Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Hokkaido University has become the first university in Japan to be ranked within the top 10 out of 1406 universities, from 106 countries. They are 1st in the world in the category of SDG 2: Zero Hunger, according to results published in Times Higher Education, a UK-based higher education magazine.

THE Impact Rankings assess universities’ contributions to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participating universities are evaluated based on submitted data and metrics from external sources.

The report, released on April 27, said that out of the 17 SDG targets, Hokkaido University was ranked within the global top 100 in the following categories; SDG 2: Zero Hunger (1st), SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals (12th), SDG 14: Life Below Water (17th), SDG 15: Life on Land (18th), SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (45th), SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (61st), and SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (92nd).

The University has developed and adopted its own sustainability strategies, including the Campus Master Plan (1996), the International Strategy for Sustainable Development (2005), and Sustainability Weeks (2007 to 2016). More recently, the Institute for the Advancement of Sustainability, established in 2021, is responsible for the realization of a green and sustainable campus and the promotion of SDG activities within the University and beyond.

“I am very pleased with this result, which I believe is recognition of the University’s longstanding efforts to achieve the SDGs,” said Hokkaido University President Kiyohiro Houkin according to the report.

Hokkaido University was founded in 1876 as the Sapporo Agricultural College, and it has had strengths in food production, field science, and environmental sciences. 

“We are the first National University to address sustainability by developing a Campus Master Plan in 1996 and we will continue to make further efforts to ensure a sustainable society for future generations,” the report said.