HESI was created by a consortium of UN entities (UNESCO, UN-DESA, UNEP, Global Compact and UNU) in the run up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO+20).

In advance of the XXI Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21), HESI will organize an event to take stock of progress made since Rio+20 by sharing best practices and lessons learned, discuss the roles and responsibilities of higher education institutions in business and technological innovations around climate change adaptation and mitigation and encourage new or enhanced commitments by HESI members, particularly around the facilitation of academic and scientific inputs into the formulation of climate policies and compose a message and a set of policy recommendations to be presented to the UNFCC Secretariat at COP21.

In preparing for the event, UN-DESA is preparing a progress report on the impact of Higher Education institutions in advancing sustainable development and climate change. Contributions from higher education institutions are sought, in responding to specific questions. To register for the event, for more information and if you wish to contribute please click here.