The cavernous negotiation hall buzzed with tension, the air thickened with unspoken frustration. Under the cold glare of fluorescent lights, representatives from small island states and African nations rose from their seats, their faces steeled with determination and indignation.
As the UN climate conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan went into overtime, negotiations still fell far short of the US$1.3tn climate finance needed to help developing countries adapt to the consequences of climate change — droughts, floods, rising sea levels and extreme heat.
A hushed gasp rippled through the room as one after another, these delegates from the most climate-vulnerable nations gathered their documents, pushed back from their tables with an audible scraping of chairs, and began streaming out.
COP29 eventually concluded with nations agreeing on a compromise deal of US$300bn per year by 2035. This lack of ambition has been blamed on domestic budgetary constraints, conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and pushbacks against the green agenda in a number of Western countries.
Tragedy of the time horizon
But ultimately the unraveling of talks at COP29 reflects a common obstacle in addressing climate change, whereby political leaders focus on quick wins to secure re-election, corporations chase quarterly profits, and individuals preoccupy themselves with day-to-day concerns.
Collective myopia leads to insufficient action on climate change, biodiversity loss and other crises that require sustained, long-term commitment.
This “tragedy of the time horizon” is a central theme in Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel, The Ministry for the Future. The author envisions a near-future world struggling with climate collapse, where traditional institutions have failed to address the crisis effectively.
To overcome this problem, the UN creates the titular organisation tasked with advocating for sustainable and just outcomes over short-term gains. It influences governments to adopt climate-conscious policies, support ecological restoration projects, and embed long-term thinking into decision-making processes.
While the Ministry for the Future remains fictional, universities around the world have increasingly taken on roles that embody some aspects of such an institution.
Role of universities
Universities, not beholden to election cycles or shareholder demands, can operate on longer timelines. They can invest in research to generate long-term climate data, model future scenarios, and develop new technologies for renewable energy, carbon capture, sustainable agriculture and more.
But what makes universities particularly impactful is their ability to transcend disciplinary silos, and foster collaboration between environmental science, economics, sociology, engineering and other fields.
By integrating diverse expertise and perspectives, universities cultivate an environment where different viewpoints contribute to holistic, long-term approaches to sustainability, which are critical in tackling the interconnected nature of climate and other environmental challenges.
Climate and sustainability experts in universities also contribute directly to global policy discussions, often acting as advisors to international organisations.
But perhaps the most profound impact of universities lies in education. Millions of students and lifelong learners pass through their doors each year, receiving the knowledge and skill sets needed to tackle future challenges.
A growing number of universities have also committed to carbon neutrality and sustainable practices on campus, setting ambitious goals to reduce emissions. They serve as living laboratories facilitating the testing of climate solutions such as green energy systems, low-carbon transportation and circular economy models.
Results from these experiments can help guide local, national and even global practices to address our global climate and environmental challenges.
Bridging science, policy and society
Many of these challenges are deeply interconnected. Rising global temperatures and extreme weather events driven by climate change accelerate biodiversity loss. In turn, degraded ecosystems lose their ability to regulate climate through carbon sequestration, water cycles and other earth systems processes.
There may also be synergies, tensions or trade-offs between climate actions and socioeconomic development. This is particularly true in biodiverse but climate-vulnerable regions like Southeast Asia and Amazonia, where climate change not only threatens ecosystems and biodiversity but also intensifies social inequalities, economic instability and public health crises.
Responding effectively to these complex challenges requires approaches that cross traditional boundaries of disciplines, sectors and geographies to consider the diverse interests of society.
Universities are well poised to do so as they operate at the intersection of science, policy and public interest. They bridge gaps between different knowledge domains, and foster collaboration among researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders through interdisciplinary conferences, policy workshops, joint research projects with industry, and community engagement.
Renewed academic purpose
Traditionally, academics have focused on teaching and research, largely within disciplinary boundaries. The existential nature of climate change and environmental degradation necessitates a rethinking of academic purpose.
Universities need to build a pipeline of socially-engaged academic-practitioners (“pracademics”) who not only generate new knowledge but also actively shape the world around them, engaging directly with policymakers, industry leaders and communities.
In fact, some have argued that society needs a new breed of “wicked scientists”, adept at taking a systems thinking approach to consider and negotiate the political roles, interests and perspectives of diverse stakeholders, to tackle the growing number of “wicked problems”, including climate change.
At the same time, academics can contribute to enhancing public trust in government by providing evidence-based insights to inform policymaking. Academics can also help in horizon-scanning and identifying future areas of foundational and strategic research capability for the country to invest in.
University administrators can support this renewal of academic purpose by recognising and rewarding public engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration and policy impact as key aspects of academic performance.
Faculty hiring and evaluation processes can evolve to consider broader and more meaningful definitions of success beyond publications, grant capture and other conventional metrics of achievement.
Additionally, to remain relevant in the 21st century universities can embrace a more diverse and vibrant faculty of experienced policymakers, industry practitioners and community leaders, in addition to traditional scholars, all contributing to the shared mission of tackling the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges.
Most importantly, the cogs and wheels of the academic enterprise can be optimised for delivery of societal impacts at the scale and speed that commensurate with our climate and sustainability challenges.
By doing so, universities will help forge a path toward a resilient and thriving world, as Ministries for Sustainable Futures, to ensure a liveable planet for generations to come.
Professor Lian Pin Koh is associate vice president and chief sustainability scientist at the National University of Singapore, where he oversees and champions sustainability-related research.
