigorous research by scientists at the Cave Hill Campus which is set to revolutionise sustainable transport in the Caribbean and beyond.

The August 2024 launch of The UWI International School of Development Justice (ISDJ) is the result of a groundbreaking agreement with IDB Invest. The partnership with IDB Invest channels US$ 11 million in long-term financing to enhance Caribbean-based higher education and making online graduate programmes more accessible to students globally. The ISDJ is the world’s first international business school dedicated exclusively to online graduate programmes centred on leadership in the SDGs. It offers a variety of innovative programmes, equipping students and professionals to address urgent social and environmental issues.

Further innovating at the level of programme offerings for the SDGs, and specifically in defence of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), The UWI launched a one-year MSc in Climate Studies. It is the first multidisciplinary postgraduate programme in the Caribbean, and offers diverse specialisations including health, energy, food security, climate justice, sport and tourism and coastal management.

In a significant step toward advancing the Blue Economy, The UWI’s Centre of Excellence for Oceanography and the Blue Economy (COBE) was launched during the United Nation’s 4th Small Islands Developing States Conference at The UWI Five Islands Campus, Antigua. A collaborative effort among the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, The UWI and the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), COBE is operational at The UWI Five Islands and positioned to serve as a pivotal resource for education and research toward a sustainable Caribbean blue economy.

On the strength of the highlighted advancements and many others, The UWI’s perfect score in the 2024 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings was welcomed stamp of approval of the institution’s dedicated efforts to foster regional and global collaborations to advance SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals.
The UWI’s full 2023/2024 annual report as well as a special report ‘Journey to the Top 2015-2025’ documenting a decade of impact are available at www.uwi.edu/vcreport. Also view a recorded broadcast of the Vice Chancellor’s live presentation here.

About The University of the West Indies

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development, residing at the center of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region for over 75 years. From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with nearly 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Global Campus, and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.

The UWI offers over 1000 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and the wider world.

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the best in the world by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). Since The UWI’s 2018 debut in THE’s rankings, it has performed well in multiple schemes—among them including World University Rankings, Golden Age University Rankings (between 50 and 80 years old), Latin America Rankings, and the Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Well-being; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

Learn more at www.uwi.edu.