UN University News

Message from the UNU Rector and UN Under Secretary-General, Konrad Osterwalder, on the Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake

2011.03.19 • On behalf of all staff of the United Nations University, I would like to express my sincere and heart-felt condolences for all those who have lost their loved ones and their homes in this unprecedented disaster affecting the entire Tohoku-Kanto region and beyond.

We have watched with deep sadness the events across north eastern Japan since the earthquake and tsunami on Friday. The loss of life has been tragic. Our thoughts are with those who have found refuge in the evacuation centres. We hope that relief supplies will have reached you by now and that your situation is improving gradually.

We would like to express our respect to the valiant members of the rescue services from Japan and across the world, and to the members of the Japan Self Defense Forces, for their extraordinary efforts in response to this disaster.

The situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants is grave and we commend the brave and tireless work of those involved in trying to respond.

To all the people of Japan, we are deeply impressed by the calm resilience you have shown in the face of such adversity. The entire world is watching and willing to offer you support in these troubling times and in the days that follow.

I would like to repeat the assurances of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations stands by the people of Japan and we will do anything and everything we can at this very difficult time.

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The 2011 UN-CECAR spring courses, which will run until 25 March at UNU-ISP, cover a range of issues on sustainability and adaptation to climate and ecosystems change. Course topics include climate and atmospheric science, impacts assessment, climate and society, ecosystems resilience, risk and uncertainty, integrated solutions for mitigation and adaptation, mainstreaming adaptation into development planning, and community-based adaptation. Students also will receive practical training in the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) for climate and ecosystems change research.

Each course is worth 2 credits and comprises of 30 hours of teaching time. A number of universities have agreed to allow the transfer of credits for students who successfully complete the courses. Students also will be awarded a Certificate of Completion and receive an academic transcript from UNU-ISP.

The courses are being attended by 34 students from 25 countries; of these, 14 students are registered at a university for their master's degree, 14 are registered as Ph.D. students, and 6 are researchers or professionals associated with an academic programme on climate change issues.

The students will present their learning experiences at a closing symposium organized in conjunction with a closing ceremony on Friday, 25 March.

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Dr. Douste-Blazy started his presentation by expressing appreciation to the public and especially to the young people in the audience. He explained that the world is at a critical crossroad. World economies are suffering from the effects of the global financial crisis and official development assistance (ODA) is under tight pressure. Yet, the need for assistance to people living in the world’s poorest regions has never been greater. Dr. Douste-Blazy highlighted that in 2009 alone, while the developed world battled with financial deficits, debts and rising unemployment incurred by the crisis, 200,000 to 400,000 children died as a consequence of the crisis.

Dr. Douste-Blazy explained how an increasing need for solidarity in an ever more interdependent world led to the creation of UNITAID. The organization is an innovative mechanism to raise additional funds for global health and complement efforts to increase treatment for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. To support it, a new tax was incepted in France as of 30 July 2006: a one Euro tax which is levied on the plane tickets of all passengers departing from France with each Euro funnelled into UNITAID. Dr. Douste-Blazy then provided examples on how UNITAID does make use of the funds it receives, highlighting the development of appropriate antiretroviral drugs for children and a joint programme with UNICEF to minimize mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In the past four years, 14 other countries, including four from Africa, have shown solidarity by adding a one dollar tax to their plane tickets. Together, these countries have assisted UNITAID in raising more than two billion dollars.

Dr. Douste-Blazy concluded his lecture by encouraging Japan to join UNITAID in this act of world solidarity. Audience members were invited to show their solidarity by writing to their local newspapers and encouraging the adoption of this innovative financing mechanism for development.

A video of Mr. Douste-Blazy’s lecture, including the question and answer session that followed, can be viewed on UNU's video portal.

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Dr. Per Stromberg, a UNU-IAS Research Fellow, opened the seminar by introducing Dr. Hill as an established and much-cited contributor to the field of biofuels. The presentation that followed centred on the key question that Dr. Hill has been pursuing for the past five years: "Does the use of biofuels in place of oil benefit society?"

Dr. Hill referred to his experience in using life-cycle assessment to understand the impact of corn ethanol production and use in the United States to reveal problematic aspects of current US energy policy. He focused particularly on the expectations surrounding biofuel benefits.

Political disturbances abroad, and their effects on oil prices, have made Americans wary of their current dependence on foreign oil. Biofuels have therefore gained much attention in the USA in recent years, mainly because they are perceived as a means of achieving energy independence through the production of locally renewable fuel.

Furthermore, biofuels have been touted as a "green energy" alternative that can mitigate climate change as well as reduce the risk of environmental disasters associated with fossil fuel production (such as recent oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico).

These issues, combined with the complex political reality within the USA, have brought biofuels to the forefront of the American national energy policy debate. It is estimated that as much as 40 per cent of the total current maize (corn) production in the USA is used to produce corn ethanol to fuel cars.

