FNU joins UK-based SDG Accord

Press Release Posted On: June 16, 2021

The Fiji National University (FNU) has strengthened its commitment to sustainability by embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into its activities as a recent signatory of the SDG Accord with The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges Education (EAUC).

The SDG Accord is the University and College Sector’s Collective Response to the global goals spearheaded by EAUC, which is the environmental and sustainability champion within Further and Higher Education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. With around 300 institutional members, the EAUC is an influential voice within the sector.

The Association aims to ensure that its members have access to important information relating to environmental legislation, technologies, best practice and research to enable each university and college to improve its environmental performance.

FNU Vice-Chancellor Professor Toby Wilkinson said by becoming a signatory, the University has reaffirmed its dedication to playing a leadership role in attaining the SDGs by 2030. The partnership is in alignment with the new FNU Strategic Plan 2021–2026, which puts care for our environment and a more sustainable future at the heart of the University’s vision.

As Fiji is recognised worldwide for its leadership and advocacy on the issue of climate change and sustainable development, the SDGs underpin the University’s new Strategic Plan.

“FNU is deeply committed to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to developing cost-effective, scalable solutions aimed at sustainability, resilience and climate change adaptation, in support of the objectives outlined in Fiji’s Climate Change Bill. FNU recognises the immediacy of the climate emergency, and the need for systemic change, and has placed environmental sustainability as an all-encompassing theme of its Strategic Plan 2021–2026,” said Professor Wilkinson.

He highlighted that FNU will work closely with EAUC to achieve aspirational levels of sustainability for students, staff and the wider community.

“The SDGs aim to address 17 key global issues that are interconnected, many of which are relevant to the core operations of the University. The institution’s vision to be the premier dual-sector university in the region supports SDG 4 – which highlights the need for quality education.”

As part of the agreement, FNU will share best practice with other institutions worldwide and report annually on how it contributes to the SDGs.