According to Dr. Hill, however, the research and the policies that promote bioethanol have some problems. This is due partly to the misuse of the results of past life-cycle assessments, and partly to the lack of current studies using appropriate life-cycle assessment methodologies.

The US Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 stipulates targets for renewable fuel production by 2022, but these targets only consider greenhouse gas reduction. While some research may indicate that corn ethanol emits lower levels of greenhouse gases than gasoline, this is very much dependent on the conversion technology used during the production and use of bioethanol. In addition, life-cycle assessments focusing on greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels sometimes fail to account for the full set of impacts from production to combustion.

In his presentation, Dr. Hill argued that if the entire life cycles of gasoline and ethanol are to be compared properly, then the direct and indirect land use change associated with biofuel expansion must be factored in the life-cycle assessments. In fact, depending on the location and the previous land use regime, he said, it could take decades — or even centuries — before the carbon debt from ethanol production can be repaid.

Furthermore, by focusing solely on the projected reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, US biofuel policies disregard other important impacts on human health and ecosystems. Current biofuel policies, for example, fail to consider the human health costs associated with biofuels' detrimental impact on air quality (particularly from particulate matter).

To close his presentation, Dr. Hill identified areas in which his research could collaborate with the work that UNU-IAS carries out in ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Dr. Hill is contributing to a forthcoming book, tentatively titled Biofuels in Developing Nations: Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts, that is being edited by Dr. Stromberg and Dr. Alexandros Gasparatos, a JSPS-UNU Postdoctoral Fellow.

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The study, part of UNU-INWEH's Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project, was conducted with the cooperation of Amigos de Sian Ka'an, a local nongovernmental organization.

Among the groundwater pollutants found by the study were illicit drugs (cocaine and its post-digestion "metabolite" form, benzoylecgonine), chemicals from pharmaceuticals (including painkillers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen) and personal care products (deodorants, perfume, toothpaste, hand-sanitizing lotion, etc.), caffeine, and a metabolite of nicotine.

The study points to pit latrines, septic tanks and leaking sewer lines as the likeliest sources of these pollutants, noting only one-third of the area is served by municipal wastewater treatment systems.

Pesticide applications (such as on golf courses) and run-off from highways are other paved surfaces are also sources of groundwater contamination.

The researchers note that the district has "a general lack of expertise and equipment for monitoring or tracking sources of pollution", and that there are "few administrative links between those responsible for water and coastal management and the labs that generate the (monitoring) data".

Among the countermeasures recommended by the study are the installation of impermeable liners beneath golf courses and other turf-covered areas to restrict the leaching of contaminants, nutrients and pathogens; lined and impermeable drainage canals, retention ponds and treatment systems; measures to minimize aquifer contamination from hard surface runoff; adequate wastewater treatment infrastructure; a halt to injections of treated sewage into saltwater below the freshwater aquifer; implementation of an integrated approach to coastal zone management; and protection of all remaining mangroves, which serve to buffer coastal areas from pollution.

Without integrated approaches to protecting and managing the aquifer, the UNU-INWEH study warns, "the tourism-based economy of the Maya Riviera region will not be sustainable over the medium to long term".

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The seminar was followed by a reception in the UNU bookstore, where Prof. Thakur was on-hand to sign purchased copies of his co-edited book.

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The 2010 Think Tank Index, released yesterday, ranks the global UNU system as number 7 in the "Best Government-Affiliated Think Tanks" category, and UNU-WIDER as number 7 in the "International Development Think Tanks" category.

The 2010 Think Tank Index rankings are distilled from almost 5,500 nominated think tanks in every region of the world, and based on a worldwide survey of some 1,500 scholars, journalists, policy makers and peers from almost 120 countries. The survey is conducted annually by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

"Even though we know that such rankings have to be taken with a grain of salt, we are very pleased that the United Nations University was evaluated so positively," said UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder. "It confirms the success of our continuing efforts, as an academic and research organization within the United Nations, to serve as a bridge between the UN system and the international academic and policy-making communities."

The judgment criteria for the rankings included an institution's ability to retain top-level analysts and scholars, the richness and rigor of its research, its access to policy makers, and its ability to influence policy decisions in such diverse domains as international security, globalization and governance, the international economy, the environment, poverty reduction, and global health.

Dr. James G. McGann, Director of Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program and Assistant Director of the International Relations Program, University of Pennsylvania, introduced the 2010 Think Tank Index at UN Headquarters on 18 January 2011. A video of his presentation, as well as a link to the full 2010 rankings report, will be appended here as soon as they are available.

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UNU-IIST Reaffirms Host Country Commitment

2010.12.27 • A delegation from the UNU Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST) visited the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China on 15 December 2010.

The two sides affirmed a commitment to forging a closer bond aimed at supporting economic and technology development in Macao and Mainland China.

The UNU-IIST delegation, represented by Director Peter Haddawy and Senior Research Fellow Zhiming Liu, was warmly received by Mr. Kou Ming, Assistant Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department, and Mr. Dong Zhifeng, Director of the Economic Affairs Department.

Prof. Haddawy introduced the strong and unique position of the United Nations University as both an academic institution and a part of the United Nations.

"Given the special position and superior reputation of the institute, we invariably collaborate with the top universities in the world and promote Macao in turn", said Prof. Haddawy. "UNU-IIST, for example, is establishing a joint Ph.D. programme with the University of Pisa in Italy, which is one of the strongest universities in computer science in Europe."

Mr. Kou Ming said that he believed UNU-IIST can perform a more crucial role in the development of Macao and China, and assured the delegation that the Liaison Office will assist as a channel of communication.

"The Macau SAR government is aware of the overwhelming weight carried by the gaming industry in the local economy, whereas we hope the rest can grow too," Mr. Kou Ming said. "There are some 30,000 small and medium-size enterprises in Macao which have the potential to grow regionally, especially in the Pearl River Delta. What they need now is an improvement on skill and management; to this end, I believe UNU-IIST can provide talents and technology."

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In "The Rise of Large Farms: Drivers and Development Outcomes", the featured article in the November/December issue of the WIDER Angle online newsletter (UNU-WIDER), Derek Byerlee and Klaus Deininger examine the trend toward large farms and the potential development impacts.

The authors note that while growing private-sector interest in agriculture presents an opportunity for developing countries to capture much-needed access to capital, modern technology and new markets (and thereby spur agricultural growth and employment), the reality is that development outcomes to date often have been less favourable than expected, with investments infringing on the rights of traditional users and negatively impacting local communities.

Other concerns addressed in the article include the negative effect of a growing inequality in land ownership on broad-based rural development and growth, the detrimental environmental impacts (especially where land expansion occurs at the expense of forests), and the harmful effects of land speculation and inadequate technology on potential financial and economic benefits. Early investments in Africa, for example, often failed, while many recent acquisitions have not resulted in action on the ground.

The article goes on to discuss the factors behind the trend toward increasing farm size. These include the efficiency of plantations for some crops; the role that large farms play in opening new agricultural frontiers; recent innovations in crop breeding, tillage and information technology that favour large farms; and the effect of demands by buyers in high-income countries for certification of social and environmental sustainability.

The authors note that large farms have emerged partly in response to policy distortions or market failures related to availability of infrastructure, technology, finance, property rights and insurance. Where markets do not work well, large firms comprising many operational units can reduce transactions costs and risks through vertical and horizontal integration.

In terms of the policy implications, the authors conclude that providing a level playing field is the best way to ensure family farms can continue to compete, and to enhance social and environmental outcomes. To take advantage of rising private investment in farming, countries need to design rural development strategies that fit factor endowments and provide opportunities for small-holders and job creation, with special attention given to policy frameworks that provide rights to current users and the capacity to implement such policies.

Read the full UNU-WIDER article here.

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StEP 2010 General Assembly Held in London

2010.11.24 • The 2010 General Assembly of the Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) Initiative (a public-private sector initiative coordinated by UNU) was recently held in London. During this annual session, attended by more than 45 StEP members, two new members (from Australia and Nigeria) were voted in and a Memorandum of Understanding between StEP and the Global e-Sustainability Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) was accepted. The General Assembly also elected a new Steering Committee for the 2011/2012 term. ...

Exploring the Potential of Geothermal Energy

2010.11.19 • On 16 November 2010, UNU Headquarters in Tokyo hosted the "Japan Iceland Geothermal Forum 2010". The event was co-organized by UNU, the Embassy of Iceland in Tokyo, the Japan Energy Association, the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce in Japan, and the Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society. ...

Sustainable Decision-Making in a Time of Crisis: Public and Private Perspectives

2010.11.16 • UNU-ISP hosted the annual Asia Pacific Academy of Business in Society (APABIS) conference at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo on 4–5 November. In the week before the 2010 APEC Meetings in Yokohama, leading experts from academia, the private sector and the public sector assessed the current global financial and environmental crises, and explored new ways of governing and doing business. ...

UNU plans new "twin institute" in Germany, Mozambique

2010.11.12 • On 11 and 12 November, UNU is organizing a workshop to solidify the scope and mission of the envisaged new UNU Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and Resources (UNU-FLORES). The focus of the new institute will be on sustainable management of resources, such as water, soil and waste. ...

Reaffirming the UN's Role in Global Governance

2010.11.03 • Dr. Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, President of the sixty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, delivered a lecture entitled "Reaffirming the Central Role of the United Nations in Global Governance" at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo on Friday, 29 October 2010. Dr. Deiss opened his presentation by stressing that the world is at a critical juncture with regard to global governance for three reasons. ...